Page 11206 www.bonanza.org ABS March 2008

BARON 58

TAMMY LAMB

Isoloed in 1979 as part of the Air ForceFlight Instruction Corps in theReserve Officer Training Program.During 24 years in the Air Force I had

the opportunity to fly 64 different typesof aircraft, most of them as an experi-mental test pilot and very few of themgeneral aviation types.

Unfortunately, when you reach acertain degree of flying skills in the mil-itary, you are obviously ready to super-vise and end up flying a desk. What doyou do when you are an experimentaltest pilot stuck flying a desk? You buyyour own aircraft. It needed to be high

performance, safe to fly and a twin. Forme and my family, this meant a BeechBaron. So in 2000, I purchased a Baron58 (TH-832) with the tail numberN17979.

It still has the same tail number, anew paint job and just a slight change tothe instrument panel. Following in thefootsteps of my father—who named hisF-80 Julia after his wife—and my AirForce heritage, I christened TH-832Tammy Lamb after my wife, proudlydisplayed on the right side of the nose.

I purchased N17979 based on thewhole aircraft. I needed to be able to flyit safely in winter, spring, summer andfall. I wanted an aircraft I knew I couldtrust to minimums on a routine basis

with my family on board. And N17979has delivered.

The instrument panel is very simi-lar to the Learjets I flew for the AirForce. It has radar and Stormscope forthunderstorm and weather avoidanceand emergency anti-ice for winter fly-ing. I have flown the aircraft many,many times to minimums with my fam-ily on board. One winter in Dayton,Ohio, I flew five different ILSapproaches to 200 and a half.

The only change I made to thepanel was the addition of an RCA elec-tric attitude indicator to back up thepressure ADI. I can’t imagine flying anaircraft in heavy IMC and night withouta backup ADI.

N17979Lionel Alford

Wichita, Kansas

Lionel Alford with his wife Tammy and her namesake N17979.

I needed an airplane to fly safely in winter, spring, summer and fall. I wanted an aircraft I could trust to minimums on a routine basis with my family on board.

And N17979 has delivered.

ABS March 2008 www.bonanza.org Page 11207

The aircraft has a fully coupledinstrument system with flight director,HSI, autopilot and correcting ADI. Theonly things that could make it better—and ones I would like to make —wouldbe a backup GPS, e-HSI, engine moni-tor and an Avidyne head for the radar toadd a moving map and color to theRDR-60.

N17979 was owned originally bythe state of Wisconsin. They used theaircraft to transport the governor, whichis why it was so well equipped forinstrument and all-weather flight. UntilI had the aircraft repainted, the outlineof the original state seal on the tail wasstill visible.

Since I’ve owned N17979, I’ve putmore than 1,500 hours on it andreplaced both engines due to TBO. I’veshut down an engine twice. At the same

time, the aircraft has a mission-capablerate of better than 97%. This aircraft hasnever surprised me nor has it evercaused me a serious problem.

I track the performance on N17979based on the training I presented atOshkosh on how to flight-test aircraft. Itconsistently flies at about 185 knotsTAS, averages about 0.5 gallons perhour greater than book for fuel flow, andshows about the same takeoff and land-ing performance in the handbook. I didadd D’Shannon gap seals, which likelyadd back the five knots the vortex gen-erators take away.

The only problem with N17979 isthat the gap seals and vortex generatorsgive it about a 10-knot stall speedreduction. This means she is always achallenge to land. If you approach atPOH speeds the aircraft wants to keep

flying, and you have to fly until itdecides it is time to land.

N17979 has been a real workhorsefor my family and business. The aircraftis a Part 135 charter certificate forMidwest Corporate Aviation out ofWichita’s Jabara Airport. I use it for allbusiness travel in North America. I tellthe companies I work with, "If my air-craft is down, I can’t travel." InN17979, my family travels for visits andon vacations all over the United Statesand Canada. I’d like to take it to theCaribbean.

EDITOR'S NOTE: More about the travelsof N17979 are available at www.LionelAlford.com under aviation andthe aviation blog; novels at www.LDAlford.com and other aviation-relat-ed articles at www.WingsOverKansas.com.

Fully equipped for all-season IFRFull boot & large tank alcohol

prop emergency de-iceTrimble approach 2000 navigator

GPS (approach certified)Bendix/King KX 155 TSO Com/Nav

1/Com/Nav 2Bendix/King KMA 24 TSO com panel

Sigtronics SPA-400 voice-actuatedintercom

Bendix/King KN 74 TSO RNAVBendix/King KR 87 TSO ADFBendix/King KT 76A transponderBendix/King KN 63 TSO

DME1/DME2 (dual hold)Bendix/King KFC 200 autopilot

(flight director)

Shadin fuel flowBendix/King ADI Bendix/King KCS55A HSI (slaved)RCA electric backup ADIBendix RDR-160 radar3M WX-10A StormscopeRCA turn & slipEGT

Hobbs meterDual voltage regulatorsYoke-mounted clockVortex generatorsD'Shannon gap sealsDual yokeNew TSO compliant ELT

EQUIPMENT LIST N17979