Forget about the triple flash beacon, if you want to see Nick work his magic, lets see how well he does the nosewheel steering system. My guess is, he'll knock it out of the park.
I'll describe it as our instructor did when I bought my Commander 840 (690C):
I don't care who you are, what your background is, how many hours you have, or what you've flown in the past. I'm telling you right now, you CANNOT just get in this airplane and taxi it. By the time we're done, you'll be a master. But there's no pilot on earth that could just get in this airplane and taxi it without instruction.
For the uninitiated, the nosewheel steering on all of the Turbo/Jetprop Commanders, 690 through 695B, is hydraulically actuated. The rudder pedals function mostly as you'd expect conventional rudder pedals to work. Slide them back and forth and it moves the rudder, and the toebrakes are typical toebrakes. The pedals, however, are in no way physically connected to the nosewheel. Instead, the first one to two inches of toebrake travel commands the steering actuator to turn the nosewheel in the direction you press. Press further than two inches, and you get brake. The actuator is extremely lethargic and lazy, and there is significant anticipation required when making turns. Want to make a 90 degree left turn? Press the right toebrake into the steering range about 5 seconds earlier than you think you should, and wait. When it starts turning, you need to apply left steering input about halfway through the turn to have it going straight again at the 90 degree point. Any later, and you'll overshoot the turn.
It also behaves completely differently (read, BAD) at low speeds. In fact, the steering actuator isn't even powerful enough to turn the nosewheel when the airplane isn't moving forward. The airplane is considerably easier to maneuver and taxi when you keep it going a little fast.
Much of taxiing this airplane well is understanding how to use beta and differential power to your advantage to help the steering actuator get the nosewheel pointed where you want it.
This whole thing makes takeoffs really interesting until you get used to it. Line up on the runway and keep it rolling to make sure the nosewheel is straight. Then, advance the power levers until they click past the flight idle detent and get the power in quickly. We do this to accelerate the airplane through 40 knots as soon as possible. 0-40 knots on the takeoff roll is what I like to call the "range of goofiness" where its ridiculously easy to overcontrol with the steering and lose directional control. Any directional changes you need to make form 0-40 with a bunch of takeoff power applied need to be made as quick little taps on the steering input. As soon as you've got 40ish knots of airspeed, the rudder is effective, and you immediately drop your toes down to the bottom of the pedals to prevent unintended steering inputs at high speeds, which can quickly send you heading for the weeds.
This is precisely the kind of system I know makes @Black-Square giggle, and I have no doubt he'll implement it perfectly, if he hasn't already.
Cheers.
