Mukosha,
It looks like you are facing ton of advise that you have to sift trough for the few gems. I would agree with Capt Chambo, I definitely agree with birdlady , but the rest I would mostly disagree with.
I own and operate Seneca II, one of the very few fine examples available in Africa. When I was looking for one, I simply phoned all dealers and created a spreadsheet with all the Seneca's available on the market at that time. BTW, the lowest cost one was a Tanzanian with run down engines and some 7-8,000 hours on the clock. I did not go for it, I selected low time, mid-life engines example, flown by a single ATPL pilot since new. And still, I got it with shot turbos. That was not the end of the world though, not that expensive to overhaul, and soon after that hickup I end up with a superb machine.
Standard comes with 2 x 200 HP engines that you can run at 100% power indefinitely or up to 105% power at 12,000 ft - again, indefinitely. Cruise leisurely at 175-180 kts, fast cruise at 190-195 kts, all at FL110-FL120. With 460 ltrs in the tanks and consuming 90-95 ltrs/hr, the range is great. My Seneca is very well equipped, and the price I pay is of course the high-ish empty weight. Nevertheless, I still can load full tanks and lift 4 adults with luggage or plan to a destination 1.5 hrs away under IFR (2hrs VFR) flight with 6 adults and luggage.
My best takeoff run on a sand runway with tad less than MTOW and 2200 ft ALT ELEV was around 400m.
At MTOW it will take of in less than 700m at FALA altitudes in a typical summer day. It climbs then at over 1000 ft/min, at mid-weights typically at 1500 ft/min. Single engine climb rate is around 250 ft/min, and it will maintain that at density altitude of over 13,500 ft - this only if your aircraft is well set up and fine tuned, like mine is...
The maintenance costs are probably lowest for a twin engine airplane - typical MPI costs me in the order of R6-7,000 if nothing brakes. The parts are low end priced, if not buying from Placo, this is...
Seneca II is very reliable aircraft, at least it has been very reliable for me for the last 4 years I have been flying it. And no one has illusions of asking premium for a good Seneca, compared to a Baron or likes...
Last edited by arcwi; 7th Jul 2006 at 20:32.