Recurrent Training Center

Champaign, IL (CMI)

March 29 to April 1, 2004 I attended classes at Recurrent Training Center to learn how to fly my new Baron. Well, actually, it was to satisfy an insurance requirement, but in the process I learned about the systems in the new airplane. In particular, the turbocharger and pressurization systems.

My insurance company requires that I have 35 hours of dual instruction from an instructor who has also gone through this training. So Dave Pearson and I took these classes together.

The first day we spent together with an instructor going over Baron 58P systems. The second and subsequent days were split between watching videos and taking computer-based tests and flying in the simulator.

Simulator sessions were designed to give real world scenarios of possible equipment failures. There were no "right answers" but rather the missions presented the pilot with both tests of skill (determining that an instrument had failed, then flying the plane without it) and opportunities to exercise judgment. Some decisions lead to being deeper in trouble, others provided a quick exit from the situation. By making a combination of good and bad decisions, it is hoped that the pilot will learn from his mistakes and make better decisions in the air when lives are at stake.

Baron 58TC Simulator

This simulator is modeled on the Baron 58TC, the non-pressurized version of my airplane. You can tell from the dual yokes that it's a post-1984 model, which makes it slightly different from my 1980 model Baron (see pictures elsewhere on this site).

Instructor's position behind the co-pilot seat.

The instructor sits behind the co-pilot seat and can control all the airplanes systems. The general process was to position you at the departure end of the runway, let you take off and climb to altitude, then skip the boring parts of the trip (flying straight and level along the airways) and position you near the end of the trip where all the fun begins. Along the way, instruments fail, ground-based facilities fail, and weather changes. 

Typical starting position at the end of the runway, ready to depart

One complaint was that things weren't always working well in the sim. As you can see above, one of the screens providing a view out the front of the airplane was down, leaving a gap in your field of vision. Since most flying is done in the clouds anyway, this wasn't much of a hindrance. Other problems, such as flaps that wouldn't go down, throttle levers that had to be split an inch or two to get equal power from both engines, and TIT gauges that functioned only when they wanted, were more irritating.

Dave gets ready for his last session in the sim

The back sides of three sims. The 58P sim is on the right. I think the other two are the twin Cessna and Piper sims. In the room past this one was the King Air sim (below). In a room to the left are two more.

King Air sim

While it wasn't necessary in order to fly the Baron, both Dave and I opted to get our high-altitude endorsement. This involved some additional classroom work related to high altitude weather, physiological conditions, and pressurization systems. Then we spent a half hour in the King Air demonstrating an emergency decent.

In the event of depressurization at pressure altitudes above 12,500' MSL, it's necessary to don an oxygen mask and get down to an altitude where supplemental oxygen isn't necessary -- quickly. The procedure is to lower the gear, lower the flaps, then roll into a 45-degree bank and descend at maximum gear/flap extended speed. In the King Air, that's 196 knots. In the 58P it's about 177 knots.

In the process of doing the emergency descent we got to learn about turbine engines. We did both a takeoff and landing of the King Air at the former Miegs Field in Chicago, including the application of reverse thrust on landing. I managed to keep the airplane on the runway for the landing.