My Baron has a pretty good suite of instruments-but one always wonders what to upgrade to to stay cutting edge.For instance-my plane has a digital vor from the 70's (terra)-it was cutting edge when it came out-now -interesting but....company out of business....Enter Reality Xp Sandel display-1 second and it is on the panel of my Baron in FS and 100% functional to the real unit.Difference is the price-$10,000 US or so to install in the real plane-$19.95 to install in FS.I can try it out in all it's glory-and it is magnificent! Do I want (and my partners want)to invest the price in reality-FS usage will determine that.....What a wonderful new use of FS-shareware of real world instruments for the real world!A brilliant contribution to our hobby-and real life ramifications.Thanks for the preview Reality xp-at a fraction of the cost!http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpg

Hi Geof,I wish I could do the same thing for the Viking but alas there isn't a Bellanca Viking model for FS that I can find. Hint,hint hint for airplane developers. :-)Sound like your getting to fly the Baron quite a bit. Great airplane isn't it? Sure miss Big Red but the Viking is the next best thing. It's like driving a sports car. Responsive and fast and half the fuel burn of the Baron.Ed Weber a.k.a tallpilot

Hey Ed!I still need a *ahem* B55-seems like everyone is only interested in a 58....hint ,hint also.....Yes-the fuel thing is scary-I now plan flights with stops that have the cheapest fuel-something I never paid (pun intended!) attention too before!That Viking sounds nice-and yes-I'd like to see one in Fs too...http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpg

If your trips ever bring you out Lake Havasu way (I know that's a lot of fuel :-( ) give me a call and we'll go fly the wood and fabric delight. :-)Ed Weber a.k.a Tallpilot

Thanks! I'll put it on the trip scope.. :-)http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpg

>If your trips ever bring you out Lake Havasu way (I know>that's a lot of fuel :-( ) give me a call and we'll go fly the>wood and fabric delight. :-)>>Ed Weber a.k.a TallpilotOh... you bring back sweet memories to an old man. The Bellanca airplanes were really a well kept secret. I often wonder what Mr Bellanca would have done if he had had a good marketing exec working for him.The wood and fabric, sadly, are a thing of the past. When I sold my last airplane, a J35 Bonanza, I looked around for a Viking that was not priced out of my range. So many of them had not had proper care and the wood was in terrible shape.They were, and those in true airworthy condition, are one of the finest aircraft ever made. A joy to fly!Donmac

Geof,Does your B55 have the throttle quad with the throttles in the center (prop on left)? If so, I have a quad from an old Baron that I converted for use with FS and used for several years. I've since moved to something different but if you have any use for such a throttle, it's yours. It is pretty easy to convert to a joystick using RC plane linkages and long sliding potentiometers from Mouser.com. If you have any interest let me know. It's such a specialty item that I can't even be bothered trying to sell it on ebay (although that is where I bought it). Just drop me an email if you are [email protected]

The Bellanca Viking is STILL a well kept secret. Wood and fabric aren't a thing of the past, there are 1053 various models of the Bellanca Viking still regestered with N numbers. The factory in Minnesota is still providing parts and support for Bellancas. As far as the wood wing is concerned, it is the strongest wing around. (see attached picture)There is a web site www.BellancaViking.com and a Yahoo Viking chat site for those that own or are interested in the Viking.Regards,Ed Weber a.k.a Tallpilot

Hi David-Yes I have the center style Baron. It sounds very interesting-though I am not sure I have the knowledge to convert it.Let me know-I tried your email but got an automated [email protected]http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpg

<>I have owned 4 airplanes...the largest of which was a C340 and after getting my SEL/MEL/INST/COMM ratngs and reading thousands of magazine articles and scores of books...it finally occured to me what actually makes airplanes fly................MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!(-: