New to Forum

[KenFlo]

Greetings to all.  I am a new proud owner of a 690B.  Bruce and Scott worked the purchase through Byerly Aviation.  Great team there and very competent. This is my first turbo prop, although I flew B200s in the Army along with AH-64 Apaches.  I have owned a Baron, 210, and a P210.  I did months of research on turboprops and found the Commander to be the best dollar value.  So far I couldn’t be happier with the plane although I had a couple of expensive repairs.  I love the -10 power and the safety that goes along with two engines.  I look forward to communicating on the forum and much appreciate the insights and knowledge passed along through these pages.  Ken

[donv]

Ken, welcome! Please feel free to ask any questions that might come up-- there is a great deal of experience on this forum.

A -10 690B is a great airplane!

[JMA]

Welcome Ken!

[Adam Frisch]

Welcome Ken!

Please post some photos of your bird and some specs!

What other aircraft did you look at and how did you come to choose a 690B?

[Steve binnette]

Ken, stuff happens.  When i bought my 980 I had it completely redone.  Spent to much on it, between engine overhauls, panel,  paint and who know what else. 

On my first solo flight taking the plane home I had the co pilot windshield crack!!!,  Could not believe it!!!

Since then it has been everything I had hoped for, but “Wow” what a lousy start.

[donv]

I think any time you get a new (or new to you) airplane, you have to expect some hiccups as you get going. My airplane was pretty good, but I still had a few issues.

And, of course, there is always something-- like Steve, I had to replace a windshield as well. Mine was original to the airplane, so 37 years of service isn't too bad-- hopefully the replacement lasts as long!

[KenFlo]

Thanks for the welcome!  My tail number is N615SB, a 1978 690B with the -10 conversion.  The engines are just out of hots so plenty of time left there.  AF at about 8200.  As you can see in the pics, the panel has been redone.  I also added a 345R and 335R hoping that RVSM rules will change in 2020.  One item I added that I really like is FS 510.  With the Garmin Pilot on my iPad, flight planning got a lot easier.  Also like the database upload feature as well.
  The reasons I chose the Commander over others were many.  I looked at the Conquest I and II, Piper, Socata, B200, and 90 series.  The Commander seemed to be the most actively supported airframe, simple maintenance program, speed and economy, and reasonable purchase price.  The 690B fit us best since most of the time we are flying with only 2-6 people. I didn’t want the per hour expense of a larger twin just to haul around empty seats.  The 690B gives me the bigger airplane speed with better economy.  A bonus is the unbelievable power and mild engine out characteristics even during takeoff. 
  I am sure most open minded pilots would come to the same conclusion.   I will have to work on pics....file too large.
Thanks again for the welcome.
Ken

[Badger]

Welcome, Ken!

[KenFlo]

Pics of N615SB

[Bruce Byerly]

Hi Ken - glad you have joined up!  Congratulations again on your acquisition - SB is a fun flying airplane!

Here’s a pic of the panel I took - I’m a little biased but I just love it and have modeled many after it:

[donv]

That is a nice panel! Similar to mine, actually.

Do you have radar?

[Adam Frisch]

Holy moly, that's one nice panel!

[Steve binnette]

I like the way the underside of the glareshield is painted to match the panel.

[donv]

The other nice thing about that panel is that the sub-panel with the pressurization controls has been painted to match the new panel color. I've seen other 690s where they left that sub-panel gray, and it looks really odd.

Was this airplane a renaissance at one time?

[KenFlo]

Response to two questions:
1)  Radar - yes, RDR2000 displayed on the G600
2)  Renaissance - I don't think so.  The plane was well maintained as evidenced by the log books.  It has had a couple of different tail numbers through the years but not the Renaissance rebuild.