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Flying the Beechcraft Baron

By Todd Fredricks

n aviation there are a few timeless truths. One of

these truths is that airplanes that, for whatever
reason, are invested with uncanny inspiration
will remain timeless. The DC-3, the J-3 Cub and the
Aeronca Champ are all airplanes that are well over
60 years old and are still being manufactured or
re-manufactured because nothing else matches the
mission that these airplanes were originally designed
to perform.
In 1947 the Beechcraft aircraft corporation designed an airplane
known as a Bonanza. This single engine airplane was built to appeal
to the business traveler and the veteran pilot from World War II
that found himself in need of a fast airplane that was economical
to operate. The Bonanza met that need perfectly and in spite of
some notorious accidents with early models, the basic airframe has
remained in production to this day.
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But single engine airplanes did not meet the need of pilots who needed
the extra power and capability of a multi-engine aircraft. The first effort to
address this came in the form of an airplane known affectionately as the twin
bo or Twin Bonanza. This moniker is a bit misleading since the Twin Bo
is by appearance more like a King Air 90 than a Bonanza with two engines.
Nevertheless, the Twin Bonanza developed a sturdy and solid reputation
and convinced the Beechcraft management that a light twin would meet the
needs of the general aviation community.
It was with this understanding that Beechcraft added a second engine to
the Bonanza and created a true Twin Bonanza in 1961. They called this
airplane, the B55 Baron. Barons come as either a -55 with four seats or a
-58 with club seating for 6.

Rotation at KPKB

The Baron has been produced in some 15 different variants. Today

you can buy a new Baron for something over a million US dollars.
Like the Bonanza, the Baron is essentially the same airplane as it has
always been, various models differing only in performance, seating and
avionics. The mission remains the same; provide the individual who
needs travel speed and flexibility with an IFR capable airplane that is
fast, comfortable and affordable.
Microsoft FSX includes the Baron G58. The G58 features 300 hp
engines, which allow for a 175-knot cruise and a range of over 1500
nm at max range power settings.
The best way to experience the Baron is to fly it. A flight from
KUNI to KDCA will allow us to leave my home and make a
business meeting in the US capital city and still have time for a
nice lunch in Georgetown before I need to get home and pick up
my kids from school. Well file IFR because it is both fun and
safer since we have to enter the ADIZ (Air Defense Identification
Zone) that rings the area around Washington. It is also a good
idea to check the TFRs (Temporary Flight Restrictions) that may
have developed since my last trip.
After filing our flight plan and doing everything I can do to
avoid an untimely F-16 intercept it is time for a walk-around.
Microsoft has done a very nice job of modeling the Baron. The
panel represents the best of what you might find in a factory
new model. The Baron is a tall airplane. At 6 feet 3 inches,
the cowlings are at chest level on me so smaller pilots may
have to find a stool to check the oil. Likewise, the wing of
the Baron is just low enough to make those of us with bad
knees creak and groan when we look in the wheel wells and
check the brake lines. The walk-around demonstrates no
significant deficits or abnormalities.

Turning on course

Climbing enroute

Once insideyou did check the fuel caps to make

certain that they are secure didnt you?...you will find that
the Baron is still designed around a long antiquated FAA
170 pound pilot standard. At 250 pounds, the Baron, and
the Bonanza for that matter, is a tight fit for me. The
yoke sits just off of my lap and I can just barely get full
control movement. This will not be a problem in the sim.
Start-up is a non-event. You pull the checklist.
Prime the engine. Mixture forward, props forward
and throttle cracked of an inch. Hit the starter.
Three blades and the engine catches. Pull the throttle
back to maintain an RPM of 1000 and wait just a bit
to look over the gauges. Once you are satisfied with
all the dials, repeat the process.

Setting up a GPD DCA 33 approach

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Maneuvering for the approach

Theres DCA at 10 oclock

On speed 3 green

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Microsoft has made this process very faithful to the actual

procedure and it is fun to start the FSX Baron with a regular
checklist. You will find that a multi-engine throttle quadrant
greatly adds to the experience.
Flying ANY multi-engine aircraft is an exercise in systems
management. Systems-driven aircraft are never kick the tires and
light the fires machines. They are checklist driven and the pilot
who fails to follow procedure is asking for a shortened engine
life or worse.
Once up and running, it is time to call ground and get a taxi
clearance. If there is one deficiency in the FSX Baron it is that
the functionality of the Garmin 1000 is put together like an
afterthought. There are no convenient autopilot controls accessible
without keystrokes. Finding the throttle quadrant window requires
using the overhead menu. I suspect that this is a push on the
part of Microsoft towards full time use of the virtual cockpit.
The problem is that flying IFR is not an easy task in any virtual
cockpit. The Baron would have been much better had more
thought gone into the 2D panel controls.
Taxing the Baron is a combination of braking and the use of
asymmetric thrust. It is expensive to operate any airplane. Any
airplane labeled Beechcraft is among the most expensive. Brakes
cost money but in a twin you can steer using differential thrust.
By adding some throttle to get us out of the chocks the airplane
responds and starts rolling. It is important to reduce the throttles
back to idle and stay with the airplane. Turning to the right
involves a slight tap on the right brake and perhaps a touch of
left throttle to nurse the nose around. The point is that going slow
saves on wear and tear and allows you to stay with the airplane. It
also allows the oil temperatures to come up into the green.
After run-up and completion of the before-takeoff checklist it
is time to depart. The FSX Baron responds like the real thing and
as such requires a slow taxi for line-up. The nose-wheel should be
aligned straight down the centerline. With the brakes on, slowly
advance the throttles to 2000 RPM and check all the gauges. If
everything is in the green advance them all the way and release the
brakes. Vr will come rapidly and a little aft trim with a bit of aft
yoke will lift the nose wheel and allow for a smooth climb. With
a positive rate raise the gear and at 500 foot AGL set climb power
and call for the climb checklist.
There is a fair amount of roll inertia with all Beechcraft
airplanes in the sense that rolling them takes a bit of effort. The
nice thing is that once a bank angle is set, Beechs stay where you
put them. Stalls are predictable and give you a good buffet before
the nose drops abruptly. Abruptly means just that. When a
Baron stalls, the nose drops. If you have an uncoordinated rudder
you may drop a wing and proceed toward a spin. With coordinated
rudder you will experience a very noticeable and deliberate nose
drop. This is not a scary event, just one that demands the pilot fly
the airplane. Allow the airspeed to build and gently pull the yoke
back to maintain level flight followed by a positive rate of climb.
I would like to say that FSX replicates aerobatic maneuvers,
like spins, faithfully. It does not. Likewise, loss of an engine gives
some visual cues that are similar to the actual event, but nothing
faithfully replicates spins and engine failures like the real thing. It
is just a limitation of the sim.

Enroute at 7,000 feet, the flying is the same as any other airplane.
I use the autopilot whenever I can. The FSX Barons autopilot works
okay, once you figure it out. I never was able to determine the exact
method for programming the autopilot to fly off of the GPS and had
to use the heading hold with the OBS selector. Thankfully the Baron
is so stable that once the flight plan was entered, maintaining course
with the OBS knob while referencing the Garmin 1000 moving map
is very easy.
The Baron is a fast airplane. Speeds of 190 knots are easily
achieved and because of this, the airplane can mix in with heavier
traffic at larger airports. It is, however, not a simple airplane and its
engines demand attention to avoid shock cooling. Before decent we
will need to have the checklist out. We will start reducing power by
an inch of manifold pressure a minute to allow the engine temps to
stabilize and avoid shock cooling. Because we are covering 3 miles
a minute in very busy airspace and we would like to have something
around 20 inches of MP set by downwind, power reduction should
start about 20 miles out.
Maneuvering in the Washington ADIZ is not for the faint of
heart, especially at 8 AM on a Monday morning. The traffic is
thick and the controllers have no time for pilots who want to
negotiate. ATC clearances for descent begin to arrive at about 40
NM out but managing airspeed, engine temps and power settings
in the midst of traffic calls makes for a very busy single pilot.
The wise Baron pilot will use a checklist and have the airplane
configured well in advance.
Maneuvering takes us south of DCA and winds favor an approach
from the east. In the typical real-world traffic flow you will likely
end up sandwiched between a Canadair RJ and a 757. This means
that you will need to keep your speed up. We will simulate this by
using an approach speed of 130 knots. We will not set approach
flaps or lower the gear because, like the real Baron, adding flaps and
dropping the gear will lower our airspeed rapidly and with a fast
approach we will rely on this to help us cross the numbers at a more
sedate airspeed.
Crossing the Final Approach Fix we set approach flaps and
drop the gear, push the props to full forward and repeat the
GUMPS check. On short final, select full flaps and trim to relieve
backpressure. The Baron settles down to 100 knots and with a
steady decrease in power and a bit of backpressure on the yoke, the
airplane flares and finally settles into a smooth touchdown.
Maintaining the centerline in the airplane is a function of quick
feet on the rudders and selective differential thrust. Remember that
a little bit goes a long way. There is no need to push tons of throttle
into the airplane after taking such care to bring the temps down.
Judicious use of brakes avoids high cost annuals as well.
FSXs Baron is a nice airplane to fly. Microsoft has faithfully
modeled the airplane, panel and avionics. The Garmin 1000
demands some study for full capability. The virtual cockpit, like
all VCs, is okay for IFR flying, but for maneuvering close to the
airport while doing pattern work, it is as functional as any other
Microsoft product. FSXs Baron G58 performs very much like its
real world counterpart. Aside from poor simulated spin performance
it is a great airplane to start flying if you are interested in flying
twins. It is also the perfect airplane for simulating those $500
hamburger runs as well. Q

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