Seneca Vs. Duchess

[cvsfly]

Be nice to the Turbo-Charged engines on the Seneca. If you've never flown turbo-charged engines before, get a little dual on them. They are very temperature sensative, and you don't want to pull back the throttles too quickly or else you may shock-cool the motors.

JetPilot500

I don't think the Seneca I is turbo-charged. Seneca II is. Either way they handle similar to Arrows/Lances/Saratogas just with 2 eng.

 

[JimNtexas]

It's a lot more ponderous than a Dutchess, it doesnt have the nice crisp Beechcraft control feel. It's no harder to fly though,just not as much fun IMHO.

 

[cjh]

>>"If you turn on the "nav" lights, you may not see the "three green" gear lights at all, since they get "dimmed" automatically. If you think you have a gear problem, check those nav lights FIRST."<<

Have to laugh at that one! I did my multi training in a Seminole and that was a trick my instructor pulled a couple of times on approach! It came up again last year when I was right seat in another Seminole. The pilot flying thought we had gear problems. I chuckled as I told him to check the nav lights. Sure enough, "gear" problem solved.


I also thought that not all Senecas were turbocharged. They definitely feel more like the Navajo in nose-heaviness. Also, I think all the Senecas are CR same as the Duchess.

Between the tips from BigD and Timebuilder you should be fine. As an option, you might check with Jack O'Neil, and see if he's free to go along. You'll learn a ton!

cj

 

[Pilotadjuster]

gear lights

Not a seneca comment, but you can do the same thing with the dimmer switch in an Arrow, which my instructor did to me turning final. He asked me just short of the numbers if I had checked gear down again, and when I looked down--big panic sets in...I went around and got it when he started laughing as he turned the lights back up on crosswind. Great learning experience I guess--I always chant the "three in the green" over the numbers now...

He related a story years ago in an Arrow I or II when he and the owner were doing touch and gos and heard a big "thump" when they got into ground effect. They elected to go around and realized it was the auto-extend system saving their ass... Too bad that system has been sued out of existence. I really like it on the II because you can lock it out if you want for short fields.

 

[jball2]

I instructed in Seneca 1s. I would like to add that they are fairly nose heavy in the flare. Just something to remember!

 

[Timebuilder]

It's a little nose heavy, especially if you aren't used to the feel of the airplane. For landing, I would (field length permitting) leave just a little throttle in for the flare, and then take out that small bit of remaining throttle right before touchdown.

When you pull the power all the way to idle, you get a lot of "flat plate drag" from the props, which are now being spun by the relative wind. Keeping that little bit of throttle helps you keep a good landing attitude into the flare, and then you are set up for a nice "greaser".

Oh, and stay above Vmc, okay? We can still see the spot in the neighbor's backyard near RDG where a guy nosed-in a Navajo a couple of years ago. Inverted.

 

[mckpickle]

The nav lights are GOOD advice. My school had both a seneca and dutchess. I liked the duchess best for training because of the unfeathering accumulators. The seneca doesn't have them and led to more than one single engine landings. The seneca was a heavy feeling airplane though. Sloppy at slow speeds yes but very stable at cruise and in turbulence. One other thing, If I had to choose between a duchess and seneca in ice (well i'd really take neither) I'd have to go with the seneca. Granted its not a good position to be in but that thing can hold a load of ice.

On the landing for the seneca, try trimming it so that you ned to hold forward pressure on final, that way in the flare its not as nose heavy. If you dont it can sometimes take two hands to flare it out. Also the controll collum will pull out and then slightly UP. It can be very nose heavy without baggage or people in the back.

Good luck and have fun. Write back with any more questions.

 

[414Flyer]

On the landing for the seneca, try trimming it so that you ned to hold forward pressure on final, that way in the flare its not as nose heavy. If you dont it can sometimes take two hands to flare it out. Also the controll collum will pull out and then slightly UP. It can be very nose heavy without baggage or people in the back.

Good luck and have fun. Write back with any more questions.

Yeah the Seneca II that I flew, with one person up front, full fuel, and nothing in the back, would be out of limits forward with CG.

 

[TwinTails]

414flyer,

Quit talking trash you've never even seen a seneca let alone been the pilot of one.

 

[414Flyer]

ummmmm yeahhhhhhhhh sure