Some might ask if there is such a thing as a "decent Chieftain"
A valid question, I guess
Horatio!
The last time I flew one was a tad over 10 years ago when I did a bit of casual work for the then Airlines of South Australia.
And whilst some of the Pilots I flew and worked with would grizzle about `bloody Chieftains,` when I asked if there was anything wrong/unairworthy/unsafe/etc etc they had to concede there was no reason for complaint! (they generally had Turbine desire in their eyes, quite understandably!)
Everything worked as required and if anything went u/s it was fixed.
In all my time with them I only remember the following defects showing up;
An autopilot went U/S (So we flew the whole trip as a 2 pilot op)
One EGT gauge likewise. (Finished the flight using the fuel flow gauge as a reference, running on the rich side)
A HF radio went bagarup! (Downgraded to VFR sartime)
The defects were reported when we returned to base, and fixed before the next scheduled flight.
The really sad part is that of those three Chieftains I flew in back in those days only one is left. Two were destroyed within months of being sold!!
I never did tell any of those blokes just what some of the Bongo vans and A model 402`s were like that I used to fly in PNG back in the early 90`s.
Maybe I should have!!
