Ten Thousand Five Hundred - Beechcraft Sundowner

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[@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

I enjoyed that. I'm curious how tough it was to get it up there, especially with the density altitude. I'm guessing you had to fly it very precisely for the last few thousand feet to keep it right at VY.

[@iflycentral]

Not that bad really. In fact; I was climbing relatively slowly. Only 2400 RPM. If I'd pushed it up to 2500 I would have done it a bit faster. The Sundowner feels more stable, and responsive up there than the 172 I flew in the past. Probably because of the greater HP, and larger control surfaces of the Sundowner.

[@migkillerphantom]

Great disclaimer lol. I *wish* I had an aircraft to operate, with or without direct supervision.

[@iflycentral]

Yeah. In this day, and age; we must be clear to avoid problems.

[@thomaszhang3101]

Why don’t I see the reflex sight on this fighter? Also which sim is it?

[@iflycentral]

Reconnaissance flight. ; ) Sim is IRL.

[@defenderofthepublic]

What is your TAS at that altitude? Any idea of your GS?

[@thunderresistant]

Great, thanks! The view is stunning, hope you had enough fun)

[@iflycentral]

Can never have enough fun! ; )

[@wizzardrincewind9458]

Beautiful weather. The view distance was very high.

[@iflycentral]

Yes. Like I said; camera couldn't even begin to do the view justice.

[@migkillerphantom]

@@iflycentral could you potentially spot, say, an Su-27 more than 3km out? Because if DCS spotting is realistic you sure as hell couldn't.

[@wizzardrincewind9458]

Hello @@migkillerphantom , i think, if the background ist the blue air, then you can see it but not identify it with your eyes. If the background is normal ground, it is much more difficulty. And you will see it because the "point" moves (like the t-rex in jurassic park :) But i also think, at 3km you are in a dangerous range of a air-air-rocket :)

[@archer494]

my flight instructor would have pointed out quite sternly that above 5000ft you should set your QNH to standard 1013 hpa and thus you are no longer flying at 10 500 ft but at FL105 which can be a difference of several hundred feet depending on atmospheric pressure

[@iflycentral]

We don't really do that here. We typically use flight following if flying CC and use the altimeter setting provided by atc for their sector. Otherwise, we use the nearest AWOS setting. Breaking 10k isn't something we do regularly with the Sundowner. I've only done it twice. Once for this video and once crossing the Appalachians.

[@archer494]

Thanks for the information. Didn't know that. We usually stick to ground QNH when flying through mountains. Can you remember the highest density altitude you managed with the Sundowner?

[@iflycentral]

@@archer494 Not off the top of my head. I think it was over 2000 feet this day. It gets hot here in the summer. It's not unusually for my airfield at 216' MSL to experience a DA OF 2,000' or more in the summer.

[@AClark-gs5gl]

Are there any aftermarket wheel pants available for the Sundowner? Thanks!

[@iflycentral]

Negative. Due to the nature of trailing link gear; it's impossible to put normal fairings on them.

[@archer494]

with old aircraft like the C172 or PA28 the pants will give you about an additional 1-3 knots, so in every day situations it's neglegible. With more modern aircraft like the DA40 or SR22 it might be different

[@patrikstrandquist1875]

Stunning view. Thanks for sharing. Cant wait to start on my own PPL

[@kentwilliams4152]

In a 172 it took ~40 minutes. It has been quite a while, but I thought it was even thousands west and odd thousands east VRF and the +500 was IFR. 🧐. I stay less than 2,000 AGL so no problem.

[@iflycentral]

Most of my flights are no higher than 3,000, so it's not something I have to worry with all that often, but it is indeed +500 for VFR.

[@degaphe]

Are you a BAC member?

[@iflycentral]

No. Thought about is, but never took the time to really look into it.

[@Cleopatra30BC]

impressive

[@iflycentral]

Thanks.

[@MattmanCDN]

at what point do you need O2?

[@MattmanCDN]

I just started watching when i thought of that.

[@iflycentral]

@@MattmanCDN You can fly at a pressure alt of 12,500-14,000 for 30mins before O2 is required. Above that you need O2.

[@MattmanCDN]

@@iflycentral thanks man can you fly that high? and would you have to carry it on the sundowner or do you have a system to service .

[@iflycentral]

@@MattmanCDN If I'm not mistaken the surface ceiling of the Sundowner is 12,500 so I could just get there, but I would need to bring O2 to stay there for any length of time.

[@BeechSundowner]

I miss my Sundowner! I took my sundowner up to 10K for a performance check only, I didn’t stay there for any other reason other than to see my altimeter at 10K. Like you, density altitude was a factor as it was 92F on departure and 38F at 10K. Like your video, the skies turned inky dark blue and super smooth air. I was pleased that I got 500 FPM climb rate with full tanks and me.

[@iflycentral]

Wow. Sorry for responding a year late. YT must not have notified me of your comment. Yeah. I don’t think I’ll be hitting 10k+ very often, but it’s nice to know it can get there with some effort. Looking a putting a tuned exhaust on it eventually to get a bit more HP. Doing some avionics upgrades now, and will hopefully get a new paint job first.