Congrats and enjoy it. The tube is a fun and rewarding airplane to fly. Don't let Buff razz you too much either. Someone recently decided to let him fly again and he was seen trying to taxi the tug out before someone reminded him what an airplane looked like.
Some nice numbers for the tube:
1. In the sim 4 degrees pitch up is your magic number. When in doubt and throughout your manuevers return the 4 degrees for level flight. Not so in the real thing. 1-2 degrees nose up in real life.
2. To set your airspeed subtract 100 kts from the desired airspeed and divide by 2. That will give you a target TQ setting. For example, if you desire 240kts then -100 = 140/2 = 70 TQ. Kinda cumbersome at first, but works well when you get used to it.
3. For constant airspeed descents subtract 10% TQ per side for every 500 fpm you wish to descend. So if you're doing 200 kts (50 TQ) and desire a 1000 fpm descent then 30 TQ per side will work nicely.
4. Between FL 180-210 is your cruise sweet spot at 610 EGT and 97 % rpm. You can take it higher, but are losing out if you aren't running speeds high.
5. For loading: 800 lbs or less put it all in bay 4 or 5(expediter). 800-2000 lbs put it in bays 2-3 or 3-4(expediter). Any heavier than that and you need to start in bay 1.
6. To set your pressurization divide your altitude by three and set that for your cabin altitude. You can work from there.
7. If your nosewheel steering is deferred try taxiing speeds high. It makes a huge difference.
There's a lot more to it, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Maybe some other deathpencil drivers can chime in with other good advice.
