.... As for STOL, well you can get vortex generators for them and they are simpler to operate than the PA31 and I would think last longer with a lower boost level...
I'm not sure that the VG kit can be utilised for the higher take-off wgt when flying with the latest version of the SIDS modded spars. I know that we now cannot use ours, but I believe that may be related to getting the full life out of the modded spar... ie; using the VG kit to get the (3342kg?) mtow on a SIDS modified 402 shortens the spar life... so I am led to believe by our maint controller. 'Tis a pity, that is a more than useful gain.
I agree about being not as "highly strung" boostwise as a PA31.
520, I flew Daisy last year when she was brought to Alice for a visit. I hadn't flown one, lest a stubbie, for going on two years. The poor buggah in the RHS (G'day mate....) showed remarkable restraint when I started to flare around the same ht as a PA31..... with the resultant "I choose to stop flying...... NOW" arrival. Caught on video no less....
. Very humbling. Suggest leaving a trickle of power on through the flare and onto the ground, but not somewhere like Bulman.
They have a vulnerability around the construction of the nose gear support tunnel if operated on very rough surfaces, like many aircraft.
OpsN.
