Hi Ron,

Ah, if it's that famous, or infamous Davey Jones, regarding that locker then the spelling's Davy Jones, don't know why, but that's how it's always been spelt. As to me, I really don't mind, honest. I had a guy in work used to send me e-mails and he'd address me as Davey. Although, he used to try and shorten everyone's name!!!

So using Davey is fine with me. Just not Davy as that's linked to that blasted locker!!!

Now and again, when I do want to stand out a bit, after all, having a name like David Jones is such a commonly used name, that I just take off the D and use Davi instead of Davey.

Hope you and your son had a good weekend of flying?

All the best,

Davi

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the tips on flightsafety and also insurance.

You say that your location is SW, is that South Wales? Hence the offer to help with the ferry flight back to Wales?

My wife and I are going to be doing our PPL with Aeros based at Cardiff. They have a Piper Seneca and we've been thinking that after getting our PPLs we'll get the twin rating on the Seneca first and then do IMC and night training on this airplane so that we start building hours on a twin. We've been thinking of around 300hrs before moving off the Seneca to a King Air. We've not ruled out after getting our twin rating of moving onto a Baron to build our twin time. It may be the better option with the insurance on a King Air being high for low timers.

I see you fly a King Air yourself. Some of the guys have been helpful in explaining prop pitch to me. However, I still don't fully understand what the condition levers do and the low and high settings on them? Also, what the detents on the thrust levers are for?

Wishing you blue sky and strong tail winds,

Dave

Hi Dave

I'm in the southwest USA, not South Wales, although I've been there a few times.
I did a couple of mountain bike races in Margam Park(sp?)

The explanations about thrust levers and condition levels can get quite complicated if you haven't had any flight training yet. I recommend getting the King Air book by Tom Clements, you'll see him on these forums from time to time and I'm sure he would send a copy over to you.
In a nut shell however, the condition levers control the fuel supply to the engines and therefore control the core engine speed(N1). This allows you to accommodate higher generator loads on the ground without having to use the thrust levers to do so.
Now that you have the condition levers doing their thing, the detents in thrust levers are used for changing the blade angle on the ground coupled with some power when reverse and or beta is selected.

Your idea about a Baron is a good one, I have a few hundred hours in one and the transition to a King Air wouldn't be so hard. It's a great plane and will knock the socks off that Seneca you might fly.

Anyway, keep us posted how you get on, good luck too. Come on over and do some flying with us over here while you are building those hours.

All the best.
Paul

Hi Paul,

Margam Park is a nice place. Although, if you like your gardens the next time you're over have a visit to the National Botanical Garden of Wales which is just outside Swansea, it's got the largest free standing glass dome in the world!

Thanks for the tip about Tom Clements' King Air book. I tried to find it on Amazon and couldn't. I finally found it on Lulu.com. So when I get some time I'll take a good look.

So that's what the condition levers do. Similar to the LOP/ROP lever(s) on Bonanzas and Barons. I understand about N1, being the gas turbine and N2 being the power turbine. So this is why I've seen the one condition lever moved to high idle on startup, it's so the engine being started is generating enough oomph to power the generator and hydraulics for the cross-gen start of the other engine. Then the levers are brought back to the mid setting for flight, similar to LOP on Bonanzas and Barons.

Yes, that's what I've been thinking as well. The Baron is a great plane and from what I've read on BT, it's got great range too. I've read that people get them down to under 11gph per side when cruising using LOP. It's just that the club have Seneca Vs and we'd need them to get our twin rating. Then moving onto a Baron sounds nice to do. The Seneca V has a higher FL at FL250, but a shorter range due to those turbos.

I'll be keeping you guys in the loop as we start our PPL training in the Spring. I'll start a thread on BT so we can share the experience. I hope the instructor has nerves of steel

Clear skies and tailwinds,

Davi