Have any of you flown one of these ?

[Upside]

Do any of you have any experience of the Partenavia PN68B or C ?
I am thinking about using one of the above to get a bit of multi time, and i just wonderd if any of you would mind sharing any thoughts that you may have on the aircraft with me?
Stable instrument platform, realiable etc. The good the bad and the ugly.

Thanks in anticipation

[Circuit Basher]

Have flown as passenger in PA68C whilst a student was doing IMC Renewal / Multi refresher. From a passengers view, it was a great aircraft, quite stable and good view from the cockpit. I'd seriously consider using one of those if ever I wanted to go multi.

[DFC]

Great aeroplane for simple multi flying.

Basically it is like flying a C172 with 2 engines.

6 seats but watch the weight and balance.

Most are de-ice equipped as well.

DFC

[A and C]

For what you want it is a good aircraft to rent..........just dont buy one !.

[formationfoto]

Once had the opportunity to fly one around London 'not above 1,000 ft' for a flying eye outfit. Previously had been used to a Seneca. A bit slower than the Seneca but otherwise quite easy to fly and didn't require quite the same level of heaving the column to the chest on landing as the Seneca did (particularly when two up and close!!! to the forward C of G.

Liked the P68, very stable and put into a really steep turn just sits there. Good instrument platform and great trainer I would say. The 'large 172 with two engines' comparison is a good one. There have been corrosion and air frame problems which i believe are now mostly sorted though I would have one checked out well before buying. There are probably quite a few around to try. In the south east there were a few at Blackbushe I think. There is certainly one at Liverpool (Ravenair).

Oh and it feels like you are in a real passenger aircraft unlike the Seneca which which feels like a small aeroplane with extra weight and power.

[CaptAirProx]

Upside,

No need to answer, but it also depends on your "frame". Because the gap allowed to sqeeze into the little cockpit or should I say flightdeck is awful. Very cramped once in there and you feel trapped. Not a bad performa. The guy that said its slower than a Seneca, well it depends on the model of Seneca! because I would be bold as to state that it is faster than a Seneca 1 which is really its rival Piper. It has the same engines as the PA34 1 but goes about 10kts faster according to the one I flew.

If your looking to impress the punters which of course are not "helping" towards your flying ;-) then the P68 will do. But if you are looking for a serious IFR platform, I would suggest its not the best as many seem to suffer from ice build up on the engine air filters quite easily. Plus I know there is either a mod out or about to be out regarding the fuel selector cocks. As a design fault has caused a very serious incident in one last year. A double engine failure!

For some reason I have never felt comfortable and confident in one of these beasts........Can't put my finger on it tho.

Oh and as someone else said DON'T BUY ONE! They are a bitch with spares/maintenance etc.

But hey, if you want simply hours at a value price then sod the lot of us a go hire one if its cheap! You may love it.

[No Cigar]

I believe the mod for the fuel selector cock is due to the fact that they can stick, so if you're doing your before take-off checks and check the cross feed, you may actually leave it on cross feed if you do not positively put the selector back to normal mode (positively in the sense, rotate them till they sit in the detent).

If this occurs you will be draining off just one tank leading to fuel starvation of the tank and thus... double engine failure. If this occurs, the selectors should be the first thing you check. Remember, you probably still have a full tank in one wing

Did a bit of flying in them a few years back. Quite pleasant to fly, but if you're using it to build experience, don't forget that most twins in that category actually have retractable landing gear and cowl flaps, so have the discipline to actually consider these items as you go through your checks as you could forget after too many hours in them.

Also don't let the 'greaser' type landings go to your head, they're incredibly easy to land. I found them easier than some of the initial trainers (PA28 C172 etc) to land.

Aside from that, a pretty nice aircraft to fly. I'm sure you'll have a great time flying in them. Enjoy.