Has United ever operated a Baron?
No... at least not while I worked there. I never realized the amount of musical destruction I have left in my wake as an airplane mechanic...
The mechanic I replaced at the Baron operator forgot to set the brakes and started an engine at full throttle. The plane made a sharp turn through the hangar door (almost). About a foot of the left wing was taken off when it hit the edge of the door threshold, and the prop ran into the baggage cart, which stopped the plane from hitting the back of the hangar. I was told that only pilots were allowed to perform engine runs (after I replaced a mag, and ran the engine to check it). They never did send me a protractor for that mag change. I whipped one up from office supplies and a quick coffee mess raid.
Prop control cable came out of the swedged end at the governor... I was to to safety wire it back together. First time I ever cursed at a boss...
Had a plane with a twisted fuselage. The cabin door would not close all the way (about a 3/4" gap at the top). Same plane had a strut that would not hold air. I was told to jack the plane up and add air (the wing was too low to get a jack under). I had about 20 other squawks on this plane that I was working off, but never finished (see below). But they kept flying the thing!
The snaps that hold the brake pads in place were worn out on some of the planes, so the new pads would not stay in place - I was told to use RTV to hole them in place.
One plane slid sideways on the ice in front of the hangar and ran the wingtip into the door (pilot was fired, and rehired the next day).
Another plane slid off the icy runway one night (pilot fired, then rehired the next day)
Gear up landing (pilot fired, not rehired). IIRC, the manual extension crank handle hung up on something and stripped the gearbox.
Pilots left the seatbelt hanging out of the cabin door of a borrowed B-55. Jacked up a sweet paint job, and dinged up the skin just behind the door.
After a very extended shift trying to track down a fuel leak inside the cockpit, I went home to get some sleep. I had most of the instruments slid out so I could access the back of the fuel pressure gauge. Left a note "DO NOT FLY THIS PLANE" on the yoke. They pushed in all the gauges and flew it anyway. Had a bunch of fuel in the cockpit. When I came in that day, my many lists of squawks were gone, and they fired me at the end of the shift. Second time I cursed at my boss (a lot this time). Thus ending my three month employment with the operator.
After that I went to work for a commuter. One night we're doing our normal checks on our planes and we hear the distinctive sound of a gear-up landing (our hangar was pretty close to one end of the runway). We ran out to the plane, and it was from the Baron Operator. I walked up to the pilots (who I knew), and asked if they wanted to call the boss from our office. This gear failure was caused by the pilot's flashlight getting into the mechanism somehow - by then I didn't care. That place was just so jacked up. Never been so happy to be fired from someplace. The guy that ran the FBO I worked at before going to the Beech Operator warned me... I should have listened.
I did gain a lot of respect for Barons though. Tough plane that handles abuse and neglect quite well.
