It had been 18 months since I piloted an airplane by myself. And this one was very different than my Citation Mustang. Six power levers instead of two. New Garmin avionics with switches in all new places. My “new to me” 1981 P Baron didn’t even burn the same kind of fuel. But, after one week of training with Doug Moss, it was time to see if I could do it.
I waited for almost a week before the dreary, 500-foot overcast skies lifted over Dallas. It had to be perfect weather. Except for the wind that is. A cold front was approaching from the northwest creating a substantial pressure gradient and low-level turbulence. But I couldn’t wait any longer. I was forgetting things each day I procrastinated.
So, on a windy Saturday morning, I arrived at the FBO to supervise fueling. Too many horror stories of jet fuel being pumped into piston fuel tanks have changed my procedures. I did a walkaround twice, looking for anything that might cause a problem. Sitting in the cockpit, I looked closely at my strangely unfamiliar surroundings. Starting a piston engine is a little like playing the piano.
And I don’t play the piano.
But it all worked as promised, and soon I was taxiing down Alpha. “November five eight Papa Zulu, let us know if you see any Coyotes,” came the request from the tower. Staying on centerline in a 20-knot crosswind and looking for Coyotes was challenging. Why is that Alternator Out light on? Perhaps because I forgot to turn it on after engine start. Oops. That’s what the checklist is for.
The departure off Addison’s runway 16 is pretty demanding, including an immediate left turn of 110 degrees and a level off at 1300 feet AGL while staring directly into a blinding morning sun.
On climb out, I noticed the cabin was not pressurizing. At least not like the Mustang did at three times the climb rate. What did Doug say about that? Wait, Doug is not here today. I will have to figure this one out myself. The guttural roar of the 325 horsepower Continentals, 40 inches of manifold pressure, and the incumbent vibration of propellers spinning at 2700 rpm take some getting used to.
With climb power set, everything settled down, including me.
It’s a pleasure to actually see the landscape under your wings at 15,000 feet versus 40,000 feet in the Citation. And travelling in the non-flight levels, you get to talk to a lot more controllers. They seem to be more relaxed, too.
Things began to fall into place, and soon I could push the Garmin buttons in almost the correct order.
An hour later, it was time for my first landing in gusty 27-knot winds. The Citation goes pretty much where you point it. The P Baron not so much. I used a couple of muscles I wasn’t aware of to keep things sorted out. But it was a decent landing. And after being tested by Doug in 35-knot west Texas winds, this one didn’t seem so bad at all.
Welcome to the PBaron world.
Fly safe.
