Friday, March 13, 2015

BaronPilot flies the TBone!

Today I had my first ride in a Twin Bonanza. Aaron Degryse has a stunning D50E. The sucker was owned by the Rockefeller family and he literally bought it from their pilot. I flew my Citabria over to his amazing hangar today and man, that thing is just freaking awesome.  

Huge windows, I mean huge. The visibility is incredible. It sits high and proud, a different site picture from my Baron but you definitely feel the same DNA. The view out of everywhere is spectacular, but Aaron just put all new windows in his and they are perfect. The front window is enormous and crystal clear. Here is a quick video I shot of us landing at KAUN.



The cabin is gorgeous with tons of space. There was a foot a shoulder room between us, room to get up and move between seats, as quiet as a 421. The speed was surprisingly good, I thought this was a 150 kt airplane but we got to 170 in econo cruise, and leaned out it was only a few GPH more than my plane. Smooth smooth smooth... quiet and smooth.  

We parked on the ramp at KAUN and had a great lunch. Aaron left the air stair door hanging open and probably a dozen gawkers came by to admire. This is before Don Copeland paint... this is going to be show piece. The landing back at KLVK confused the controller when Aaron exited at the first taxiway landing in no more than say 900 ft.  

I really love the plane, and finally have a true appreciation of the cult of TBone! If I hadn't already sunk an unrecoverable fortune in my Baron I could totally see owning one. 

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