She's a Cover Girl! My 1965 B55 Baron was named "Beechcraft of the Month" in May 2006 by American Bonanza Society (ABS) Magazine. Welcome to my N2023W album where you will see the projects and upgrades that I have completed on this classic airplane. Download the pdf here: www.geocities.com/semco_inc/n2023wcover.pdf
ABS Beechcraft of the Month - May 2006 article. Download the full article pdf here: www.geocities.com/semco_inc/n2023warticle.pdf
Beechcraft of the Month article Page 2.
Ready for delivery in 2004.
Major refurbishments completed and she's ready for delivery to me in 2004.
Ahhhhh, the South Florida Sunshine!
Arriving at S43, Harvey Field in Snohomish, WA after 15 hours of flying from Virginia that day. Landing was picture perfect onto the 2,600' field with a displaced threshold due to trees and power lines on the approach. Thanks Aaron for teaching me that every landing in a Baron is a short field landing!
Dad looks pretty good for having just flown in 23W for 15 hours that day from Virginia to Seattle! My brother, Greg, was glad to see us. Note the overcast ceilings, yeah, I know, it's Seattle! I'm sure Mom was somewhere near the bathroom when this picture was taken. I had O2 cannulas for them both since a good part of the trip was above 12,000 feet.
Short Field Take Off (2,600') S43-Harvey Field, Snohomish, WA
Short Field Takeoff (2,600') Part II, S43-Harvey, Snohomish, WA
76S-Wes Lupien Airport (3,265' X 25') Oak Harbor, WA. Yes, I landed 23W DOWNHILL here! 23W wingspan is 38'! BIG Thanks to Aaron for grilling me at Tampa North to have proper speeds and center line control! If you need any kind of dual instruction, you would be lucky to get Aaron's guidance, just my opinion, but the I think the results speak for themself. Airnav listed this place as having the lowest priced fuel in the area. Now you can see why! PS: Now I always look at the "gradient" specs of unfamiliar airports. DUH!
Full Panel shot. The outboard switches are PTTs. The inboard switches are five function (N, S, E, W & Push Down) Otto T5-0555 "Hat" switches for Com Flip, Freq Flip, A/P Disconnect and Ident. A rare Mil Spec switch. Spec sheet for this switch is at: http://www.csobeech.com/files/OTTOT5-0055Switch.pdf
Close up of the Otto T5-0055 Hat Switch for Com Flip, Freq Flip, A/P Disconnect and Ident. A rare Mil Spec switch. Spec sheet for this switch is at: http://www.csobeech.com/files/OTTOT5-0055Switch.pdf
XM Radio & Weather on board with the Garmin GPSMAP 376C. The use of an inexpensive external GPS antenna mounted in the nose greatly enhances signal reception for the 376C when mounted in this location on the control arm. Check out the install background at: http://www.geocities.com/semco_inc/CSOBCockpitWx.html
The Boostaroo Amplifier above the 376C gets the XM Music from the 376C up to a volume that is great for cruise flight piped through the Garmin 340 audio panel. Boosteroo amp here: http://www.boostaroo.com/store_detail.php4?id=14
N2023W Panel May 2008. IMHO, a great budget /G platform. Yearning for an MX20 w/Chartview and an Aspen PFD to make it my dream panel.
BAS Shoulder Harness Install article featured in ABS Magazine July 2006. Helpful tips regarding my install experiences with the BAS shoulder harness kit. Download the pdf here: www.geocities.com/semco_inc/basharnessinstall.pdf
BAS Shoulder Harness install on co-pilot side. Taking the headliner down and making the cuts for the belts was the most tedious part of the whole job.
Outboard mounting bar rivets. A conventional hand rivet puller worked out just fine.
Reinforcing bar attached to rear of roof.
Pilot side bracket riveting complete.
Outboard bracket rivets for pilot side. Note headliner attachment pin holes.
Inboard side of pilot bracket and reinforcing strap.
These two screws, attached to the ends of the reinforcing bars, filled with silicone sealant is all that shows on the outside of the airframe. That's right, no leaks!
BAS' kit has very nice finishing plates for the headliner openings that need to be cut.
BAS Shoulder Harness Install. Accomplished with my buddy Don in Tampa and supervised by my IA Bill. Don was so impressed with the kit that he purchased one for his IO-550 powered N35 Bonanza.
BAS Shoulder Harness Top Finishing plates give an excellent factory looking finish to this installation. Read my article in ABS Magazine for a way to cut your headliner holes in exactly the right place www.geocities.com/semco_inc/basharnessinstall.pdf About an 8-10 hour job the first time through for someone with reasonable mechanical skills and IA supervision along the way.
New Interior 2004!
All the exposed metal framing of the interior was sanded and painted. A very nice touch, too bad I didn't remember to ask them to paint my instrument panel pieces while they were at it. Oh well, you'll have this info when you have your interior done.
Fresh Interior Prior to Delivery to me in 2004.
Somewhere over the Atlantic off the southern coast of Florida.
Nissan Sentra or Altima headrests from the mid-90's can fit into the factory mounting holes with just a wee bit of "persuasion".
Six months after my so called new interior, this is what the pilot seat looked like. No, I did not take it back there! Don't ask!
This is my seat after an overhaul at C&H Interiors. In October 2008 during my annual, my buddy told me about C&H Interiors at 52F. What an improvement in comfort and appearance. Read the story here: http://www.csobeech.com/seat-overhaul.html
The inspiration for my paint scheme came from this Beechcraft magazine ad, circa mid 1960's. The Beaumont Hotel really exists http://www.airnav.com/airport/SN07 PS: No, I haven't been there yet. LOL
CO Detector, just in case the gasoline fired heater in the nose has a hiccup!
Fuel Selector Valve O-rings were changed. To accomplish this you have to remove the fuel selector valve from the airplane. This is another one of those PITA jobs on a B55.
The Skyforce Moving Map (aka KMD-150) gives great situational awareness slaved to the IFR certified KLN-94 GPS. The Skyforce and KMD-150 units give you airways (yellow lines), try getting airways on your Garmin 430/530 stuff! LOL
I am smiling, the HID light must be working really well!
HID light in daylight! Massive light output, low amperage consumption and very low heat. It's a great anti collision light in the daytime (I run it all the time) and has an expected life of 2,000 hours. Talk about illuminating a dark runway!
Tanya's seat. She's ready to go anytime.
Baron Buddy, Chris Szarek in formation training at Grayson County Airport (KGYI), May 2007.
Beech Buds formation training at Grayson County (KGYI), May 2007.
Todd & Dave, the maintenance "A-Team" getting a Reno Racer back together after a nose gear collapse. Qualifying heats start in 48 hours. The Pressure was on!
Final reassembly checks. This plane made it to Reno 2006 in time to compete against 6 cylinder aircraft. It achieved 6th place and 258 mph. Not bad for a normally aspirated 4 cylinder pumping out 250+ HP.
A Reno Races 2006 casualty for a P51! Man that's gonna leave a mark on somebody's wallet!
23W Left Engine teardown prior to AOPA 2006.
Left Engine firewall needs "spiffing".
Left Engine inboard side.
Major grunge on left engine firewall.
Dave's Left Engine Clean Up Job!
New Slick 6310 Mags, ignition harnesses and plugs were fitted to both engines. PS: Don't route or hang your JPI oil temp probe wires alongside the ignition wires. Ask me how I know!!!!
40 year old left engine airbox, affectionately dubbed "Humpty Dumpty"!
Another view of "Humpty Dumpty"!
All the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again!
No way this thing could be saved! Except by Superman Chris at www.cygnet-aero.com . See later pics for the miracle box Chris builds for the B55.
The CYGNET B55 Airbox. Thanks Chris! Visit them at: http://www.cygnet-aero.com/ for the best in Control Wheels and other parts.
The "Fry Daddy" air filter holder.
Alternate air door.
Don't try this at home folks! A trained professional is the only way to accomplish this tricky safety wiring through the alternate air door......
http://www.cygnet-aero.com/
All the machinists in North Texas were drooling over this piece! Big thanks to Superman Chris at CYGNET.
Todd's fabrication "bridge" to the CYGNET airbox. What a work of art. Todd hates fabrication tasks, can't you tell? LOL. Todd, YOU ROCK!
Gee-Bee's Baffle Seal Kit, an excellent fit to the factory cleco holes. New baffle seals made a big difference in my CHT's, reducing them by about 20-30F. Of course you (or someone you pay $50-$80/hr) will have to pull the old factory staples out of the original baffles. A fun project if you are "into" personally maintaining your Beechcraft!
New Top Cowl Ballfling. Note corrosion! We will stop this with POR15. www.por15.com
New Baffling made a big improvement in cylinder head temperatures, 20-30F cooler! POR15 will be coming to the rescue to "spiff" this up.
New Baffling helps tremendously. Pulling the factory staples out is not much fun, but it sure beats paying $50-$80/hour for someone else to do it!
Right engine baffling that will soon get the POR15 treatment.
Cylinder #6 "vent" hole. Noted reduction in #6 CHT of about 20F - 30F. Combined with new baffles, CHT in the climb of about 370F and cruise CHT in the 330sF.
Left Engine with new Superior Standard Cast Millennium cylinders. A beautiful thing! Dave is being camera shy on the other side of the engine.
Dave putting the finishing touches on the left engine. The raggedy sleeving on the case vent tube has since been replaced with a nice piece of fire sleeving that came with the Gee-Bee baffle kit.
"Spring thing" baggage door hinge is the way to go.
Thank you Ebay! Nav blades that replace the aging Beechcraft flying "vee" antenna and separate CI-193 glideslope antenna in the nose.
A great mounting location. SIgnal reception is excellent under the tail.
Slight chip on these brand new Nav blades made them an incredible deal on Ebay. One bid, one win!
Yes, I vacumed it out when we were finished! LOL
Beautiful 0.060" doiubler plates fabricated by the Supermen of sheetmetal, Ron & Tom.
Look at this, they even gave me countersunk nutplate holes! Will put the nutplates on later.
Magic splitter box with Nav and Glide Slope replaced the old one at co-pilot's right footwell panel.
Nav 1 glideslope was connected and we used a 50 ohm terminator on the Nav 2 glideslope. Update: Thanks to another Ebay find, 23W now has a second glide slope Nav/Com and this set up was ready to accomodate it!
Roof mounting area with original Nav & Com cables.
The ugly remnants of two flying "vee" antennas! What to do? Call the sheetmetal Supermen!
What a piece of sheet metal perfection. Thanks to Tom & Ron, the Supermen of Sheet Metal fabrications! I found out what a "strap duplicator" is and how helpful it is to make a part like this.
Big thanks to the Supermen of Sheetmetal, Tom & Ron. Check out their flush riveting skills. We used a structural rivet in the 12 o'clock position to secure the front of the plate.
Bye bye flying "Vee", hello modern COM antenna. A beautiful thing.
A smooth modern looking roofline and a better antenna for the #1 radio.
Yeah, 23W ROCKS!
Side view sporting her new antenna set up. She ROCKS!
Front cockpit LEDs provide great illumination for charts in center of the front seats. Gives you some additional cockpit lighting but not as much as "older" eyes might need. The headband LED light mounted in the ceiling helps a lot. See following pics.
You don't even want to know what it was like threading those little LEDs that were soldered in series through their holders in that tiny space with the factory bulbs. A ship in a bottle comes to mind. Hey, this is what I do to entertain myself on a Saturday night.
Close up of the high intensity LED holders in the overhead console.
A clean looking installation that projects red LED cockpit lighting into the center of the cockpit.
LED "headband" headlight converted to overhead mounting.
Simple nuts and washers retain unit to forward headliner section.
19 LEDs and three intensity levels. Uses three AAA batteries so no wiring hassles into ship's power. If it get's left on, you are out three AAA batteries, no big deal in the grand scheme of things. Find these on Ebay for about $10 or in your local Home Depot or Wal-Mart for just slightly more.
In position for use. Sheds very good light directly to center "Flight Desk" and off to the sides for easy chart reading and can illuminate the instruments in an emergency. The direct focus of LED's prevents any direct light in pilot's or copilot's eyes.
Nicely fitted and functional cockpit lighting. No more fumbling with little MagLites.
Passenger LED lamp swivels and pivots. Attached to BAS shoulder harness cover plates. Gives passengers an easy to use light.
Passenger seats now have personal LED lights for night flights.
40 year old factory speaker on left mounted in the overhead console. GM speaker that will replace it is on right. No fit issues were encoutered as a result of the round GM magnet.
40 year old cracked Beech factory speaker on left. GM speaker from auto junkyard on right. The hole locations in the speaker frames are identical. The speaker is from late 80's Full Size GM Rear Wheel Drive cars like the Oldsmobile Delta 88, Buick LeSabre, Chevy Impala and Pontiac Bonneville/Catalina. It is approximately a 6" x 9" form factor speaker.
GM speaker's round magnet fits in factory speaker enclosure without issues.
Dimensionally very nearly similar and the fit into the factory overhead location is fine. No affects noted on instruments or compass.
33, 35 & 55 Series Safety Card Front Side.
33, 35 & 55 Series Safety Card Back Side.
Finally an ELT that uses conventional "D-Cell" batteries! I am done with buying expensive ELT battery packs every two years.
ELT remote activation control panel on co-pilot sub-panel. Easy to route the wire up the co-pilot side of the fuselage.
Found some new knobs for a couple of the dimmer rheostats at Tanner Electronics www.tannerelectronics.com
Todd at the start of the Right Engine Cylinder & Prop Cable project.
Todd is happy with our accomplishments of the first day.
500 Hours of Lean of Peak operations.
Day 2 right engine cylinders all off. Nasty engine mount frames and firewall will get a major cleaning and painting.
Internals clean with no sludge. This is a great time to inspect your cam and lifters. I found a few pitted ones from this circa 1999 FRMN with ~550 hrs on it. Replaced them all with new.
OIl cooler was removed for easier cylinder access. Note temp probe clearance. However, from my experience, this is a useless location for the JPI oil temp probe on an IO470L. Readings are always extremely low. I ended up using the front of the case and that location is excellent. This factory installed gasket was an incredible PITA to remove. Duct tape the holes to prevent scrapings and dirt from entering the oil passages.
Starter adapter shaft and clutch spring.
Left Engine top plugs after 200 Hours Lean of Peak (LOP) operations. Nope, my engine did not melt down from all the HEAT of LOP operations. LOL See more info at: www.CSOBeech.com/peak-engine.html
Right engine top plugs after 200 hours of Lean of Peak (LOP) operations. You owe it to your wallet and the conservation of fuel, to evaluate this method of operating your engine. See more info at: www.CSOBeech.com/peak-engine.html
Right engine lean of peak engine operations after a 5 hour trip
Left engine exhaust stacks after 5 hour trip at lean of peak fuel flow settings.
Cowl flap motor. Look at the RPM this thing spins!
The really tough nasty job of changing prop cables!
Lots has to be removed to change prop cables. Good thing that a set lasts 40 years before they gum up and it becomes like lifting weights to move the cables!
All this work to get at this nut!
Todd is really happy the prop cable securing NUT is finally removed. I'm happy that he's happy! LOL
Finally, the prop cables are exposed!
Left Engine cable routing! Lots of stuff has to come apart to get to this point.
Right Engine cable routing. GEEZ, this was a major PITA. Tedious and time consuming.
New O-rings that I installed recently on these www.dodson.com master cylinders are really keeping things nice and dry.
Cables finally removed, ready for insertion of the new serviceable ones that I got from www.dodson.com ! Good Beechcraft people there. Ask for Mark Morrisey.
Todd is really happy to be holding that new prop cable!
I am really happy to finally have smooth prop cables. No more arm curl exercises to pull the props back. It would have to be the coldest day of the winter in North Texas, 18F, when we finally got the new cables into place!
There they are, the little bugger prop cables and their mounting nuts and bolts are buried behind the instrument panel. Great job Todd!
This is how you get to put the prop cable securing bolts & nuts back on.
Engine mount painted with POR-15 ( www.por15.com )and firewall spiffed up in preparation for the new Superior Millennium cylinders.
Engine frame with www.por15.com and firewall spiffed and that beautifully smooth prop cable that now moves with one finger on the lever in the cockpit.
Freshly POR15 ( www.por15.com ) painted baffle pieces and front intake tube.
Coated top cowl with POR15 to stop corrosion in this area. Top cowls are very vulnerable to corrosion due to the inside heating and subsequent condensation accumulation on the unpainted inside surfaces.
Cowl doors are also very suceptable to corrosion as a result of condensation buildup and received the POR15 treatment.
Not exactly museum quality but cowl door corrosion is stopped with the POR15!
JPI oil temp probe mounting in front of engine case where it will read proper temps. A notch in the lower front cowling is required, no big deal. From my experience, using the oil cooler plug in the IO470 engines is a waste of time. The readings from the oil cooler are abysmally low and therefore, useless.
New alternator belt was installed on right engine.
Todd's secret piston pin prying tool....NOT!
We begin making progress! The first cylinder is hung.
Lots more progress! I am going to hate scraping that oil cooler gasket off. ARGHHHH!
This is looking really good now.
Hmmmmm, an interesting number.
Todd and I are glad to get to this point and ready for lunch. You could set an atomic clock by Todd's lunchtime stomach cravings.
All cylinders mounted. Now comes the tedious part of installing the intake tubes, exhaust stacks, EGT/CHT probes, plugs, wires, baffling, etc. PS: I hate scraping old paper gaskets off of engine surfaces......had to get that out there for the record.
Stick a fork in us, we are done for today!!! And to think, Todd thought I was going to slow him down. He had not worked with me around cars or planes before and was quite surprised with my wrenching abilities. Note that the prop is off.....Dave and Todd know the secret to installing a new one-piece crank seal over that HUGE prop flange! E-mail me if you want to know the secret........ mike@michaelcaban.com
Major progress dressing the engine today. We both put in a long day and expect to have "fire in the hole" tomorrow.
Finally ready to make some NOISE! Two men - 10 Solid Days, but the results were awesome. No leaks, no hiccups all things ops checked good. Ran 25 x 25 at 1500' MSL, 11.4 gph/side yielding 190 KIAS. Side note: See the yellow wire tie wrapped to the ignition harness in the top center of the picture, that is the oil temp probe wire and you will likely get jumpy readings if you have any of the probe wires laying against the ignition wires! Ask me how I know!!!!
See the yellow wire nicely bundled to the plug wires. That's the JPI oil temp probe wire. DO NOT do this! Ask me how I know! This will give you jumpy noisy readings in your oil temp data. See oil temp data graph in next pic for what it looks like.
JPI Oil temp data graph with "noise" from probe wire being right on top of ignition/plug wires. Graph courtesy of Beech Lister Tom H.
Beech Lister Tom H.'s JPI oil temp probe wire routing which gave him the jumpy readings in his data.
Todd, YOU ROCK! It's finally done and we get to make some NOISE. Our first flight using 2500 RPM, 25" MP, 11.4 GPH/Side at 1,500' MSL yielded 190 KIAS! Subsequent test flights yielded 195 KTAS at 7,000'/2400 RPM/23" MP/24.4 gph
Proof that Todd is indeed human! Can you see what's wrong in this picture? Hint: You will need to zoom in on the GAMI placards. This was the only error in an incredible amount of work! I'll gladly take Todd and Dave working on my plane anyday even if I'm not watching/helping!
Number 5 cylinder "vents", dropped #5 CHT by 20F-30F in cruise. This cylinder is typically a hot spot for the IO470 engine.
"Vents" are 1.5" diameter and from the JPI CHT data appear to be very effective in dealing with the #5 CHT hot spot.
The #6 ccooling "vent"!
23W's new Denton home. A hangar and a half unit at the southeastern end of the field.
23W at rest after a long ride where I explored the fuel efficient end of this bird's envelope. An amazing bird that will deliver 150KTAS (125KIAS) at 9,000' with 2100 RPM/17" MP/14.6 GPH allowing you to remain aloft for 7 hours with 25 gallons remaining. This flight profile also yields a 25% improvement in gas mileage!
Hand laid lead in lines with yellow duct tape are holding up pretty well so far. Update: The duct tape is finally coming loose after 5 months and +20 inches of rain. My buddy has a striping machine and I'll finally get some painted stripes put down.
Hand laid lead in lines with yellow duct tape inside the hangar are holding up pretty well. After 5 months and 20+ inches of North Texas rain the duct tape finally gave up on the outside. New lines outside the hangar are painted on with a Krylon striping machine.
Starting to get the Denton hangar organized in March 2007. This is the spot where the car will be parked when on extended trips. You've got to respect the Texas "Hail-Yeah" storms.
Flight Planning chart desk with plenty of room to get the car in for parking during extended trips.
The Denton "Bat Cave" where Batman keeps his trusty steeds! LOL
Now that the refrigerator is in place all this place needs is a sofa! LOL "Harvest Gold" double door refrigerator is over 20 years old but keeps the "refreshments" ice cold. Let's PARTY, after the flight of course!
Who wants to visit CSOB HQ now? Don't get excited folks, it's purely entertainment purposes only! LOL
The extra 1/2 hangar space is large enough to allow inside car parking for protection against the notorious Texas "Hail-Yeah" storms.
Got Peg Board???? Gotta get peg board up. I love having a 24 hour Zulu clock (thanks Aaron) and a Local Time clock. Makes telling flight service your Zulu departure time a snap.
Put some more light on the subject from the rear with a 300 watt floodlight! That box fan I got from a "hangar sale" is starting to pay dividends in the Texas heat.
Hell Yeah, it gets JUNGLE HOT in North Texas in August!
Now here's something in January at the Northern end of the country where I was working for a client. Global Warming my ass! Gimme' the Texas heat.
Ah, the frozen tundra. These temps no doubt contributed to the flattening of one my main landing gear struts. 23W was in an unheated hangar but at least a hangar. The strut was freshly serviced with 5606 fluid and Nitrogen and all became well. I was really sweating it out wondering if an entire strut reseal was going to be required. Any repairs away from home base and my ace mechanic, Dave, is unnerving.
Texas Teeter-Totter Game. What a fun state!
23W's CSOB Tug! A donation from friend/mechanic & instructor, Dave, that was sitting around in his hangar unused for quite a while. No $1,000 PowerTow tugs for this guy! Thanks Dave! Despite this unit being conventionally geared and belt clutch driven, slowly letting the clutch out with the belt drive has worked well.
Had to buy a brand new seat for it but hey, what the heck, I got such a deal on the thing...LOL Changed oil, fuel filter, spark plug and air filter.....Nothing runs like a Deere!
It took Dave and me a half day to get the Kawasaki 12.5 HP engine running. Cleaned carb, blew out fuel lines, changed fuel filter, adjusted shift linkage and welded the front tug ball mount to the frame.
Dave's special front tug frame and welding to the front frame of the tractor.
A simple bolt on the rear for any long distance tugging on the field up to the gas pumps. This has since been upgraded to a conventional hitch ball arrangement.
Fabricated this towbar to be used with the John Deere "tug" from square channel and bar stock from Home Depot. The clamping mechanism on the tow pins is from my RoboTow electric towbar.
All that's needed now is to weld a four foot length of 3/4" black pipe to the end and weld a tow ring to the other end for hanging on the ball on the tug. Total overall length will be about six feet.
All welded up with the tow ring. This will now need to be primed and painted "Remove Me" red for visibility.
OK, time to go to "Line Boy" school. Pulling out is relatively easy. Push back, well, that's a completely different story. Practice was slow and gentle, respecting the turn limit red marks on the nose gear.
The JD 160 will pull or push the Baron in 1st gear or Reverse at idle rpm, which is the speed I'll be at for a while on pushbacks. I have a new appreciation for line guys at the FBOs now!
Towbar is primed and painted "Remove Me" Red. Note the wood blocks and double thickness of pegboard to keep the wheels from getting hung up between the door tracks. Don't ask me how I know not to forget to put these in place!
The on board XM Weather box is a Garmin GPSMAP 376C auto/marine unit. A low cost alternative to the aviation based units that gives you the same Nexrad images as the big buck aviation units!. See www.semco-inc.com/CSOBCockpitWx.html for the details on this selection and how to mount it to your yoke. The device just above the GPS is a Boostaroo amplifier to give the XM Radio more volume boost through the GMA340 audio panel. Later model GMA340 Audio Panels have adjustable volume gain. See www.boostaroo.com for more info on this great little amplifier.
Strategically placed wire clips keep the external antenna and XM antenna wires neatly stowed and placed for control movement.
The external antenna wire leaves and goes forward while the XM antenna wire is routed up toward the top of the glare shield.
Wire clips once again keep dangling wire "hell" from taking over your cockpit and panel. Don't forget to remove your magnets from your XM antenna "puck". This removal procedure works well: www.numa.aero/GXM30.html
Original Beech factory control lock includes red warning cover for control levers, control lock pin and rudder gust lock all on a single lanyard.
Lanyard cable down to factory rudder gust lock pin that was given to me by a fellow Baron owner. Thanks SS!
Beech factory rudder pin locks rudder from gusty conditions. Cautionary note: When using this, the nose wheel can still be turned since it is connected to the rudder linkage by a double springed cylinder. Beech engineers thought of everything!
Panel March 2007. One of these days I'll pull all the instruments out and give the panel a fresh coat of paint.
New placards for Radar Altimeter, Avionics Master, Aux Avionics & Volt/Amp Gauge and Alternator Out done by www.engravers.net See the Alternator Out configuration write up at: http://www.geocities.com/semco_inc/aviation-pdfs#AltOutLight
This is the back of a Delco 50 Amp Alternator showing the "R" terminal for the Alternator Out light circuit and the "F" terminal for the field voltage that excites the alternator. See the Alternator Out configuration write up at: http://www.semco-inc.com/aviation-pdfs#AltOutLight
Connector used to configure Alternator Out lights on the Baron Delco alternator "R" terminal. Usually found at National Aviation Parts of America (NAPA)! See the Alternator Out configuration write up at: http://www.semco-inc.com/aviation-pdfs#AltOutLight
Pilot Panel night view. Not bad for a combination of post lights and internally illuminated instruments.
Panel June 2007 with Alternator Out Push-to-Test lights below DG. Have to get red lenses for those lights. I found some blue ones at www.asod.com Does anyone have any red ones to trade? The JPI alarm light, an amber Push-to-Test, is directly below the center of the DG. Sorry for the glare in the picture, I should have closed the hangar doors.
Guest Model 2620 Battery Charger/Maintainer. Never overcharges and handles two 12V batteries separately with a total of 20 amps on tap! Enough for gear swings and for work at the avionics shop or when uploading a database to your GPS.
Guest Model 2620 Battery Charger/Maintainer 24 Volt. See the Guest Catalog Here: www.semco-inc.com/aviation-pdfs/GuestBatteryChargerCatalog.pdf
This is the nose gear door rod and actuator cam. That flat end on the left side of the cam must be firmly planted on the "L" shaped piece that is on the left side of the inner wall when the gear is down and locked. If your gear door rods are ever removed it is easy to reassemble them to the gear doors in such a way that the cam is slightly turned counterclockwise and the flat part of the cam will not be flush with the "L" piece. You will then have nose gear doors that do not close properly.
This is a Cleveland 30-66 brake caliper that uses a 66-44 brake lining. The gap between the caliper and the lining backing plate can be used as a makeshift brake lining wear indicator. The groove in a NEW pad measured 0.100", so as this gap approaches 0.200" the pad material would be getting pretty thin. A good check to make on your pre-flights from time to time, or as you are checking tire pressure.
"Beech List Brotherhood" identifier on left main. Thanks Fred, I feel like a real member now. Hope I can meet the model for that picture someday, maybe she'll even agree to become my right seater? Wishful thinking <vbg>!
"Beech List Brotherhood" identifier on right main. Thanks Fred, I feel like a real member now!
OK Folks, here are some settings that I use to maximize my range and keep fuel costs low. 10,000'/8.2gph per side/19"MP/2150RPM/137KIAS/12C. My TAS was around 162KTS for a whopping 9.5 nm/gal. Not too shabby for a B55, IMHO.
Now that's a good Baron fuel economy day with 162KTAS and about 160KT ground speed. Pretty decent for a B55 running 16.4 gph at 10,000'.
In flight panel shot at 10,000' with my maximum range power settings. Note that I am going to run the aux tanks down 'till they "burp". My Sony CCD was failing, sorry for the rose colored tint. Sony repaired the camera no-charge! Nice job Sony!
OK, so I let the altitude go 150' over assigned. Good thing it was not an ATP checkride, LOL! You can just about make out the 137KIAS airspeed while I'm at my range extending cruise burn of 16.4 GPH and running the aux tanks to empty.
23W's In Flight Entertainment System! Clears both control wheels and makes those long trips flying at best economy cruise settings so much more relaxing.
Portable DVD player mounts nicely with included straps over the back of the dual control yoke. Rear seat passengers have a decent view or could have their own unit strapped to one of the headsets. All audio is piped to the headsets through the Garmin audio panel.
In Flight Entertainment source: Sam's Club. Two units that will play two different DVDs or display the same one on both screens!
Here's my buddy's KMD150 disassembled to expose the battery for replacement. The battery has already been removed from this unit. It lays on top of the square titled "Lithium Battery". More info on battery sources here: http://www.csobeech.com/skyforce.html
A close up view of my buddy's KMD-150, where the replacement battery will be soldered onto the board. Remember to get a battery with "axial" connections. This is a battery with the little wires already soldered onto it. More info on battery sources here: http://www.csobeech.com/skyforce.html
See my Static Cling Tint Film write up here: http://www.csobeech.com/windowtint.html
20% Visible Light Transmittance is great on the center and rear windows. To me, 20% was a little too dark for night ops. I put 35% film on the front windows and I'm pleased with that level for night ops.
In this hangar light and angle the tint shows a slight purplish tint. Outside in full sunlight it does not show any of the purplish tones.
Talk about Ramp Presence!
Talk about Ramp Presence! I get a lot of positive comments about the tinted window look.
When you've got +90F ramp temps in severe clear sunshine, the interior temps are quite lower with the 20% and 35% combination on the side windows.
Yeah, it does look good doesn't it? You want it don't you? The tint film on your plane I mean! LOL
B55 mounting location for nose HID balast box. Note rubber isolation mounts, a belt and suspenders approach possibly. Also note the remote GPS antenna for the Garmin 376C, which has great signal reception under the fiberglass nose cone. Just a high gain unit from Ebay @ $15! The box mounted on the wall is a 15 amp voltage converter that was originally installed to support the Narco AT50A transponder. It now supports an AT155 transponder. Individually circuit protected of course. More HID install info here: http://www.csobeech.com/hid-nose.html
Close up of the Phillips 35W HID ballast box. See more HID install details here: http://www.csobeech.com/hid-nose.html
A nice mounting location for a Bonanza. This particular installation is on an N35 Bonanza using the XeVision HID Kit.
A Beech Lister's HID nose bowl installation. Very Sweet!
A B58 PAR-36 wing cavity HID install. See more HID install info here: http://www.csobeech.com/hid-nose.html
Some rubber moulding to help isolate vibration in this area is never a bad idea.
Rivnut installation to mount your ballast box. Man, I really like that cool little rivnut tool!
Ballast box and wire routing for HID bulb. Note the rubber isolation mounts, a good idea. Available a hot rod/speed shops for mounting high performance ignition boxes under the hood. Also, the wires can be routed underneath and behind the panel for the lamp with a little fishing, thereby avoiding the hole at 10 o'clock..
HID Bulb and housing is deeper than conventional incandescent bulbs but the depth was no problem in this B58 wing cavity.
All mounted up and ready for the Moment of Truth!
Yeah! That's what I'm talkin' about! Run it all the time with no worries for heat melting your lenses or load on the electrical system at idle and an additional measure of be seen safety.
A Bonanza wing cavity in preparation for the PAR-46 HID Bulb from http://www.duckworksav.com/personalsite/BeechLights.html See all the PAR-46 install pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/michaelcaban/PAR46HIDInstall
Another view of the Bonanza PAR-46 cavity in the leading edge of the wing.
The HID ballast box is pretty close to the outside edge of the PAR-46 bulb. It could probably be OK but this owner tells me that they decided to mount the ballast box on the lower wing skin with a doubler plate and rubber isolation feet.
End result of a B55 PAR-36 wing install.
PAR-36 ballast box closeup in B55 wing cavity.
Pilot side PAR-36 HID install in B55 wing cavity.
Close up of B55 PAR-36 wing install.
Ballast box mounting on pilot side. PAR-36
Stop spending $20 each for your spark plugs! STC Numbers listed for the perfect CSOB Spark Plug: the BG-341. Available at Aircraft Spruce for about $11 and on Ebay brand new sealed packages, sometimes as low as $1-$2 each in volumes like 30-50 plugs.
This is a really good ceramic heater set up to warm your instruments and the rest of the cabin in very cold northern winter climates. More info at: http://www.csobeech.com/interior-csob.html
Another way to mount the ceramic heater. The sides of the case don't even get hot and it wedges between the seats so well that it will not move.
Another view of between the front seats mounting of the Honeywell HZ-315 1500 watt Ceramic Heater. The HZ-315 is available at Fleet Farm and Amazon.com for in the $20 price range.
My Redline ST-1 Towbar with its patent pending Wedge-Loc axle fitting.
The Redline ST-1 Towbar with STIFFY mechanism in the forward pumping position.
The red lever of the STIFFY when pulled back disengages the footpad from the tire.
Here the red lever is forward to engage the STIFFY footpad into contact with the tire. In this position (red lever facing pavement) the STIFFY is ready to help pull the plane forward.
Here is the pin and clip that must be removed to rotate the STIFFY 180 degrees to pump the plane backwards.
The STIFFY is now being configured to pump the plane in the rearward direction. Note that the red lever is pulled back (toward the operator) to lift the friction pad off the tire while the pin is placed in and the clip is secured.
The red lever is now forward (toward tire) which places the friction pad in contact with the tire and we are securing the pin clip.
Placing the STIFFY into the Redline ST-1 or BE-3 Towbars simply involves sliding the stiffy into the towbar handle end and inserting the pin through the pre-drilled hole in Redline's towbars.
The Redline STIFFY is designed to easily fit into their ST-1 and BE-3 towbars without any modifications. See all Redline's products at www.redlineaviation.com Buy your Redline Aviation products at http://stores.ebay.com/Redline-Aviation-Towbars
The Redline STIFFY mechanism. A 1-pound mechanical dynamo! This is like giving your Redline Towbar a Viagra pill! Designed and manufactured in the USA. See all Redline's products at www.redlineaviation.com Buy your Redline Aviation products at http://stores.ebay.com/Redline-Aviation-Towbars
The Redline ST-1 Power Tow adapter rod for connection to your Redline Towbar and any tug needing a round ring attachment fitting. This adapter rod adds tremendous leverage to your STIFFY equipped towbar and is easily carried in my baggage compartment and is lightweight 4130 steel tubing. See all Redline's products at www.redlineaviation.com Buy your Redline Aviation products at http://stores.ebay.com/Redline-Aviation-Towbars
Sightline down the adapter rod showing the tremendous amount of extra leverage you can achieve with your STIFFY.
Full length sightline of the 36" ST-1 Power Tow Adapter rod and the ST-1 with STIFFY.
Now I can PUMP my B55 instead of HUMPING it!
23W single engine practice after gear retraction!
Beech Gear Retraction Video! Nope it's not my landing gear, my gear wells are not that dirty <grins>.
Beech Gear Extension Video! Nope it's not my landing gear, my gear wells are not that dirty <grins>.
B17 Visits Denton for a few sorties.
B17 Takeoff from KDTO!
Now this is a Butt Ugly Landing! Man that is going to leave a mark on somebody!
Pike's Peak visit during ABS 2006 Convention.
Another Pike's Peak shot 14,100' MSL. That was a supplemental oxygen wake up call. Lots of people stumbling around and driving cars. Be careful up there!
This is the way to see a sunset.
Short Final into 0F8 in the Tulsa area.
South Florida where you have to wear shorts 11 months of the year.
Sunset at KEVB, New Smyrna Beach.
You gotta' love the blue water! The boat rental guys were hoping the tourist (me) would buy boat insurance. When I didn't they watched like vultures while I maneuvered in their tight harbor slip and out the narrow channel to open water. HA, HA, HA, they watched as an experienced Great Lakes mariner maneuvered with ease.
A great island hideaway cottage. Email me for contact details for this Bahamian cottage.
Abaco Sunset.
Yours truly in Bahamian Paradise! I highly recommend Abaco Island and Hope Town.
More blue Bahamian Atlantic Ocean water! Places N2023W has taken me.
Another Abaco Sunset. Brought to you by N2023W!
Cottage with a Bahama view.
Key West, where chickens rule!
Duval Street in Key West.
St. Augustine Fort in background.
Some welcome shade at Jumbolair Estates, John Travolta's place. If you are ever in south Florida you've got to experience this fly-in destination: http://www.jumbolair.com/brunch.htm
St. Pete/John's Pass Sunset, Memorial Day 2008
My first flight instructor (on the left), 13 years later he's finally smiling because the guy who bought a Beech Sierra as his first airplane, to learn to fly in, learned well and transitioned nicely with his training to a Baron. Thanks Jeff, you taught me well!
Leaving Travolta's Place at Jumbolair (17FL http://www.airnav.com/airport/17FL ) in Ocala, FL. This is where he bases his Boeing 707. Note the fuel tanker truck on the property!
23W's Virginia base of operations.
Mom & Dad July 2007 at W78 hangar.
Happy New Year 2007 to me. Achieved the ATP rating just in the nick of time! My written test expired on 12/31/2006 (you do NOT want to take this written test a second time) and I finally found an examiner who was rated to do an ATP ride in a Baron AND would do it on New Year's Eve! Thanks Kendall, you're an awesome examiner! Talk about pressure for me.
'Nuf said! LOL
Because, not all FSDOs are created equal!
I clean up pretty good! Do you need Sales/Marketing/Business Development/Product or Project Management assistance in Industrial Manufacturing related industries, please give me an opportunity to discuss your needs or make a referral. Need a Baron/Travel Air Ferry Pilot or Safety Pilot while you freshen up your flying skills, practice approaches or I'll fly right seat with you on a long Trip? Give me a call for Reasonable Commercial Multi-Engine Day Rates! http://www.michaelcaban.com
