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Talking about Aerostar, one has to think in the hard it is to accommodate anywhere inside it as soon as it´s not the pilot´s seat. Many of them have the seat behind the pilot removed, trying to make the back seats accesible, wich leaves it as a 5 seater including the crew. It might be the very best of the best if you are the pilot or private owner, thinking in flying it yourself and taking the family around, but if one is planning on taking some paying passenger... They tend to dislike having to do some stretches before trying to board if they don´t want to have some physiotherapy later on.
Don´t missunderstand me, I like it! but that´s the pilot part of me. That other guy I am also sometimes, the one thinking in getting some money from aviation to be able to go to the mall and buy some food every now and then, he can´t think of it as the right airplane. It IS fast, but how much faster than a 340? In fact, think of it in percentages, not only in knots. Then consider the range. Not that every customer is going to take a piston twin for a 1200NM trip, sure, but consider a total of 1200NM for a round trip, where you leave someone there and pick up someone else right away. You´d have to refuel the Aerostar, but not a 340. Doesn´t look like much of a problem until you think of the fuel services we find in many places. 10 minutes refuelling, alright, but how long did it take for you to taxi to the pumps, or for how long did you wait for the fuel truck? By that time the 340 is halfway. Not to talk about that few times a customer doesn´t find another way to make those 1200NM, be it because of the runway not allowing bigger iron, be it because he has to go NOW and there´s no time to wait for the... say... Lear to be back. The Aerostar should stop for fuel, losing that scarce percentage of speed advantage over some 340.
Please, correct me and my beliefs. Tell me that there´s an Aerostar model with enough range, improved access to the back and... well, the speed is alright already!
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