'S8' ............you bin peeking over da fence watching me sometime ago? That's almost an exact rendition of what was played out many a time except the PC would have been a bad dream if it had actually been in the mix there
Still loved the story though & it brought back many a fond memory
KI can be a nasty place wx wise, no place for a SE plane that's fore sure & even worse FLI, ooohh ahhhh me shudders at the thought of only one fan flying in & out of those places:-)
One of the places that you would never catch me in a SE in IMC was AY. Those hills where alive with the sound of TWIN engines day & night in some pretty ordinary wx
Some say this is an argument, not so it's healthy debate which is always a good thing.
What this 'argument' does however show is that it boils down to $$$$ If the Beech & the PC cost the same to buy/run I think it would be clear cut as to which airframe would be sitting out there on the flight line.
Govt contracts are funny things. I recall many years ago flying the pollies around they only ever went on twin eng craft & mostly 2 crew, that's for obvious reasons, safety. But give those same pollies a choice re SE or twin for a Govt contract where they don't have to fly in them & they would be crying out for the SE frames!
Anyway the PC am sure is a great machine, ultra reliable, cheap to run(compared to the old hack B200 design) have many great features over the old clunker Beech & from a bottom line aspect unbeatable...............BUT
Thanks 'S8' for the little chuckle here, 10 yrs not having to worry about an engine failure has left me spoilt I guess but now I look down on my RUFDUS friends from above & still hear the MW's (with a tear in my eye) as they ply that safe sky in the dying days of a once great operation:-) Best of luck to all my mates as they say goodbye to one of the best jobs around
Wmk2