Twin question

[Adsie]

Just putting this out there -

What is the best best 4 - 6 seat high wing twin aircraft?

[Old Akro]

Best headset, best sunglasses, best flightbag & twins. All topics guaranteed to generate polarised opinions.

High wing twin? Other than a skymonster, Partenavia & aerocommander, what is there? And they all serve significantly different missions!

[Howard Hughes]

G1000, that qualifies! :ok:

[emeritus]

F27 with 34 seats taken out!

Masses of room for luggage ! :E :E

[chimbu warrior]

High wing twin? Other than a skymonster, Partenavia & aerocommander, what is there?

Well I guess there are a few other choices, although none originally designed to target the 4 to 6 passenger market -

Twin Otter - fixed gear and no racehorse, but lovely to fly
Dorniers 228 or 328 - apparently also lovely to fly, but allegedly expensive to maintain
F27 - noisy and thirsty, but imagine the legroom your 4 to 6 passengers will enjoy!

[weloveseaplanes]

Grumman Widgeon - capable of things no other small twin can dream of . . .

[Howard Hughes]

Twin Seabee, style and sophistication! :ok:

[weloveseaplanes]

Fair enough Mr. Hughes - that'd be a close second ;)

[Di_Vosh]

MU-2........

[pull-up-terrain]

A fa18 super hornet with 6 people squashed into the back seat indonesia style :ok:

[dl_88]

C-17 with 4-6 seats.

[Old Akro]

Many, many years ago there was a Catalina that called into Australia. It was decked out like a motorhone. Some guy and his girlfriend touring the world as I recollect. I think that might get my vote.

[Grogmonster]

Ok I will be sensible. You cant beat a Cessna 310R with a VG kit fitted. It will carry a massive load at 180 KTAS on 110 Litres per hour. Payload with full main tanks (3.4 hours to empty) is around 615 Kg. That's 6 people plus a small bag each.

Groggy

[skkm]

Lockheed S-3 fits the bill. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_S-3_Viking)

[weloveseaplanes]

What is the best best 4 - 6 seat high wing twin aircraft?

Ok I will be sensible. You cant beat a Cessna 310R with a VG kit fitted.

310 is low wing . . . and they only go splash once :)

Looks like the Widgeon still rules :ok:

[Wally Mk2]

DHC3, ya gotta love the brutal design combined with Mr Soloy & the Pathfinder Cessna 208B, both great Twin engined high winged planes:ok:


Wmk2

[gerry111]

HARS Caribou?

[sablatnic]

Honestly can't think of anything better than the Wilson Global Explorer.

[Jabawocky]

The mighty Bongo Van?

Or the Turbine version of the Islander if you prefer.

It is not fast, but it hauls a good load.

[601]

Or the Turbine version of the Islander if you prefer.

Club seating, bar, galley, toilet - what more could you want:ok:

[Trojan1981]

HARS Caribou?

Got to second that!

I am envious of those for whom the 'bou was their initial multi endorsement!

[AdamFrisch]

It depends on what you're after, but by your location it seems you need something that's capable of being equally at home on dirt/grass as well as tarmac. I'm biased as a Commander owner, of course, but they really are what you need for 90% of the flying. They're rugged, they're bush, they're supported, they're tough, they have great payload and almost STOL capabilities compared to many other twins. Giant wheels make them perfect for dirt and bush flying. They're also simple in construction and don't give many surprises. Fuel system is the simplest of any airplane ever made - there isn't even an on or off switch - it's always on. This makes them safe.

My 520 will takeoff in 950ft fully loaded - lightly loaded she'll do 600ft. Don't believe me? Check my video out:

Amazingly short take off in the Aero Commander 520 - only 600ft! - YouTube

The Shrike - or more correctly the 500B, S and U models - will not be as quick off the ground as mine is as they don't have geared engines, but still very good performers. Here's Dave Phifers 500B with the Merlyn conversion to 350hp each:

Aero Commander landing 15WA, Stanwood, Washington - YouTube


As you can see it gets into his grass field that simply could not accommodate any other twin except maybe an Islander.

Drawback with Commanders? Well, they're not very fast at the top end as they're a little bit draggy. The 500B will do about 190kts when everything's in top shape, but an older 500 will not do much more than 170kts. It's the tradeoff you make for great short field capabilities.

[j3pipercub]

except maybe an islander


I would be willing to bet any average driver with a bit of time could drop an islander into that field in much less and with much less braking. Not saying the 500 isn't great, just had to rectify your 'maybe' :}

[Trojan1981]

As you can see it gets into his grass field that simply could not accommodate any other twin except maybe an Islander.

Or a Caribou... in fact halve it and you'll still get a 'bou in there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px9_XWVqFHs

Shaken, not stirred ;)

[j3pipercub]

Bugger me, was that a class 1 or 2 heavy landing...

[Wally Mk2]

I love the way these guys try so hard to impress & make a bit of a mess of it:-)
Once the Bou was on the ground it stopped real quick though.
It's not so much the actual roll out of an A/C as most similar A/c can stop on a dime it's the transition from flight to ground roll out as can be seen in that pretty average App/Ldg of the Bou.

Wmk2

[QSK?]

The question was what is the best high wing twin engined aircraft.

How about any twin engined helicopter? The rotor blades are a wing aren't they?

[Trojan1981]

I love the way these guys try so hard to impress & make a bit of a mess of it:-)

Just a bounce. Have seen much much worse, with the aircraft still flyable. I bet that didn't even knock off the heavy landing indicators. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PtXS-zSnYU

All three landings from another angle, but I didn't mean to hijack this thread - I'll stop posting now!

[AdamFrisch]

The OP was for a 4-6 passenger high wing twin. None of the other mentioned fit this description. The Islander is a 8-10 seater. Granted it does have great STOL capabilities. Still get p**sy whipped by my 520 by about 150ft...;)

[172driver]

Cessna 337. AFAIK, you can even switch one donk off in the cruise, if so inclined.

[Adsie]

Well - that was worth asking ?!?!?!