Sorry to necropost, but for posterity this might be useful.
I came to the Aerostar with only 500hrs (although most of it twin time) and its reputation as a dangerous plane is - as is often the case with aircraft - vastly exaggerated. It's a solid single engine performer. The engines sit closer together than on pretty much any twin, so the single engine ops are much better than that small tail would suggest. No real bad habits. It has a stall buffet that warns you at least 10kts ahead of time, which is why the FAA certified it without a stall warner. The fuel system is simplicity itself - set it and forget it. It's very economical due to its low drag. The structure is very beefy, with three spars in main wing and the outer skins are more than twice as thick as on most aircraft. No in-flight breakups recorded.
Sure, you need to be on point with your speeds - that wing doesn't like to fly slow and it can bite if you get too slow and start loading it up in a turn etc. It also needs a bit of rwy and is not a great climber below 100kts (above that they'll climb 1500ft/min). As long as you fly it by the book, they'll reward you with the crispest handling this side of an aerobatic. All push-pull rods, no cables. Great aircraft - don't let anyone tell you anything different.
Last edited by AdamFrisch; 22nd Jan 2014 at 03:15.