AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014 - 39

Three ways to win
one of 76 prizes in AOPA's
Debonair Sweepstakes
Join or renew your AOPA membership and you are entered to win
in AOPA's Debonair Sweepstakes.
AOPA is giving away a completely
restored 1963 Beechcraft Debonair
B33 with an all-new ergonomic
interior, the latest avionics, and upto-date airframe as the grand prize.
Plus, you could also win one of 75
other great aviation prizes. Visit the
website (www.aopa.org/Member
ship/Sweeps.aspx) to enter.

alternator provided by National AirParts, the airbox that
Santa Fe Aero Services repaired as part of the annual,
and the reconditioned fuel control unit. The engine had
new life, good compressions, and it was making book
speeds. Yes, there is an issue with cylinder wear and pitting. I know, because of the Aspens and the Electronics
International MVP-50P engine and systems analyzer.
The MVP is a great multipurpose tool, by the way. To
lean for cruise, you use the rotating knob at the unit's
lower left. Push it, then rotate to select either rich or lean
of peak EGT. Push again, then rotate the knob so that
the cylinders' vertical temperature bars are highlighted.
Begin leaning, and the first cylinder to reach peak displays a white bar across the top of its EGT column. Then
it's a matter of leaning until you observe the proper temperature reduction, which is displayed for each cylinder.
I've been running 50 to 100 degrees rich of peak EGT,
and at the latter setting true airspeed typically works
out to be 150-153 knots at 6,000 to 8,000 feet and OATs
around 10 degrees Celsius/50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Another good thing about the MVP-50P is its master
warning and caution feature. Should a serious condition
crop up-such as, say, low oil or fuel pressure, low fuel

quantity, or an alternator failure-your attention is drawn to the red
and amber lights mounted next to the GTN 750's bezel. It's right in
your field of view, so a warning is hard to miss.
A lot of pilots have asked me about the 20-gallon-per-side tip
tanks. If they're full, is handling an issue? In cruise, no problem
in my experience. I just make sure to transfer fuel equally so that
there's not too much of a fuel imbalance. Takeoffs and landings,
however, can be challenging in crosswinds. With full tip tanks and
a stiff, direct crosswind, full aileron deflection is an absolute must
if you want to stay on the runway centerline. You can really feel
the extra weight way out there on the tips, and this can make for
sluggish aileron response-something I found out on a couple of
turbulent takeoffs. If a wing starts to drop, you'll need a lot of muscle, real fast, to get back to wings-level.
As for landings and takeoffs, they're no-sweat affairs. Add full
power, take a glance at the MVP-50P to make sure all's well under
the cowl, release the brakes (there are no brakes on the co-pilot
side, by the way), accelerate, start pulling around 60 knots, rotate at
68 knots, and climb away at the VY of 90 knots while retracting the
gear when there's no runway available for landing. Gear retraction
takes about 10 to 12 seconds, which I'm told is normal for a 12-volt
Debonair or Bonanza.
In preparation for landing I usually reduce power to 15 or 16
inches of manifold pressure in order to slow to the VLO of 144 knots.
When I get there I remind myself: the gear control switch is on the
right side, and the flap switch is on the left side. This airplane was
built well before the General Aviation Manufacturing Association
(GAMA) standardization conventions were adopted industry-wide
in 1976, so it has the old-school gear and flap switch locations.
With the gear down, deceleration to a comparatively low VFE of
106 knots takes a few seconds, then you can lower the flaps to halfdeflection at the midfield downwind point. (There are no detents,
by the way; you simply hold down the flap switch and watch the
flap indicator dial for the deflection angle-or take a look out the
window-then center the switch to stop flap movement). After that
initial flap extension, you typically can reduce power another inch
or so, which will get you 90 or so knots by the time you're on base
leg. With the runway made you can go to full flaps (a 30-degree
deflection), and then reduce power some more until you've got 80
knots or so-depending on the wind conditions. On short final the
POH says you can go to 70 knots, but in gusty air you'd want to carry
a bit more airspeed, of course. Close the throttle over the numbers,
hold a bit of back pressure, and-chirp!-you're down in style.
There's plenty more to say about this truly one-of-a-kind airplane; wait until I check you-the winner-out in the Debonair
after handing over the keys this fall. See you then!
EMAIL tom.horne@aopa.org

ON THE

WEB

FOLLOW Tom Horne's blog (http://blog.aopa.

org/sweepstakes_logbook/) for updates on
the renovation, as well as related news.

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2014

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