Great aircraft. Not many types can take a bum on each seat, full fuel & still have W&B left for bags. They cruise at ~160 - 170 kts & hold 530 L.
Lots of options for getting the wheels down: Engine driven hyd. pump, manual hyd. pump (can pump gear & flaps UP & down with it), nitrogen blown down bottle and, even it the gear won't extend then the all the wheels stow slightly clear of their wells (sufficient to keep the belly clear). About the only damage will be gear doors, antenna & possibly props. The designer must have had a few wheels up frights in his past...
All fuel tanks are 'mains' so no dicking around about which tanks to use for take off or landing. Also no limitations about what engine can feed from what tank, unlike the C310.
Even the rear row pax. get proper upright seats and lots of headroom, unlike Baron/C310s etc where their bums are only a few inches off the floor.
VERY roomy baggage volume.
Very good short/rough field performance.
Fairly docile & benign handling. Has the same aerofoil section as the Cub.
Cons:
Only a single engine driven hyd. pump (on the left engine) unless modified with a 2nd pump on the right. Both gear & flaps are hydraulic so if the L. engine fails shortly after take-off you'll be pumping the manual gear handle like mad to get them up.
The single entry door doesn't open very wide. It's limited by the R. engine nacelle.
Bit noisy on take off due to their augmenters.
Bit fuel thirsty but not excessively so ~130 lph.
Last edited by Tinstaafl; 31st May 2003 at 08:59.