Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: Beecraft Model: BE-55 Nickname: Baron
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane ME Piston
> FAA Category and Class: Airplane Multi-engine Land
> Engine Description: twin piston
Aircraft Experience
> As of: 11/3/2024
> Number of Hours Flown: 26
> Number of Times Flown: 9
> Other Aircraft Models Associated: BE-58 Baron, numerous models of BE-55
First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 129
> Date First Flown: 9/10/2002
> Location First Flown: James Jabara Airport, Wichita, KS (KAAO)
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: FAA Rental, Kevin Campbell
Recollections: The BE-55 Baron, it could be argued, should be lumped in with my other entry for the BE-58. I chose to separate it because the 55 has 4 seats instead of 6, has 40 less Horsepower per engine and, mostly, because my logbook shows my first flight was with fellow FAA Test Pilot Kevin Campbell. Back to Kevin in a second.
The 55 was less complex (no pressurization, for example) than the 55 and it felt lighter and more maneuverable. Apparently, my time in the 58 “counted” for 55, as I appear to have received no flight checkout in the 55.
(c) Airliners.net
One thing I remember well, besides really liking the 55’s flying qualifies, is that it had a red warning light in the middle of the instrument panel. A single light. Red. When did the light come on? When the gear was SAFELY UP. That meant that, most of the time you were flying it, you had a giant red light in the middle of the panel. Just like “low oil pressure” or “low fuel pressure” or “Unsafe gear” lights I’d seen in dozens of other airplanes. I only flew the BE-55 9 times but I remember to this day the alarm I felt everytime I was scanning….”RED LIGHT, WHAT’S WRONG!?!!” Oh, nothing….the gear is up. This informed my opinion, a decade later, when the FAA published a new rule concerning alerting for transport category airplanes. This new rule, 14CFR25.1322 (amendment 131 for those in the know), which includes: “Visual alert indications must conform to the following color convention: Red for warning alert indications.” and “Warning: For conditions that require immediate flightcrew awareness and immediate flightcrew response.” (your gear being up doesn’t, unless you’re 10 feet from landing, but c’mon) and “Use of the colors red, amber, and yellow on the flight deck for functions other than flightcrew alerting must be limited and must not adversely affect flightcrew alerting.”
So, back to Kevin Campbell. Kevin was my mentor for all things FAA. Coming out of the Navy I knew a bit about flight testing, but not much about civilian flight testing, or the FAA processes. Kevin–without anyone telling him to do it–kind of “adopted” me as I learned the FAA way. He was extremely patient and thorough as he showed me the ropes. I also learned a lot just by watching Kevin interact with the companies who were working to get their products certified. Kevin was super steady, but dogged in his pursuit of facts. His integrity was perfect. And, while he described himself variously as a “Dirt Farmer” or “2nd Lieutenant Campbell”, he did NOT miss a beat or a fact…one of the smartest guys I know, capable of remembering facts/statements and synthesizing them into meaningful issues. Any success I had in the FAA I owe to Kevin (and to our boss, Gerry Baker, who–while he wasn’t as much a day-to-day part of my FAA work, was the true expert on all things related to our jobs). When I was retiring from the Navy and decided that the FAA Test Pilot job was where I wanted to be, I originally wanted to go to the Seattle office. Unfortunately there weren’t any openings in Seattle…but there was in Wichita and I decided to go there. I worked there for 3 years, before moving to Seattle with the FAA. In retrospect, I feel lucky to have stumbled into Wichita…for MANY reasons. Great programs, great companies but–mostly–great people, including Kevin, Gerry and the wonderful friends we made in the community. As the saying goes…”Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then.” This one sure did.
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