Duchess Tips & Tricks

[Cpt_Kirk]

I'm starting my training on the Duchess here in the next week. Does anyone have any tips or tricks to help in the transition from single to multi? Does it have any idiosyncrasies I should know about? Special flows? Anything that it does "different" that you've noticed. I don't expect anything crazy. I'm going over the POH now.

General Duchess thread.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Fearless Tower]

What are you used to going into it?

Like most Beech planes, it is very easy to land. Nice stable airplane to fly. Counter-rotating props make engine out training fairly benign.

Unlike Bonanzas and Barons, the gear is hydraulic (trapped hydraulic pressure is what holds the wheels up). Emergency gear extension doesn't need a hand crank- you twist a valve in the floor and that releases the pressure/drops the gear.

Other oddities is that there are 3 'squat' switches (or what look like squat switches), one on each gear. Those switches are for the indicator lights only. A pressure switch in the pitot system is what keeps the gear from coming up on the ground.

That is what I recall off the top of my head. I really enjoyed flying the Duchess. Good useful load for hauling my family around for weekend trips while building ME time.

 

[frfly172]

Be careful on taxi. Gear is rather high and can be tough in high speed tight turns while in taxi. Great airplane for step up to multi rating. Simple systems ,engine out no problem with counter rotating props.

 

[Fearless Tower]

Just remembered an important point: prop clearance is tight. I think it was something like 11 inches. Lots of BE-76s have had prop strikes from taxiing over tie down rings and uneven surfaces. The Duchess I used to fly in San Diego had at least two prop strikes in the 5 years I was there.

 

[HighFlyingA380]

I liked the BE76, especially compared to the PA44. Nice useful load and a relatively low operating cost compared to some HP singles...

I always found it helpful to have a bit of FPV perspective prior to moving into a new platform; It's not a great one, but here's a video of one of my full BE76 training flights. (Be sure to read the description and comments for some clarification, but feel free to ask if you have any questions.)

And a shorter, not-so-helpful flight when I did an MX test flight combined with night currency...

 

[Cpt_Kirk]

What are you used to going into it?

Like most Beech planes, it is very easy to land. Nice stable airplane to fly. Counter-rotating props make engine out training fairly benign.

Unlike Bonanzas and Barons, the gear is hydraulic (trapped hydraulic pressure is what holds the wheels up). Emergency gear extension doesn't need a hand crank- you twist a valve in the floor and that releases the pressure/drops the gear.

Other oddities is that there are 3 'squat' switches (or what look like squat switches), one on each gear. Those switches are for the indicator lights only. A pressure switch in the pitot system is what keeps the gear from coming up on the ground.

That is what I recall off the top of my head. I really enjoyed flying the Duchess. Good useful load for hauling my family around for weekend trips while building ME time.

I have about 40 hours in an Arrow and it's what I just took my single ride in. The multi will be an add-on. The systems seems simple enough. The heater is new. The cross feed system can look complicated, but I know how to set it up properly.

The gear system sounds almost identical to the Arrow.

Thanks a lot!

Be careful on taxi. Gear is rather high and can be tough in high speed tight turns while in taxi. Great airplane for step up to multi rating. Simple systems ,engine out no problem with counter rotating props.

will keep that noted for tomorrow.

Just remembered an important point: prop clearance is tight. I think it was something like 11 inches. Lots of BE-76s have had prop strikes from taxiing over tie down rings and uneven surfaces. The Duchess I used to fly in San Diego had at least two prop strikes in the 5 years I was there.

yeah, it's pretty close - inches close. I'll be sure to watch out for those dips and holes. I don't need to go dinging up airplanes.

I liked the BE76, especially compared to the PA44. Nice useful load and a relatively low operating cost compared to some HP singles...

I always found it helpful to have a bit of FPV perspective prior to moving into a new platform; It's not a great one, but here's a video of one of my full BE76 training flights. (Be sure to read the description and comments for some clarification, but feel free to ask if you have any questions.)

And a shorter, not-so-helpful flight when I did an MX test flight combined with night currency...

I'll take a look. I've been watching videos and did some chair flying in the airplane with the flows and procedures. I just need to get a flight in so all of the information I have floating around can have some meaning to it.

 

[gismo]

What are you used to going into it?

Like most Beech planes, it is very easy to land. Nice stable airplane to fly. Counter-rotating props make engine out training fairly benign.

Unlike Bonanzas and Barons, the gear is hydraulic (trapped hydraulic pressure is what holds the wheels up). Emergency gear extension doesn't need a hand crank- you twist a valve in the floor and that releases the pressure/drops the gear.

Other oddities is that there are 3 'squat' switches (or what look like squat switches), one on each gear. Those switches are for the indicator lights only. A pressure switch in the pitot system is what keeps the gear from coming up on the ground.

That is what I recall off the top of my head. I really enjoyed flying the Duchess. Good useful load for hauling my family around for weekend trips while building ME time.

The switches that control the indicator lights aren't squat switches. They close when the gear leg brace goes overcenter. A squat switch (aka Weight on Wheels sensor) opens when the strut is compressed.

 

[Fearless Tower]

The switches that control the indicator lights aren't squat switches. They close when the gear leg brace goes overcenter. A squat switch (aka Weight on Wheels sensor) opens when the strut is compressed.

Yes, I know that. I used the term squat switches because that is what they look like and what people new to the airplane sometimes confuse then with.

 

[Cpt_Kirk]

The switches that control the indicator lights aren't squat switches. They close when the gear leg brace goes overcenter. A squat switch (aka Weight on Wheels sensor) opens when the strut is compressed.

Yes, I know that. I used the term squat switches because that is what they look like and what people new to the airplane sometimes confuse then with.

I noticed they looked closer to a spark plug than they did squat switches (coming from the Arrow's 4 micro switches), as goofy as that sounds.

Because of this, there's only 2 conditions in which you'll receive a gear warning horn:
-power setting below sustainable flight (I'm assuming "flight idle" with contact switches in the throttle quadrant) and gear up
-flaps >16 degrees and gear up