I talk to Trent about his Piper Seneca III airplane and then we take it up in the air for a flight! Really love this channel and want to help it continue? Become a Patron for as little as $1 per month: / flyingdoodles
I once worked for a wonderful individual who owned a fleet of airplanes and used them to fly checks, financial documents and freight all over the western part of the U.S.A.. He had a fleet of Seneca IIs, Navajo Chieftains, several Cessna 404s and a Beech 99. They were all flown under Part 131, single pilot, multi-engine and IFR (no autopilot, no radar no glass-all steam gauges). My flying skills have never been as good as they were when I had that freight-dog job. I remember the owner saying that in his opinion a Seneca II was about the minimum one would want to use if you dealt regularly with ice. Personally, I enjoyed the Navajo Chieftains better than the Seneca, but the Seneca was/is a superb little twin. The biggest downside of the Seneca that I remember was while taxiing on the ground was the marginal visibility at night, especially taxiing around a poorly lit or dark ramp in the rain. Piper did not put any mechanism to remove rain from the forward windshield and it the nose slops up (if I remember correctly). Trying to maneuver on a dark ramp with rain drops alternatively collecting and streaming down the windshield could be a bit of an adventure. The airplanes always took care of me-great memories.
the standard in south africa is a lot higher in terms of theory and practice... Compared from the written exams and level of training, South africa is on of the best places to learn how to fly
27gph. Oof. Yeah, that was just too much for me transitioning from my 8 gph Arrow. If you haven't already, you may enjoy 50% power. I get 138kts @ 19gph in my III, and at that power, besides saving a truckload of gas $, cooling takes care of itself, cowl flaps can be closed (for better economy), CHTs always < 380 (have an alarm set), you get much extended range for safety, quieter ride (at 2100-2200 RPM), and for budding young pilot, more loggable time ;). Based on compressions on my last 4 annuals, those engines are on track to last forever :). All this for getting there maybe 5 minutes later...
during 2020 I used to fly a Piper seneca III down here in Mexico , nice airplane, logged about 120 hours in 5 months and I love it !! Right know i'm flying in other job a Seneca II wich is a great airplane too, but really really I miss those 20 extra HP of the III. Thank you for share !!
I did most of my time in a Seminole so I imagine transitioning to this would be a snap. I loved the Seminole so this would be a great plane for my family
I always liked the little Seneca. I flew one a little bit back in '74 when I was training for my pvt. cert. I worked at an FBO where I trained also, thereby having access to the more complex aircraft like (maintenance test flts., and actually able to log training on a couple of flights. Navajo, 402, Lance, Cherokee 6, Archer I I, etc............
I owned Seneca IV G-MAIK, modern look, old steam gauges like yours. Best time of my life! Flew it lean of peak without problem with Gami injectors without problems. Had my props dynamically balanced as well, it flew vibration free!
Thanks for the bio's and some of Seneca III's history, makes for a better understanding. I especially respect you for flying your envelope! That sweet spot that you and the airplane like. To you and yours, Welcome!
Boy you have came a long way! So happy for you Bro! I remember you selling it all n your 2 buddy dog team were on a mission! Lost one sadly RIP It's been a blast to watch! Your Epic vlogs, what a fun adventure! Luv&Peace Cheers from Sask Canada.
Just to indicate a Southern African connection, a few years ago I was working in Namibia and was flown from Walvis Bay to Luderitz and back in a Seneca. Sat in the right hand seat. An interesting flight along the desert coast.
Nice to see you in the cockpit again Bobby. Love your sailing vids but its good to see you meeting new people and their planes in the aviation industry. Well done. Next time you sail down to South Africa look us up and we'll go fly😁
It's a nice looking plane. My POH (Pilots operating handbook) for the three shows 191 knots true at 65% at 18,200 feet standard day. So folks the turbos do go faster up high. That's about 221 mph.
Blue line is the single engine best rate of climb. Vyse if you loose an engine that is what you target to give you the best single engine climb. It’s also typically a good speed for initial climb and approach.
After the Aztec, I owned a Seneca III with the Robertson STOL package. Amazing performance. Short take off, and climb rate is insane (up to 4k per minute on lighter load). Single engine performance is excellent. It has a couple of quirks with the STOL STC. Not for inexperienced multi pilot. It has O2 system. My first experience with the flight levels. I have many hours in owned Saratoga before moving to twins. Aztec has larger useful load, better single engine performance (keep above VMC, safer IMO than a NON STOL Seneca 3 or below). similar cruise speed under 10,000ft.
Hi Bobby, greetings from ARGENTINA. First of all: HAPPY NEW YEAR! Beautifull bird and nicely refurbished. Also Trent seems to be a promissing incorporation to the profetional pilot community. If there is any cance you´re still in contact with Christy from the "Taking Off" chanell, I think it would be nice if they can schedulle an interview with the owners of this plane and tell the hole story about it. Even when I enjoy your other chanells, I miss more content of this one since I´m a former P. pilot; it hooked me up at first and then I migrate to your others. Hope you can make some time to do more content in this one. Cheers from NE Patagonia.
My grandfather has owned a seneca II for about 20 years. Great plane. Many trips have been comfortably made in it. Unfortunately, my grandmother is pressuring him to sell it for something cheaper to maintain, as well as something that I can fly once I get my private. We'll both be sad to see it go
Bobby I started following you during Flying Doodle days and have since followed all your channels. Do you think you will ever be able to get your license again? I sure miss you flying. Have a great day and see you on Dark Side with the ladies.
on minute 6:05 we can see that both engines in this particular aircraft are counterotating (we can see it whilst starting) so the Seneca has not critical engine as soon as both engine turns clockwise and counter clockwiswe. As a rule of thumb the critical engine is the one on the left or that opposite to de turning side.
FYI... all Piper piston twins have counter rotating engines, except for the early model Twin Comanche, not that I got to experience any flight conditions that were conducive to exploiting critical engine peculiarities (thankfully!).
Ditto the comment on shoulder harnesses. Worked at Piper during the Seneca III era and don't remember ever seeing one without harnesses. Just common sense.
It’s on the checklist !!! Seat belts and shoulder harnesses ( FASTENED) !! Just a tick under the mark on professionalism ! For your own safety and possibly living vs dying if in an accident. Fly safe gentlemen !!!!!
You can clearly see the harness is there, above the headrest. It is secured to the sidewall, aft of where is comes out. Completely ridiculous to not wear the shoulder harness.
So grateful to have you back with this series. In this particular video there seems to be quite the annoying high pitch buzz presumably from the ignition system. Not sure if there’s like a filter you can apply in post production to minimize it. I haven’t noticed it to this extent in your other videos so I thought I would pass it along. Cheers!
What camera setup do you use under the wing? Looks like you have a remote controlled gimbal? What type of gimbal and how do you attach it? Love your channels!
What a great looking plane. I'd like to see it before the paint and interior to compare. I bet that plane really starts going fast above 10,000' with the turbos. I always wait for the comment "nice...right on the centerline" after the landing. Didn't quite earn that today. :)
I just want to know what happened and why the Aerostar 600 you got a ride in, belly landed in a field and got destroyed a year after you went along for a demo ride.
It doesn't roll as much ... yes but only b/c of the educated feet ;-) If there is one thing to learn when transitioning to a twin is the importance of subtle use of rudder pedals to counteract the pendular effects of the engines that can establish a disconcerning oscillation about the longitudinal axis especially on take off. The tendency is to chase it with aileron but that is a big ineffective mistake, the proper response is a tiny bit of rudder counter action, that will make you look like the genius that you are or at least desire to be ;-) I have a Seneca 2 and i love it its a spacious very nice twin, the only major problems i've noted with it are that it is sometime difficulty to get required climb rates without pushing oil redlines in the SW hot Summer days and if there is not a fat lard-ass in the rear seat full flaps on landing causes too much fwd pitching moment so 2 notches is preferred. Its a very nice plane overall .
I looked at airplane prices in South Africa out of curiosity and damn there are some very cheap gems there. Bringing them all the way back to the US seems like a hassle, but flying them back to Europe seems very doable and you could make a lot of money buying older twin props in South Africa and bringing them to the EU no? Does anybody have experience with doing that sort of thing?
