Twin Beech maintenance and flight training in Switzerland

[Taigh Ramey]

It's my annual trek to Switzerland for Beech 18 maintenance. This time there are two Beech 18's for the annual. The owner liked his Beech 18 so much he asked me to find him a second one and build it to his specifications. The second one is the one we finished and flew over last year.

Happiness is a hangar full of Beech 18's!



Here is an old WIX thread on the second Beech:

http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=38210&hilit=3nm

This year besides the inspections and maintenance I was asked to check out a new pilot and do the recurrency training for the owner and his other pilots.

The first order of business was to begin the annual inspection on the newest Beech which we call Charley Mike. These aircraft are US registered and the CM actually stands for the previous owners Charlene and Mike, two wonderful people.

There wasn't that much to find on the annual as we finished this Beech last June but she has almost 100 hours already. 50 was across the North Atlantic. It was decided to get both Beech's on the same March maintenance schedule so in she came.

You gotta love this great old hangar. It was built by Willie Farner who was an aviation pioneer in Switzerland. I think this hangar was built in the late 1940's:





Here she is going back together after most of the work has been completed. She is still up on jacks while we fix a broken gear warning horn relay. I like to have all of the pilots come in while we have the Beech torn apart so they can see the systems and go through the emergency gear procedures. It is great for them to be able to do it while sitting in the seat. We also will do it later in flight.





This OSHA moment brought to you by Fritz! At least he fits. I can fit in the nose with the 47 gallon tank but my girth keeps me from fitting in the 80 gallon noses



Speaking of fitting in to tight spaces how about this position to troubleshoot a gear warning horn relay which is of course way out of reach



While the annual is going on I have to sneak out to begin the training for Benny, the new pilot. It sure is nice with one Beech down you can go and grab the other one. Must be nice :bow:



Here is Benny at work learning the ropes of the Beech 18. Good looking kid. It was a nice day and has been all week. You can see the Alps in the background.



The first day was air work going through the usual.



Full stalls can quickly get the attention of the new Beech 18 applicants and Benny was no exception. The early Beech 18's with the original round wing tips can roll over pretty quick when a wing breaks during the stall and then she heads for the ground real fast. The important lesson to teach the fledgling student is twofold: You really have to work hard at it to get into this situation as the Beech gives plenty of indications early on that she is about done flying. The other important lesson is that should a wing drop off in a stall the last thing you want to do to raise that wing is just what comes naturally to most pilots and that is to use the ailerons. When you roll the ailerons in in proportion to the excitement level multiplied by the bank angle, you will stall that wing deeper and then you get to see what a Beech 18 is like in a spin. Benny learned to keep the ailerons level and use the rudders like a good boy. We didn't spin but he put enough aileron in to start a good one. It is a tough thing to do but a critical survival lesson in the Twin Beech.

The other good lesson this teaches is to learn a deep respect for the Beech 18. She is a demanding aircraft that requires your undivided attention but once you learn the rules and learn to listen to what she is telling you then you can do wonderful things with the Beech.

After the airwork it was time for some bounce practice. One of the ugly things about flying in parts of Europe is the user fees. We take things for granted in the states and need to keep fighting the user fees. At Grenchen, the owners home airport, it costs $125 for each landing so we went to another airport where the landing fees are only $60. Grenchen (LSZG) is a small airport with one paved 3200 foot runway and two parallel grass runways. A nice airport but $125 for each landing is nuts and in my mind it is a safety issue as well. Who is going to go out and practice his landings to keep current at $125 on top of all of the other costs to fly?

So off to Les Eplatures airport (LSGC) we went. This is a nice airport but not my first choice for training. There is a factory right on the approach end and a good sized city on the other. It has hills on each side which makes single engine pattern work interesting. Here is a shot of the approach:



Nice place for a factory! I think we left tire marks on the roof...



After 5 landings the tower said the airport was closing for lunch so we shut down until they opened up again. Wouldn’t you know that in the middle of this cute little town is none other than...look close...



And it tastes exactly the same as back home.

If you all have any interest I will be happy to post more, just say the word.

Here is a parting shot

[K5DH]

Dude. You actually think you have to ask if we want more? Silly boy.

Great pics! Great information! Keep it all comin', brother!

As for the Golden Arches, I've found their food tastes the same no matter where you go (which could be good or bad, depending on your fast-food standards).

[Kyleb]

More please!

By the way, I prefer the blue one...

[Lynn Allen]

Its only a matter of time for that factory. Yes, please continue with the story. They need to build a In-N-Out over there. Thanks for sharing it.

Lynn

[Jerry O'Neill]

Great Stuff Taigh!
Just waiting for more!
Jerry

[yankeepapa]

Taigh, firstly I have never seen a so nice "bichette" (small beech name in french when it was flying in french air force) that the one you have delivered in switzerland. I beleive I have seen in brittany(france) before or around december 2010 one of the two B 18 above landing on one engine on a small 600 m runway in front of the sea. are you aware of this trip in france, and I was very surprised if it is a training sortie on such a small airfield.
cannot rememeber if it is the blue or the red tail (may be blue)
y p

[Taigh Ramey]

Here is part 2:

After finishing the annual on Charley Mike we decided to use her to finish up on Benny's training. Last week we hit it hard for two days of ground, air work, pattern work and emergency procedures and I like to give the student some time to digest all they have just learned before finishing up the check out. On Saturday we were off to St. Stephan (LSTS) in the mountains for pattern work and bounce practice.

Here is Benny once again as we head up through the valley to St. Stephan



St. Stephan is in a valley with mountains very close to the edge of the runway. It was a former fighter base with hardened hangars cut into the rock walls of the mountain. The circuit has you overfly the airport then across the top of the hill, drop the gear, flaps and descend in a circling approach to runway 32. During the decent the airport is out of view and, as with most all of Switzerland, you’re not supposed fly over the towns for noise abatement.

This is the view while circling down from the downwind. The hill up to the left is what we crossed just before beginning the decent



A little further in the circle is the runway just coming into view at the edge of the trees on the left



Finally you can see the runway. The diagonal lighter stripe across the runway is one of several foot paths for pedestrians to cross the runway. As you fly over the airport you are supposed to click the mic button 5 times to activate gates like those for a train crossing that tell the folks on foot to watch out for incoming aircraft. Another 5 clicks on final are needed just to be sure.



Benny did great with the single engine pattern work and only tried to feather the wrong engine once! We also worked on recovering from the bounced landing as the Beech can get unruly and likes to start bending parts should you let the bounce get out of hand. There were lots of spectators watching us that day and between the bounce drill and single engine work they had quite a show.

On the way back to Grenchen that Beech was sure unreliable as the engines were quitting right and left. We actually did full feather checks on each engine...one at a time of course...and once again Benny did well.

Once back at Grenchen we taxied up to the fuel island and topped off the main tanks at 2.80 per litre or only $11 per gallon! Here is Fritz taking care of the old gal



While at the fuel island a nice looking Broussard came up next to us for fuel. Three 985's; its a good thing!



So it was a good training session and Benny passed with flying colors. I only wish we could have had some good crosswinds to play with but otherwise I am sure that her will do well in the Beech. I really like the fact that he was adjusting the oil shutters with uncommon regularity.Most new Beech 18 pilots rarely seem to take proper care of the oil temps but he was an exception to that rule. Its the little things that tell me that he will do well in thew Twin Beech.

here is a photo of the newest Beech 18 pilot.



Well done Benny!

[Taigh Ramey]

are you aware of this trip in france, and I was very surprised if it is a training sortie on such a small airfield.
cannot rememeber if it is the blue or the red tail (may be blue)
y p

I am not aware of the trip but I will ask them tomorrow if it was them.

Taigh