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numbers have long been points of fond memory as flights and bygone days at the Beechcraft factory are typical conversation among the Dillingham’s.
The appreciation for aviation and the legacy aircraft manufacturer is shared by Peter and his two brothers, Jed and Chad, who long owned a Beechcraft Bonanza A36. Peter flew the 1997 model for eight years.
“I only have great things to say about the Bonanza. While it is considered a complex aircraft due to a retract- able gear, its systems are very straightforward and it has excellent speed. The A36 is an ideal plane for pilots with greater than 100 hours.”
As Dillingham explained, the aircraft was useful in the various business ventures he has spearheaded over the years – predominantly within the petroleum and the food manufacturing industries. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for No Man’s Land Foods, an Oklahoma-based beef jerky manufacturer with distribution across the country.
“I have been able to involve flying with all these busi- nesses. Being able to fly myself to meet with customers or vendors, look at equipment, and then get home the same day. This has been made possible living in a city that does not provide commercial air services.”
Not only does he fly for business in a continually ex- panding area, Dillingham often flies with family and friends in his free time. As he explained, “Flying with my wife, Annie, and our three daughters is what I love most.”
A common destination for the family is San Antonio. But the 400-nautical mile mission highlighted one shortcom- ing of the aircraft. “When our daughters were small, we could load everybody and everything up in the Bonanza. But once they were young adults, we would need to pre- ship our clothes to the hotel we were traveling to, then ship the box home after the trip.”
As a result of this issue and other payload-limited mis- sions, Dillingham identified the need to increase his range without sacrificing weight. He sought something that could fly further and faster than the single-engine, high-per- formance piston while com- fortably carrying the same number of passengers he had
become accustomed.
“I was looking for a Piper
Meridian, and if you had asked me, I would not have said a TBM was in the running. But I learned that TBMs have a lot more range than Meridians; roughly 1,300 nautical miles in a TBM 700C2 versus 800 nautical miles in a Meridian, for example. The TBM also has a 20 to 30 knot per hour speed advantage. So, on long trips, many times you can go
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November 2022 / TWIN & TURBINE • 27