Off to SIMCOM

Dave Siciliano

Dave Siciliano

Final Approach
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Feb 27, 2005
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Dallas, Texas
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Dave Siciliano
A group of ten Baron owners are heading off to SIMCOM this weekend for hours of Sim fun! They have two Baron simulators: one with the old style controls and one with the newer set up. One can be made into a P-Baron. Lance is coming down to link up and we're flying out together.

Looking forward to seeing their facility and completing this program. Posts will probably be scarce between Thursday and Tuesday which is when I go out and retrun. The sylabus I read will have us pretty busy. When I'm flying, Lance is in the right seat and visa vesa.

Dave
 
have fun! looking forward to the report
 
Dave,
Let me know who you get as an instructor. They have some pretty good one's now.
 
Actually Alan, the guys have gone before and worked out who they wanted as the instructor. I'll have to see if I can find the name somewhere; can't recall if yet and I haven't met him.
 
Alan said:
Dave,
Let me know who you get as an instructor. They have some pretty good one's now.
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Alan, who have you found to be "pretty good" there and are there any dud's to avoid?
 
Dave Siciliano said:
A group of ten Baron owners are heading off to SIMCOM this weekend for hours of Sim fun! They have two Baron simulators: one with the old style controls and one with the newer set up. One can be made into a P-Baron. Lance is coming down to link up and we're flying out together.
Dave
Click to expand...
Dave and Lance,
Don't let 'em get you with the "fail the right vac pump on departure, then fail the left engine on the approach" gag. Those SIMCOM guys love that one. Have a great time. Learn a lot.
Chip
 
And if it starts going like crap, just barrel roll it on final. They like it when I do that. :) It shows professionalism and skill. :)
 
gibbons said:
Dave and Lance,
Don't let 'em get you with the "fail the right vac pump on departure, then fail the left engine on the approach" gag. Those SIMCOM guys love that one. Have a great time. Learn a lot.
Chip
Click to expand...
I think I was about to get that once but my copilot noticed the failed pump before we started the takeoff. All in all it was a pretty good learning experience although I had to fight with one of the two Baron sims and was barely able to tame it. The other one worked quite well but the first one I flew had a lot of problems (not instructor induced) that made all the airwork a bit tedious. Things like frequency digits with missing segments, power settings that were very unfamiliar, a slip skid ball I couldn't see, throttle and prop controls that were erratic etc, made things a bit unpleasant. Fortunately I was able to use the better sim for all other sessions.

Poor Dave came down with the flu big time on the way there and wasn't able to participate at all. He said he was unable to stay awake for more than an hour or so and spent most of the weekend in his motel room trying in vain to get over the fever and very sore throat. The rest of the crew were thankful he didn't infect them (it appears that my flu shot protected me unless the incubation period is more than five days). His fever finally broke Monday night, which left him feeling good enough to fly his Baron back home without me. I flew with him from Dallas to Orlando (which allowed him to take a few short catnaps along the way) but returned via commercial airliner so I could get back to work today.
 
Brent Bradford said:
And if it starts going like crap, just barrel roll it on final. They like it when I do that. :) It shows professionalism and skill. :)
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I did roll the sim a couple times and we tried a few spins as neither are things I'd ever want to do in the real airplane. I also got to do a few total engine failure returns (some VMC some through a cloud deck), ILS in zero/zero (reduce power and slowly pitch up at DH) as well as lots of arcs, holds, and approaches (on one and two engines). At the end I was flying the sim better than in the beginning and hopefully that will translate into the airplane.

I had one big "oops" when I stupidly engaged the autopilot on a single engine approach with a failed attitude indicator. Since the KCF-200 uses that gyro for feedback I rather quickly got pointed too far towards the ground to recover. Perhaps in an airplane I would have sensed the pitch down sooner given the kinesthetic inputs there.
 
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lancefisher said:
Poor Dave came down with the flu big time on the way there and wasn't able to participate at all. He said he was unable to stay awake for more than an hour or so and spent most of the weekend in his motel room trying in vain to get over the fever and very sore throat.
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What were the selections on the pay-per-view?:D
 
lancefisher said:
Alan, who have you found to be "pretty good" there and are there any dud's to avoid?
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Sorry I took so long. Been busy lately,

Bill Miles has always been a very good instructor. If I have a favorite, it's him.
 
Alan said:
Sorry I took so long. Been busy lately,

Bill Miles has always been a very good instructor. If I have a favorite, it's him.
Click to expand...

We had "Rock" and Dan. I ran into both of them at Sun and fun today. Dan remembered me, but I think Rock faked the memory.
 
Well, I'm off to Orlando again to attend SIMCOM for three days. Recurrent training in the P-Baron with IPC, Wings and High Altitude Endorsement scheduled.

Went with Lance last month and got the flu; sick as a dog the entire time I was there. So, we'll try, try again!

Dave
 
Back from SIMCOM and visited St. Pete and some Baron guys there on the way back.
Lots of hard work at SIMCOM. Lots of class room stuff with graphics on flying the plane; lots on using the Garmins; a lot of systems discussion. Went from about 8:00 in the morning to 8:00 at night or later with one stop for lunch. Four hours in the sim each day; two left seat and two right. Work on just flying the sim, getting comfortable with airfields and standard approached the first day; some emergency work the second day and more approachs; third day had a lot of approaches, some contact work and more emergencies. Somewhere in between what the high altitude work and depressurization training.

Really tired when I left <g>. Great training, very flexible, capabable instructor that knew Baron systems very well.

Dave
 
I'm curious Dave as to what SIMCOM teaches regarding engine management in a plane like yours. Are they teaching OWTs, APS technique, or somewhere in between?
 
Are their SIMs for the Baron full-motion ? Is the training spendy ?
 
jdwatson said:
Are their SIMs for the Baron full-motion ? Is the training spendy ?
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While they have full motion sims; the Baron sims were not. There were good sims compared to other places I've gone. Problem with all of these is it's just not going to be like your plane. Panels and layout normally change over the years and avionics changes are big stuff. Two sims: a NA baron and an P-Baron can't possibly address all variations. But it also teaches one to adopt a little; cross check more closely, etc.

It can be pricy. Go to their web page for pricing at http://www.simulator.com
and you'll get a feel for it. There are some ways to get in there for less. We went at a group and one of the guys got a much lower rate. Of course, there is transportation cost to there and back; hotel and meals. Mostly commercial guys. The GA guys apprear to be more twin and pressurized twin guys.

Very worthwhile if you can work it out. RTC in Illinois is generally lower cost. Flight Safety is the big dog.

Best,

Dave
 
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