Re: choices, choices, choices in the Aero Commanders.
This is all great info - you guys have definitely brought up a lot of options I didn't know about before. Aviation Consumer's one online article about the AC twins doesn't cover all the variations- not surprisingly, as it seems like there are at least 20 airframe variations, and then several aftermarket conversions on top of that.
Is there a place I can go to do some research into all of these on my own? The Merlyn conversions page has almost no data, and I can't find any page at all with info on the Mr RPM (who was that marketing genius?) conversions.
Although a description of a 225 gallon plane as "short legged" hurts my wallet, I'm still interested in looking a lot further into the Aero Commander options.
How about a de-iced 210P ? These ones should fit both your budget and mission profile. Not sure if your acquisition budget stretches far enough, but a 210 Silver Eagle (i.e. turbine) should tick all your boxes. You could then also sell the 206 and free up some capital.
The de-iced 210P has been on the short list, although a piston single over water is a no-go for me. Since nobody has suggested a plane that fits all the requirements neatly (not surprising) some of the requirements will have to yield. Caribbean trips might be what gets left behind.
The 210 Silver Eagle is out of my price range. The cheapest one on controller.com is currently $525K, and if you buy the cheapest airframe out of a fleet, you're buying problems. If I stretched to buy it, I'd get eaten alive in ownership. If anyone with experience owning a Silver Eagle wants to correct me, please do!
The 206 will stay. I have several other mission profiles (rough fields, bulky loads) that are met well by the 206 that I didn't bother listing here because they aren't even close to compatible with the other requirements I listed. It's cheap to keep and won't free up enough capital or operating costs to be worth losing.
If somebody makes a pressurized Kodiak Quest or Caravan clone for under $500K, then I can sell the 206.