I have quite a bit of time in the Westwind II and somewhat less in the straight Westwind. The II is a little faster than the I and it can climb, on average, one flight level higher at the same weight as the I.
Basically it is an honest straight forward flying aircraft. As
g450 posted, as far as maintenance is concerned, just hourly inspection and as far as I know, corrosion has never been a problem with the Westwind aircraft.
To achieve the maximum range you will need the aft baggage fuel tank. Back when I was operating a Westwind II my mechanic (engineer) could install/remove the tank is just a couple of hours. If I remember correctly, the aft baggage tank gave you an extra hour of fuel at LRC (Long Range Cruise) flight profile. West coast to the East Coast could nearly all be made non-stop in the II. Also I flew SFO to Hawaii in the II a few times, but to have a dry foot print, we had to wait for favorable winds. So there were times the passengers had to take the airlines from SFO. Also, East coast to West coast non-stop was possible in the summer most of the time. In the winter, never attempted it as the upper winds are generally too strong.
One thing about the aft baggage fuel tank. From what I've been hearing, the tanks are becoming very rare and hard to find. As far as I have been informed, there are no spare tanks.
One word of caution about extended over water flights. Knowing what I do now, I would not attempt a flight to Hawaii now. Not because of fuel, but because of the landing gear. A good friend left Midway Island heading to Wake Island. About an hour out the right main gear up lock hydraulic line ruptured and the right main gear came out of the gear well, there is no mechanical up lock on the gear, only trapped hydraulic fluid. The drag of the extended right main gear was significant. They were able to turn around and make it back to Midway. He told me that the drag, coupled with the inability to stay at altitude, if they had been more than two hours away from land, they would have forced to ditch.
So keep that in mind.
I've seen Westwind IIs for sale lately for around $400,000.00 USD. So for that price you're getting a pretty good aircraft. The II also has decent high and hot performance.
Oh, please keep in mind that I have not flown/operated a Westwind II since 1984. The Westwind II I flew was serial number 356, we received it new from the factory in January of 1980. At least I think it was in 1980.
