58 Baron

they work nicely as advertised...which interior layout ? the club seating as in other small airframes is for show, if all seats are used everyone gets to play footsy which is not comfortable, the std configuation is much more comfortable once everyone is settled into their seat... the back 2 seats spent most of their time out of the plane except when needed

 

I've had my Baron for over 23 years. There is a split between the 84 and younger planes, and the later planes. The earlier planes have the throw over yoke, and IO520s, and are capable of being a "known ice" place. The later planes have the 550, and some of them are known ice certified.

They are true 200 kt planes, if you don't load them up with antennas, weight, boots, etc. The boots cost you 2 - 3 kts, and if you install vgs which most of us do, it's another 2 - 3 kts. Real world, expect a 185 kt cruise, and if you run lean of peak, 180 kt cruise on about 22-23 gallons per hour. The later models have very little useful load. When you've got full fuel, some of them have less than 400#s for payload. The earlier ones are usually lighter, and can carry more. The 200 gallons fuel wasn't added until 76 or a little later, so most of them are 166 gallons, which probably is the blatter limit for most of us.


I've taken my Baron to Europe, Alaska, the Bahamas, New England, Florida, South America, and just about everywhere on the west coast. It is equipped with IO520s which have been custom built, and make 320 HP each, it also has a glass panel, custom interior, etc.. A very neat plane.

A very solid instrument platform, comfortable, but loud. I recommend Bose for the passengers, since they are loud, and I mean loud.

If you'd really like a full discussion of the plane, I'd go to Beechtalk dot com, where they've got a lengthy discussion of the plane.

Art

 

I was a big fan of the turbo'd 520, regardless of which model of plane it was in, the turbos opened the flying, I never had trouble with the engines, ran them all through TBO. I prefer the 58 with turbos, it's a good plane normally aspirated, but with turbo it is noticibly nicer. I just like what turbos add to the flying experience.

 

I flew a C55 (short body, large engines) a few hundred hours, about 25 years ago. I remember that it flew beautifully!

Art's information is obviously more up to date, and generally agrees with what I remember.

Does a 58 have any baggage space other than the nose? The 55 had a decent sized baggage in the back as well as the nose baggage, and without the 5th and 6th seats you could put the rear seats back and have a lot of room. Of course, if you want to carry more than 4 people, that doesn't work.

However, in a 55 the rearmost seats are pretty unpleasant anyway.

 

Not so with my Bonanza. Your alternative is a Cirrus with 4 seats. The cabin on a 58/36 is much larger. I couldn't live without my barn doors. I fly 6 people all the time no problem.

 

you need a larger plane if you fly a Bonanza with 6 all the time... :=)

 

I don't do it all the time but I do do it.

I do fly 4 with bags all the time and the extra room makes a huge difference over say a Cirrus with only 4 seats. I can fly 4 with bags and have no bags on the seats..

You can't compare the utility of the barn doors on the 58/36. The next step up from these airframes is a PC12. The next step up from these airframes costs millions. No piston plane offers more utility than the 58/36. To say the 6 seats "is for show" is totally inaccurate.

 

6 adults (men) most likely puts the plane at or over gross weight and no luggage
4 men in club seating are cramped, sitting knee cap to knee cap your passengers are too polite to tell you
at max payload what is the fuel range... about an hour or so
double doors are very nice, easy access

 

There is a space behind the rear seats. Holds 300#s, I believe. We usually put our bags there. There is also some space between the middle row and the pilot's row for smaller items. Generally don't put much there, because the manual gear down crank is there, and if there was a problem, you'd have to move everything. I just keep some charts there, no luggage.

Art

 

In my plane with 6 people I can carry about 90 gallons of fuel, enough for a comfortable 2 and one half hour cruise with reserves. That's about 450 miles, which isn't bad. The rear is cramped with 4 people there, but with only two in the back, they can play cards, use their computers all at the built in desk in the back, between the seats, which doesn't work with forward facing seats.

Art

 

Who travels with 6 men on board? If I do 6 people, it's 3 and 3 or me and 5 girls ;-)

You're being too extreme with your assessment. Have you owned one of these planes?

 

+1

With 6 on my plane I can carry 50 gallons which takes me about 450-500 miles. That's South Florida from Atlanta.

Truly the bottom line in my life is this..... Owning an airplane means I can go when I want. The chances of finding 5 others that can leave and return when I want to leave and return is pretty rare. This is why I haven't bought a PC12. Few of my friends have my flexibility. The vast majority of private airplanes flying have no more than 2 people on board at any given time. Kinda like people and cars. How often do you drive with 4 people in your car?

 

I only have a few hours in the Baron and it was 12 years ago. I have a Bonanza now. I recall the Baron was solid, easy flying and hell for stout on landing. Very honest planes, and good handling. It's been a while, but if I ever move up to a twin, it'll be a Baron of some kind. Right now my mission is suitable for the SE Beech.

 

I have an A36. If I were to move up to a twin it would probably be for a Cessna 340. Not that the Baron isn't a great plane, just not enough extra utility from the A36. Baron's are generally regarded as very well performing airplane with less flaws in performance and handling than most (all) of its competition. Mechanics tell me Beech parts are much more expensive, but I don't have a lot of non-Beech parts purchases to compare to. The 58 series barn doors have much more utility than the 55 series, but I believe the E55 is a bit faster, especially at equivalent fuel burn.

Art, you're from Truckee, right? Do you ever feel limited by lack of pressurization when crossing the Sierras? I travel with kids, so oxygen isn't a very good option.

 

you are the one who said " I fly with 6 people all the time" currently the standard "person" weighs 180 pounds... that's a lot of weight for a Bonanza

now you are parsing your passengers to arrive at a more realistic payload and cabin utilization

what's so extreme about the reality of weight and balance...fuzzy math does not work here

I may not have owned a Bonanza, but have the 58

 

Standard person? I know how to do a W&B. I don't care what a standard person weighs. I put in the weight of the actual passengers.

If you ever owned a 58, you'd know this. Nobody uses "standard passenger" weight when doing a W&B.

 

I'm from the Bay Area but have a home in Truckee also. Pressure would be good but, turbos and pressure jack the cost way up. I've only left Truckee in weather a couple of times and each time I tell myself it's the last time. Don't know if I'd change those thought in anything but a jet.

Art

 

Huge pay load. Big speeds. Cheap to buy. Best built twins.



C/D/E 55s are the biggest bargain in aviation. Bar none.


No other make or model does more for less.

 

Speed wagon.

 

I was fortunate to have the chance to fly right seat in a Baron from San Francisco to Palm Springs via Santa Barbara. Even though I wasn't an experienced MEL pilot, I had no trouble flying it and felt quite comfortable with it. Same way that I felt in the Lockheed Model 12, also three nice landings. Wish that I could have extended my training in them. Darn nice airplanes.

 

Off the subject, but a funny story:

I've got a friend who had a Baron. His Dad was a ww2 pilot. In the mid 80s when his Dad was elderly, he was flying him home to redbluff. His Dad asked to fly, so my friend gave him the throw over yoke. Turned the auto pilot on, and took a short nap. Woke up, took control, asked his Dad how it flew. Dad said great, but the controls were stiff.

Art

 

We've been using a C55 for biz use for about two years. It's amazing to me that we can do 194kts on a regular basis and carry 1966 pounds for a mid time plane for around 100k. There is nothing, nothing that I have experienced or have heard of that does more for less than a C/D/E Baron 55.
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