Pressurized Piston Twins

[SkykingC310]

What's your vote for a pressurized piston twin? Who falls into this catergory of pressurized piston twins? Or a pressurized single even? I'm trying to compare and contrast the different makes and models.

[bluesideup]

My vote goes to the Aerostar 700P. Lopresti said life is short, go fast. At almost 300 KTAS the Aerostar is at the top of the list. The B-58P would be next. For comfort I'd pick the C-421 or the Duke B-60.

[SkykingC310]

How does the 340 rank?

[jlyle]

Over the years I have probably owned nearly 40 airplanes from a 172 to a King Air. In between I have owned and flown Aerostars, Cessna 340's, Duke's a P-210 and many others.
I currently own and fly my second Duke. It is certainly my choice of everything I have flown and I can fly anything I want.
To begin with, the Duke is one of the easiest aircraft to fly that I have ever owned, a true owner flown pilot's plane.
It is also less expensive to maintain than any of the other pressurized aircraft I have owned.
I can't say enough good things about the Duke.
The Duke was originally designed to be a turbocharged, pressurized aircraft from day one unlike most of the other aircraft available today and that alone makes it unique in the marketplace.
My reasons for selecting the Duke:
It looks great just setting on the ramp,
The nose baggage compartment holds up to 500 pounds which my wife and passengers appreciate,
The payload is nearly 2500 lbs making it a true fill all six seats and still make a reasonable length trip,
It is almost impossible to get out of CG, unlike many other airplanes
It flies fast and with a pressurized cabin you arrive fresh and less tired than on an unpressurized airplane.
The engines are easy to start hot or cold,
It provides easy access to the cabin and seating is comfortable for your passengers two steps and your inside.
Landings are simple and always makes the pilot look good,
Easy to set mixture with no EGT gauge to consider, just set fuel flow and keep TIT below 900 and go,
Pressurization allows you to get above most clouds/weather and have a great smoother ride.
Single engine performance is better than most all other twins. After all you have 380 horsepower per side.
I also recommend the VG's which really make it a great performing and safer aircraft.
Beech quality often called a "Baby King Air" without the turbine cost, truly the best bargain in today's marketplace.
You can buy a good Duke today have pressurization, air conditioning, speed, great payload, comfort and ramp presence for less money than many old single engine aircraft that are lucky to carry four people with little comfort.
Unfortunately, if Beech decided to make the Duke again today it would probably cost as much as the King Air and the market is just not there.
Don't let anyone tell you the engines are a problem. Fly them correctly and they will make TBO easily.
I have heard of several Duke owners going well past TBO without any problems or needing costly top overhauls.
In conclusion, if you enjoy traveling in style Fly the Duke!
J. Lyle

[Hk 1223w]

We bought a DUKE 3 years ago from someone that could barely pay to gas up his car to get to the airport. As a result, I have been rebuilding the airplane slowly. The more I fly it, the less trouble it gives. I overhauled at 1600 hours both engines last year and they at the time were purring like kittens. No probs on oil consumption or power for that matter. I say it is one of the best secrets out there now. Why buy a Crusader, when one can buy a pressurized twin turbo (DUKE) for less. Looked at the prices of a Baron? tRY AND HAVE SOMEONE IN A bARON SWITCH SEATS WITH THE COPILOT without going into a spin. Duke is the way to go. Our next move will be a King 200!

[siegelaviation]

I am a big fan of the Piper Mojave. Not many were produced (just one production year) but they are an excellent alternative to the Cessna and Beech products. Shoot me an email if you need any more information: buyer@siegelaviation.com.


Michael Siegel

Siegel Aviation, LLC

www.siegelaviation.com

[jbarnow]

For a pressurized twin you can't beat the Aerostar. The duke is definitely a great airplane and is a bit more comfortable and easier to fly but the advatages that come with the Aerostar highly outweigh the disadvantages. The pressurization system that the Aerostar uses is the best in its class as well with the 4.5-5.5 PSI which allows for an 11,000ft cabin at 25,000. This is hard to beat. Additionally the Aerostar is the fastest in it's class and beats the Duke out on almost half the fuel flow.

The 340 is the closest competitor to the Aerostar yet again the 340 is quite a bit slower and burns a lot more fuel. The one benefit to the 340 is that it is more spacious but with how fast the Aerostar is you won't be in it long enough to matter.

[peyton]

I've been out of touch lately. How is the small twin market holding up?

[jbarnow]

The entire used aircraft market is way down so right now would probably be a prime time to buy. If you would like to discuss I have a few I would like to sell.

jbarnow7@yahoo.com

www.bva-sales.com

[BravoRomeo]

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!

[scottman0]

I have owned numerous planes and I felt the 340 was alot slower than what they expressed it could do. It usually pulled around 210 knots on 40 gph. The aerostar pulled 240 knots on the same gas usage. The aerostar is not that different in size than the 340 and I often sit in the back and I find it nearly as comfortable as the 340. The duke is a great plane but let's be honest, it is slow and uses a lot of gas. The aerostar is the best twin out there. Unfortunately, the twin market is really bad right now and I doubt that will ever change. In fact, I think it will get worse since you are seeing fewer and fewer pilots who are capable of flying twins. Insurance is hard and most young pilots are focusing on fast singles such as cirrus or columbia. People with any real money are going for jets or turbines either as a partnership or jet-share. These reasons will only drag down the twin market. This is probably why there are so few twins being built anymore, there just isn't the demand.

[sternone]

I find the aerostar a wonderfull plane, haven't flew it yet but i hope to get my hands on this bird asap!

A lot of nay-sayers say to me that the aerostar has a very bad crash track record.. why is that ? what is the main reason ? i checked the NTSB database and for me most of the crashes are weather releated and bad pilot handling...

[bwillmore]

My last 600 hours were in an Aerostar 601P and it is a sweetheart of a plane to fly. Not difficult at all. It has a stall shudder that's something like 10knots wide so if you don't see it coming you're asleep at the wheel. For training we'd put the plane nose high in the shudder and fly around all day like that, no problem. Flew many trips off dirt and sand runways in Baha, loaded to max gross, no problem. Once lost the left engine at rotation, field elevation of 4,000ft, 90F day, 3,000' runway and the plane totally saved my bacon, climbed out nice and easy enough to make pattern altitude.

The plane easily cruised at 235-240ktas in the low twenties on 36gph or would do 210ktas on 24gph! It was probably the only plane I've flown that did what the book said it would do. 1100nm trips weren't hard at all. The 601P has better fuel economy than the 700P.

The cabin is quiet and comfortable, and it is true that it's more about the pilot than the passengers but all my passengers were in love with the cabin and the short trip times.

[Duster Dave]

My Cessna 320 had a gear collapse in April due to improper rigging at the annual inspection. I was under insured so I have to wait for the settlement with the shops insurance to buy another plane. I am going to be very cautious, with gas prices thru the roof and values dropping. I formerly had a cirrus SR-22 which I flew for 2 years and sold for my purchase price, that was a good investment, but in searching the options, it seems even the Cirrus is going down in value more than I would have anticipated a few years ago.

It seems most of the general aviation fleet is for sale.

Should a guy be offering 1/2 the asking prices in this environment to avoid being the loser on the next sale?

Just like to hear opinions. Thanks Dave

[bluesideup]

I have a few good friends who have done quite well offering insuling and ridiculus amounts of money for airplanes. Like any offer, it can always be raised if the buyer doesn't like it. I've never seen a line of people waiting to buy any particular airplane or bidding wars for that matter. Look at e-bay and seen the offer that come in.