Twin Turbo-Prop Business Aircraft

[EESDL]

Need to purchase an aircraft to take my boss into European destinations which are too far for his twin squirrel.
He's flown in a King Air and seems sold on it.
Any other suggestions?
Milan, South of France etc

[Chilli Monster]

Do you really need a turboprop? Are you going into airfields that are short enough to warrant it?

If not - you might as well get a used Citation instead. Higher, smoother, faster, similar running costs. There are bargains out there, especially with the dollar at its present level.

Check your PM's

[FLEXJET]

The King Air is good, the E90 has the best range before you have to look for a 200. The F-90 is fast but its costs are so close to those of the 200 that it might not be the best choice.

http://www.jetmarkets.com/propreport.html will tell you how many of which type are for sale, which can be a good study start.

The PA31T Cheyenne should be less expensive and still do the job depending of where you fly from.

[LGW Vulture]

Nice machine available in the Midlands EESDL - B200 late build, although might be a little pricey!

[Sonic Zepplin]

A few questions to be answered:

What is the typical mission consist of? Distance flown on average

What is the dollar amount that they want to spend on aquisition and operation?

These will and should be the deciding factors.

Never flown one but I too have heard the Cheyenne is a superb plane for that market.

[EESDL]

Thanks folks, will be in touch

[Phil Brockwell]

A few basic questions. What is his local airport, how many pax, how much money does he want to lose (for tax) what utilisation. Will he want to put it onto AOC to recoup costs when not being used etc.

Have some pretty accurate operating costs for the B200 and F-90 and C-90 if you would be interested.

Phil

[EESDL]

Phil
You've hit the nail on the head.
LBA, not fully utilised, yes to AOC, Europe.
Tax utilisation - as much as possible I would imagine!

[Chimbu chuckles]

You will be hard pressed to beat a good Cessna Conquest 2 (C441). Get one with the -10 engine.

300kts/500lbs/hr/2000+nm range.

Easily flown SP.

A much nicer/better aeroplane than any Kingair...imho.

[His dudeness]

Get a new B200 with Proline 21 Cockpit and tiptotail cover. Raisbeck mods a must.
Best value aircraft in its class - lots of pilots available, dependable, big, looks great and handles perfect in poor wx (e.X-wind landings a piece of cake). PT6 donks absolutely dependable.
Maintenance intervalls 200 hours, lots of QUALIFIED (from experience) maintenance shops around. Cabin is nice and quiet - no comparison to a C441 (Garretts!). Starting from BB-1476 the cabin was redesigned - much better than before.
If you buy an older model, make sure it is already equipped with the R134A Aircondition mod.

[Klatsch]

For the sort of range you seem to want, in European weather, I would recommend a jet, (as someone else said, plenty of used entry level citations around but don't buy an old one because too much cost in updating to RVSM, TAWS etc, good field performance and operating costs, some single pilot). No point beating through the weather and icing in mid to high 20s when you can get above it, with added bonus of quieter cabin in the jet.

[EESDL]

Like the idea of flying above the crud (have had enough of flying through it with his helo)
I'll be dual-licenced so will be looking to fly it SP so must have all the bells and whistles, just like the company helo.
Boss is a pilot and will like to be upfront when at all possible to change freqs etc:-)

[Phil Brockwell]

I think it still coes down to :-

What he wants it to cost him a year

What he wants to put down / pay / lose for tax

Phil

[His dudeness]

Go for a Citationjet 2.
Proline 21, UNS-1k make a very nice Cockpit, performance is absolutely good - a huge difference to the 1. Climbs to FL450 at MTOW.
Easy to handle, huge baggage compartment, operating cost very close to a TP. Cabin is probably the quietest you can find. Not exactly cheap though...
I you can wait, take a 2+ - upgraded avionics, no thrust attenuators and FADEC. A dream maschine.

[LGW Vulture]

CJ2? At US$4.5 M + that's a big ask for someone with only a Prop in mind!

[Chilli Monster]

$2M USD (maybe less) will get you a decent condition Citation II with 8.33 / RVSM / B-RNAV etc etc. There are bargains out there, but you have to be quick because the good ones get snapped up.

[Phil Brockwell]

Had a look at an almost zero engine time Citation IISP for 1.7 million USD last week, Interior was only OK, paint would need redoing, but overall a great charter aircraft.

If thats the price a Citation II would be a good bet, if the price was less, a Kingair, 90 or 200 would be good.

Phil

[EESDL]

Thanks for your input so far.
Have collated your thoughts and will extract more info from Boss when he returns from his hols.