Originally Posted by
AdamFrisch
Mine flies, thank you very much. But, I was talking performance, mainly. We can forget anything PT6, as the Garrets simply are 20% more efficient. That doesn't leave that many left - Conquest II, Merlin, MU-2, maybe the King Air B100 (but it's really slow compared to the others). Conquest II comes close - it has great performance. Merlin certainly can perform in the range department. But overall, as a good allround performer in all disciplines the Commanders are hard to beat.
RANGE:
1. Merlin 2600nm
2. Conquest/Commander 2000nm
3. MU-2 1300nm
USEFUL LOAD:
1. Merlin: 4387 Lbs
1. Commander 1000: 3961 Lbs
2. Conquest II: 3716 Lbs
3. MU-2 Solitaire 3510 Lbs
TAKEOFF DISTANCE:
1. MU-2 1791ft
2. Commander 1800-2000ft
3. Merlin 2700ft
4. Conquest II 2800ft
SPEED:
They all pretty much hit 300-310kts if they have the later -10's.
Adam, in kindness all I can say is that you have quoted from an unknown sources data about various aircraft types without specifying which model with which engines and all rather biased towards your love of the Aero Commander range. When purchasing an aircraft to fulfill a mission then it needs to fit in with your lifestyle and need. For these older aircraft it is important that knowledgeable service is available at or close too your home base, its no good the shop for your AC being hundreds of miles away and all of the mechanics with the required knowledge retired and playing golf in the sunshine.
A quick look at many of the figures show that you have quoted the max speed and range but you cannot do these at the same time. It's what the average performance is on an average day for an average pilot with average passengers on board. If you are flying young family or older guys then you have to keep the cabin low and also in many aircraft keep the noise/vibration levels low, nervous passengers don't like to face aft and climb like a home sick angel.
You posted on a public forum in June this year an excellent write up of your experience with your beloved aircraft. I do hope that it is now fully serviceable and that you can soon continue your travels without undue woe. I enjoy reading of your escapades but trying to turn a pigs ear into a silk purse is often a waste of time and money.
Happy flying.
"
Plane is now finally out of the clutches of my less than honest former mechanic. A lot of time was wasted and work not completed. Sad to find this out after so many years thinking he was a honest guy. But now I'm back in the reins and she's flying, albeit with a few things left to do. Panel is finished and working well.
Last month I completed first longer xcountry from Los Angeles to Kansas City.
Outboard LR tanks leaking after sitting too long and drying out at mechanic (bladders), so had to rely on the inbords only, which is 237gal. Gives about 3.5hr endurance, so you kind of want to be on the ground after about 2.5hrs. This necessitated 2 stops between LA and Kansas City – something I could probably have done direct had they not leaked.
1st leg, LA to Gallup, NM: SoCal dicked me around a little getting out of LA, but not too bad and was soon cleared to 17000ft. Some IMC over the Rockies and some trace ice in the clouds. Eventually dropped down to 15000ft to avoid being in them all the time – at 15K I was just skimming the undersides. Pretty bumpy. With my leaky cabin, 17000ft was the limit. I would probably have cleared them at FL210, but the cabin press is not there yet. Landed Gallup at 6500ft fuel elev with a quartering tailwind. It was pretty exciting stuff. Low fuel warning light came on on steep final, got me worried I’d somehow burned more than totalizer said. But it was exactly correct to the gallon when I filled her up. Now I know the low fuel warning light can come on when you have steep descent and fuel gets sloshed around. Learn each plane’s idiosyncrasies as you go along. Self serve Jet A1, good price, around $3.50/gal. Of course I managed to soak myself in jetfuel – never fails. Stank the whole rest of the trip. 2.1hrs
2nd leg, Gallup to Garden City: Took off (the right way, into the wind this time) and picked up IFR clearance with Albuquerque at 10000ft. Cleared direct at 17000ft. Old girl climbed like a bat and got up there pretty quick. Still can’t make more than 2.5psi diff, despite some more sealing of inspection panels. But we’ll get there. Only so many places left to look. ATC offered to steer me around the worst parts of the fronts, but the direct track magically took me between most buildups and I didn’t need much deviation. Eventually it all cleared up and sun set behind me and it was pretty nice leg. By now it was night. Landed visual at Garden City and did quick refuel at FBO. Price a little higher, but not too bad. Another 2.1hrs. Here I toyed with the idea of finding a hotel, staying the night and do the last short leg in morning. But I wasn’t tired, so decided to continue. Quickly filed another IFR flight plan and fired up.
3rd leg, Garden City to Kansas City: Decided to stay at 15000ft, so the cabin stayed well below 10000ft for clarity of mind. Beautiful night – all the stars were visible. By now over the flatlands of Kansas. Humming along. Going into Wheeler Downtown Airport in KC, I tracked the ILS to Rwy 3 and then circled to Rwy 1 for landing. Couldn’t get the GS on my primary instrument, which bummed me out. I know it worked last week – why not now? Checked NOTAMs to see if the GS was out of service, but no. Need to troubleshoot next flight. Tower was still there and dicked me around until I ended up in the laps of Atlantic Aviation, despite asking for transient. But at this point I was pretty tired and it was nice to see someone marshaling you into a parking spot, so decided it was worth it for one night. They were really friendly and even towed it to the transient for me the day after. Fuel was no joke at $6.21/gal, though!
Except for all the cabin pressurization stuff, heating not working well etc, she did good. Great climb and good cruise speeds of about 250kts. About 430lbs of fuel burn/hr (which is about 64gal/hr). New Avidyne IFD 540 is intuitive enough, even managed to load some approaches on first try. Hope to have all the niggly stuff fixed soon – it’s been a lot of wasted time. Just happy she’s back flying regularly and doing well.
You invested in an AC I think a 690 and this cost you a lot of time and money and as of a month or so ago you still couldn't get max diff. so were stuck at lower flight levels.