Beechcraft Baron!

[Grumman guy]

I dont know what it is but, after all the airplanes I have flown (more than a few less than some) nothing puts a smile on my face like the beechcraft baron. I got to fly one today and have not done so for a while and found myself grinning uncontrollably from ear to ear.

Does anybody feel me on this or what?

 

[Big Dog]

Barons rule! It's God's piston twin.

 

[Say Again Over]

Great sounding engines!:beer:

 

[paulsalem]

To quote groundpointsix:

The Cessna 414 controls are very heavy, but somehow still very sloppy.

Inversly all beachcraftcraft products seem to be very light, and tight on the controls.
(Like a good woman)

 

[Lead Sled]

Most of my Baron time (1000+ hours) was in a 56TC – the short “55” fuselage with the 380 hp Duke engines – it was a real rocket ship, if not the most fuel efficient airplane in the sky. I also have a few hundred hours in a B55 Barons and a little time in a 58P (Which IMHO wasn’t nearly the airplane the other Barons are.) I’ve never flown a 58 or 58TC, but if they’re ½ as nice as the other Barons they've got to be good machines.

'Sled

 

[urflyingme?!]

I got my Multi ni a Baron, woohoooooo!

It flies like a dream, that's all I can say...

 

[JimG]

I dont know what it is but, after all the airplanes I have flown (more than a few less than some) nothing puts a smile on my face like the beechcraft baron. I got to fly one today and have not done so for a while and found myself grinning uncontrollably from ear to ear.

Does anybody feel me on this or what?

Yep....just this afternoon when I took my C340 up for a test drive after it's annual inspection being completed last week.

I took my wife along with me, and she was grinning from ear to ear just watching me act like a little kid at Christmas.

I worried about missing my old bonanza, but I never get tired of flying that airplane, unlike the 414, I find the 340 very responsive and light for the size of the plane.

I've read a few things about the 56TC being hot/fast.

 

[Grumman guy]

The 56TC is the sh$# the fastest production recip twin ever made. My personal favorite is the D55. Best of all worlds. Handles like a 55 with 58 horsies.

 

[Lead Sled]

The 56TC is the sh$# the fastest production recip twin ever made. My personal favorite is the D55. Best of all worlds. Handles like a 55 with 58 horsies.

A straight 55 was just as fast as the 56TC up to about 8,000' or so, but after that there was no contest. To give you some idea of how the airplane performed, the original airframe was basicially the old Beech Travel Air which uses 180 hp Lycs on each wing for a total of 360 hp. The 56TC had 380 hp on each wing! The story goes that Beech used a 55 Baron as a flying test bed for the Duke engine installation. When one of the company executives flew the airplane he had to have one and they ended up building a few.

When I was checked out in the airplane we topped off the tanks, had 4 people on board, and put sandbags in the baggage compartment to bring us up to maximum gross takeoff weight. At that weight, the airplane had about a 500 fpm rate of climb with gear down, full flaps, and a wind-milling engine. It was the closest thing to piston-powered jet performance I've ever seen. The checkpilot had me shut one down in flight and we still were able to true out at around 185 kts. It was faster on one engine than our Aztec was on two.

Oh well, it was fun to fly, but I'd hate to have to pay the fuel bill for it now.

'Sled

 

[UnstableAviator]

Out of the 30 or so different makes of airplanes I've flown, the Baron handles better than any of them. Beech nailed the control feel and stability on that design.