150 hours

One reason I never wanted a twin engine plane before was that I always felt that you needed have a certain level of activity to make the plane safer.  Yes you get a lot more capability but when something goes wrong, the redundancy only helps if you know what to do and you do it correctly.

I used to fly 80-100 hours a year and I never felt that was enough to stay sharp.  As of today I have flown 163.7 hours total and 150.1 in the Baron this year.    I have a few more days left and expect to hit around 170 total.

I had been flying 160-200 hours a year in the Bonanza so I expect to stay in this range with the Baron.  In the new year I have some new missions planned for the plane now that I am through my initial training and familiarization.

Today I went for a flight to enjoy the holiday and to reach the 150 hour milestone.  I was alone and light on gas, only half tanks.  This made for a quick takeoff and climbing through 1000' I backed the power back to about 45% total.  The plane still climbed nicely at 300-400 fpm and I was soon at 4500' heading across the state sipping fuel.  Ok 19 gph but sipping for a twin.

It was a clear and smooth day and I went far enough to see the other coast.  Yes there is water on both sides.  The flight out was a bit slow with 20 knot headwinds but I had a nice push home.  It was such a nice day I swung out towards the beach before heading in to land.

Winds were down 23 and I set up for a short field landing to make the turn off at 1500'.  Vref was calculated at 81 but it was a bit gusty so I was flying 83-85.  These are close to Bonanza speeds and with the headwind I easily could have stopped in 1000' but let let it roll until the turn off.  

Dirty Hands

When I got the Baron, I knew there would be a steep learning curve.  One area where I was naïve was the engine cowls.  On the Bonanza, you just popped a latch on either side and the whole thing opened up.  An oil change required popping 2 latches.  Ten 1/4 turn fasteners and one screw.  After that everything was easy to get at.

The Baron is requires a lot more.  Yesterday I had an appointment to check the bottom engine mounts on the left side.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  I have been progressively learning the cowls.  I had learned what needs to come off to change the oil, then how to pop the top off.  This work needed everything off.

The Baron cowl has a door on each side which each have 10 half turn fasteners.  These just let you look in.  The sequence to de-cowl starts here.  The next step is removing the root fairings with their 16 screws each.  You have some choices after that but basically you need to pull the side panels, 11 more screws each.

The next step is the scoop.  6 screws to remove the top panel, 4 on the sides then 3 bolts to release the scoop.  Don't forget to remove the alternate induction duct (2 clamps) and loosen the main induction clamp.  You can then take out the 40 or so remaining fasteners on the top portion.  The 2 that get me are the ones inside where you need a magnetic tip to keep from dropping the screw.  Out is not too bad, its much worse going in.

Popping the top off, you are really just getting started.  10 screws release the chin and you carefully work it around the baffles.  I learned for the bottom cowl, you want a trash can underneath so that it doesn't fall.  Don't forget to unbolt the cowl flap.  The 10 or so screws are next and then 4 that are bolted in a hard to get place.  Once it drops down, there are 3 vent lines that connect to the bottom.  Unbolt the mount and you can now slide out the bottom.  All that and we haven't started any maintenance yet. 

My mechanic was busy so he handed me the tools I needed and answered questions as I went.  It took me about an hour to get it all done.  We did the mounts in about 45 minutes and then he said put it all together.  He was kind and told me the order to follow and to not tighten any screw until the top, bottom, chin and side panels were in place.  Then close the side doors and make sure everything was aligned.  At that point work from the top back and  tighten everything.

A miracle occurred and I slowly returned all the parts.  I then closed the doors, wiggled everything and everything was nicely aligned.  I was a bit smart and as I had taken off different bits, I had put all the fasteners in a separate container and labelled them so I knew I was putting the hardware back correctly. I double checked all my connections on the install and that my main induction and alternate induction were secure.  I also tested the cowl flap after re-installing, just to be sure.

The mechanic looked over my work and agreed it was all back together.  The flight home was uneventful which was good.