Twin Beech Video For You Pilots Out There

[t6dpilot]

Was havin' some fun last weekend with the camera and took a few quick shots of the Beech flying during the "magic hour." Not fancy video and editing - just a quickie for fun. I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxJ06hsscqY

[pwd72s]

Way cool! When the engine first ran, Cindy was near the computer, but not in eyesight range. Hearing the engine, she said; "What's that? A funny car?"

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Looks fun - love the old school twins!

[cgarr]

Now that's flying!

[Oh Haha]

A question for you pilots:

Is the engine as loud In the cockpit as it sounds outside?

I hear planes overhead with loud exhaust and can't believe you could even concentrate.

[slodave]

It's pretty loud. There is sound proofing, but it adds weight, so there is a careful balance. Some of us have noise canceling headsets

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Bose Aviation X.

I value my hearing. It was a very wise investment given I was flying very noisy piston twin freighters with all the soundproofing and insulation ripped out of them. Without a headset in one of those, it was skull-shattering loud in those cockpits. Even with a (passive) headset it was still pretty loud (I also have and occasionally use a David Clark, which is a good passive headset). But nothing compares to the active noise-cancelling capability of the Bose. Lightspeed is pretty good too.

The only caveat is that without batteries (or with dead ones), the Bose Aviation X is worthless. The passive sound-dampening ability is pretty low. One of the reasons I always toted my David Clark around "just in case". Not as good as the active Bose, but I was concerned that if the Bose ever died on me or I ever forgot to change the battery, I'd still have something left of my hearing after the flight by pulling out the DC and putting it on. It wasn't as good, but it was good enough to fly more-or-less undistracted by the noise levels and preserve one's hearing.

I believe the new versions of the Bose can be hardwired into the airplane's circuitry, although I have my concerns about that too (in an emergency requiring you to shut the master off, do you really want to be dealing with uncomfortable/unfamiliar/distracting noise levels too?)

YMMV. "What's the best headset" is like all those discussions on the 911 board about "what's the best oil?"

[daepp]

Q1. Is it as loud as the video makes it seem?

Q2. Stupid question - flat 4, 6 or radial?

Q3. Which Beech is it? Avionics make me think it's not a B-18???

Q4. Isn' t that a lot of gauges to keep track of?

Q5. How do you make sure the props are turning at the same speed? Are there 2 tachs?

[ted]

What was it a Be-18, the widowmaker?
On a jump seat ride on a DC-3 it was very difficult to hear the pilots talk from right behind them.
The jump seat was just a hinged piece of wood with a single stick hinged leg.
happy landings.

[t6dpilot]

Yeah, she is loud inside, but not toooo bad. It would help with the Bose headsets though. I find that the DC's are just fine even for long trips. The video may sound louder than normal because my father is shooting it and the vent window on his side was open a crack, so you can hear a lot of wind noise.

Yes that is a Beech 18 - 1957 model G with an H cockpit roof. The H roof is higher and gives more head room. Dual gauges for anything relating to the motors. If you look closely at the panel, you will see two tachos. To keep them sync'd there is a small wheel in one that spins left and right. Spinning to the right means the right engine revs are a little higher, so pull the prop lever back a hair. If you do not do this then the motors are out of sync and make a ton of annoying noise.

The great thing about the twin Beech is that is does have lots of levers and gauges to play with. Throttle, mixture, prop, manifold heat, oil cooler shutters, cowl flaps, oil bypass, ect., ect. Fun stuff. You do see some modern stuff in there (IFR Garmin 430) as this bird is equipped to fly in almost any weather including known icing. She is pretty much relegated to the same duty as most of our (Pelicans') Porsches - pleasure flying in nice weather.

[Les Paul]

Local oilman with his new toy. I have to figure out a way to snag a ride on this beast. The guy in the purple sweatshirt got a ride the day I took this picture. He said it was like having sex with a movie star. The p-ssy is the same but the ride, well the ride.

[widgeon13]

Another nice twin Beech (Bonanza).



Saw a P-51 taking off from one of our local airports and not sure who owns it but supposedly a local owner. Hope to get it to our August fly-in at K09. As for a ride, I'll see who owns it and how they fly it before I venture a ride.

Sometimes deep pockets exceed good piloting skills, not good in any aircraft.

[Tim Hancock]

How much does that sucker eat? 35 gph?

[t6dpilot]

T-bones... Love them, but those darned geared 470's. Can be a o/h nightmare. Sexy machine for sure. Well, being a warbird pilot, the -51 beats a T-bone hands down, every day in the sexy dept.

Tim, I flight plan 50 gph block to block. At altitude with it leaned back, you can get those puppies to 19 ish per hr each. $100 hamburgers? Yeah, right. I may try for a last minute get away to OSH this year and will most likely take that. Look for a cream with two toned turquoise TB. It is the only one with that color scheme.

[t6dpilot]

Oh yeah, I said two tachs, ect. Sorry, I meant there are dual indications for each engine. Some are individual gauges others are one gauge, but two needles. The tachs and MP gauges are single gauges with dual needles, but my brain sees them as separate L & R gauges. Funny how that works...

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by t6dpilot

took a few quick shots of the Beech flying during the "magic hour." Not fancy video and editing - just a quickie for fun. I hope you enjoy it.

Nice! I always thought this was a Beech, but apparently it's not:

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by t6dpilot

T-bones... Love them, but those darned geared 470's. Can be a o/h nightmare. Sexy machine for sure. Well, being a warbird pilot, the -51 beats a T-bone hands down, every day in the sexy dept.

Tim, I flight plan 50 gph block to block. At altitude with it leaned back, you can get those puppies to 19 ish per hr each. $100 hamburgers? Yeah, right. I may try for a last minute get away to OSH this year and will most likely take that. Look for a cream with two toned turquoise TB. It is the only one with that color scheme.

I will keep an eye out for it in the area I typically see these things parked (kind of near the Hangar Cafe).

[t6dpilot]

That is a great shot. I wonder how they got that. With the WA lens, you would have to be flying pretty darn close. No, that is not a Twin Beech. Maybe a DC-2 or -3. Could be a Lockheed Loadstar.