I'm planning to come. The only question is whether I can talk my wife into joining me so we can enjoy one of your delightful B&Bs.

Steve: Good to hear from you. Was wondering what may have happened to you <grin> Hope you and the Deb are doing well.

Paul McCracken IA
AeroMark, Inc.

Hi Paul!

I'm loving the Deb. I took it back to GAMI and had John Paul ride with me after you guys replaced the induction couplings. It's VERY close now. He said there was nothing they could do to make it better! Thanks again for your quality work on that last annual. Finding the fuel leak and fixing it gave me great peace-of-mind.

Do you think you guys would be able to come see our operation at our April 19 fly-in? http://www.texomajet.com/flyin.htm. Spread the word around Aero Country for me, if you could!

Steve

I'm Dave Siciliano, fly a P-Baron outta Addison (Dallas area). Couple pics are attached.

I learned to fly courtesy of Uncle Sam back in '71. Uncle was kind enough to train me in the Huey, Cobra, OH-58 (jet ranger) and the OH-6. Gave me great training in the States and paid for me to get wonderful overseas training in Vietnam (great deal--livin off the land; learning to dodge hostile fire; and enjoying life in the AirCav.)

I got my commercial, instrument, fixed ratings while in Army flight school on weekends and nights on my own. Flew OH-58s in the North Carolina Guard for a few years; then, concentrated on making a living outside of aviation for awhile. Flew on and off over the years, but really began to fly a lot again eight or nine years ago. Joined a flying club here in Dallas which led to me purchasing a turbonormalized A-36 with tip tanks in about seven years ago. Flew all over in that plane and really loved it. Purchased the P-Baron almost three years ago with a partner. Non-stop to the East or West coast from here about once a month. Am on the board of RFC Flying Club here at Addison. Do a lot of training and have written a few aviation articles for flying Mags.

Best,

Dave

Dave,
I loved your cover article in the latest Twin and Turbine! I have come to the same conclusions regarding the performance and value of the 58P compared to what else is available with comparable performance or better. Dollar for dollar it's hard to beat! Thanks again for getting the word out.

Jerone

Thanks. A few things have come to light since then, but haven't been substantial enough to change my mind.

Some MU-2 folks have offered a ride if I pay for gas. They made a point of the fact that there is an insurer that will cover single pilot ops. But, the mainstream insurers seem to have made this a dual crew plane for folks moving up like me A hanger mate of mine flew both King Airs and MU-2s and really didn't like the MU-2 engine out ops compared to the King Air.

I was at a fly in this weekend and a good friend that is a mechanic related how folks in his trade he knows treat turbine owners a bit differently. Most of these planes are corporate in nature and the crews seem to be much less price sensitive than us piston folks Hanger fees are higher to things like King Airs (of course, they are larger) ramp fees, and he related they had a minimum change to work on one. He related a story where they pulled out a ladder to work on the plane and charged $1,200 for the use of that piece of equipment which they categorized as a platform of some sort. Going into the engine was a $10,000 minimum charge (hey! I'm just reporting. This is a credible guy.)

I'm not saying this can't be managed, but you are starting with some servicers that are used to corporate users approving expenses of this nature.

Best,

Dave

Dave,

That is quite a nice ride you have there!

Thanks! (don't tell anyone, but the pics were touched up)!

I think it's nice, but Larry Olsen thinks the ice plates look bad---see how much they detract from the look of the plane--you do see 'em, right?

Best,

Dave

Thanks! (don't tell anyone, but the pics were touched up)!

I think it's nice, but Larry Olsen thinks the ice plates look bad---see how much they detract from the look of the plane--you do see 'em, right?

Best,

Dave

Dave:

Thanks for sending the article. I really enjoyed reading it.

It doesn't matter if you are looking for a J3 Cub or a VLJ, it's always a challenge to sort out the options and possibilities.

Tom G. (Come to the fly-in this Saturday!)

Tom: I've been tryin to move something, but it doesn't look promising. I'm headed out to SIMCOM that next week to the Advanced Baron Seminar and have to get some work done sometime

Best,

Dave

I guess I should step up to the mic. First off, I don't have my PPL nor do I own an aircraft.

I'm an aviation fan and have always liked the Barons and Bonanza's. I'm 26 yrs' old, married and have an 8.5 month old son. I'm planning on taking flight lessons next year; the wife agreed to let me do it after I finish my Bachelors degree. My wife will be pursuing her PhD starting in the fall. She'll be working towards a PhD in Biomedical Sciences and hoping to specialize in Immunology and Infectious Diseases.

I spent 5 yrs. in the military between two seperate branches and traveled all over SE Asia. I've also been to Australia; Perth and Sydney were beautiful. Of the places I've been I would also like to add that Victoria British Columbia and Singapore were amazing!

Aside from my interests being in Aviation, I also have a heavy interest in computers and the outdoors.

Since my knowledge of the aviation world is minimal, I promise to keep my mouth shut unless I have an actual semi-intelligent question. I hope you guys don't mind me lurking around here. Until next time.

-Derek

Welcome.
There are several of us non-owner lurkers here. Sounds like your family has some ambitious goals. Good luck to you both! (My daughter just finished her PhD in Biomedical Engineering two weeks ago and is moving to "Bezerkly" in CA to do her post doc this weekend. Her research area is regeneration of spinal cord tissue.)

HI all!

I'm a married, 40 year old Brit living and working near Atlanta, Ga. Been over here 9 years and flying for nearly 6. Learned at our local FBO and worked through Private, Instrument, ME and Commercial. Now I fly our company Baron 58 for my employer.
Its a great airplane and has all the toys except for a Garmin suite. We have a 396 that takes care of that! Actually I have become very used to the KLN90B and Argus 7000 moving map.
The Skywatch traffic system is a big plus! For proficiency I fly it once a week regardless of our flight schedule - I usually shoot some approaches with a safety pilot and do some airwork such as slow flight, steep turns, stalls etc. Sim training is done once a year at Simcom.

The airplane is a 1998 Sn TH-1842 and has just over 1000 hours TT from new! It even smells new and I absolutely adore it!

I was very lucky to be given flight training as a work related bonus and eventually the Boss saw how he could turn this to his advantage! I fly company employees on business throughout the South East and occasionally we go North to places such as Cedar Rapids and New York. I am the sole pilot on this airplane and last year I put over 250 hours on the Baron and we're on track to do the same this time round.

There is talk of upgrading the Baron to a King Air 90 - we've looked at a couple of C90B's and the 90GT - they also mentioned a Citation Mustang, but it has yet to materialise!
Even though maintenance is expensive, I think the Baron is probably one of the sturdiest and most stable light twins I have ever flown and so far everyone is impressed with its performance. It seems you have to spend a huge amount of extra money to go a little bit faster and higher than the Baron so I think the bean counters will probably have us stay with what we have for now.

Other rides have been: 1959 Travelair, 1980 B55 (with IO-550 engines - what a rocket!), Chieftain (truck!), Seneca, Bonanza A36 and a smattering of other singles.

I have enjoyed reading the posts and promise to send pics of our Baron as soon as I figure out how to work my wife's digital camera!

Best regards


Guy

As requested - here are pics of N244BD S/N Th-1842. I wheeled her out this afternoon to get it ready for a trip tomorrow to KCDN.
Please enjoy!

Guy