Fastest Twin Piston Under 400K?

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Garavar

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Garavar
Looking to possibly acquire a twin if the price and quality is right. Under 400K. Any suggestions?

Requirements is fast and quality, nothing else really. Quality meaning reliable and won't be taking monthly naps undergoing repairs.

Don't care about payload it will be for two people, range is also not issue all flights would be under 3 hours.

Thanks.
 
Aerostar it is. Purchase price isn’t the expensive part though. But when you own the fastest piston twin in the world, who cares how broke you go feeding it 55 gallon drums of AVGAS/hr.

Eric Reese is the expert on these planes.
 
Is there a particular reason you're looking at twins for that mission? There are singles that will meet all of your stated requirements, so a twin is only going to be the best choice if you have other requirements beyond what you have listed so far. Here are some mission parameters that I would be thinking about before choosing a twin:
  1. Does the passenger want to sit next to the pilot the whole time or spread out in club seating to watch movies, read a book, crochet an afghan, etc.? (Baron 55, Piper Aztec, and Cessna 310 are fine if people like to face forward. Seneca or Baron 58 will be a better fit if your passenger prefers club seating.)
  2. Will you need to dispatch into IFR over mountains where the MEAs may require pressurization or oxygen? (A pressurized twin might be out of reach for other reasons, but a pressurized single could be a good substitute.)
  3. What hangar options are available to you? (The Twin Cessna tip tanks take you out of a lot of T hangars. Wingspan, length, and height of all twins will be a factor.)
  4. Will you ever have to park outside in cold weather? (Preheaters for two six-cylinder engines will cost a lot more than for one.)
  5. What local maintenance options are available to you? (Don't buy a super-specialty plane if you have to rely on the plane to fly itself 1,500 miles to the nearest experienced mechanic.)
  6. How much multi time do you have? (May make you uninsurable or bankrupt from insurance premiums in any but the most basic twins.)
  7. Are you able and willing to spend your annual vacation time traveling to attend recurrent simulator training? (Mandatory in most cabin-class twins.)
The best certified plane for your mission could be anything from a Mooney up to a short-body MU-2. Therefore, you should obviously just get a Bonanza.

More seriously, the "get a Bo" response has a lot of value because it is a really good plane from which you can measure all others, and then make an objective determination of which plane best fits your mission.
 
a mooney would be, if it had two engines......
 
I was curious, so I looked it up. Mooney Acclaim gets you 240 knots. Wow
 
iamtheari said:
Is there a particular reason you're looking at twins for that mission? There are singles that will meet all of your stated requirements, so a twin is only going to be the best choice if you have other requirements beyond what you have listed so far. Here are some mission parameters that I would be thinking about before choosing a twin:
  1. Does the passenger want to sit next to the pilot the whole time or spread out in club seating to watch movies, read a book, crochet an afghan, etc.? (Baron 55, Piper Aztec, and Cessna 310 are fine if people like to face forward. Seneca or Baron 58 will be a better fit if your passenger prefers club seating.)
  2. Will you need to dispatch into IFR over mountains where the MEAs may require pressurization or oxygen? (A pressurized twin might be out of reach for other reasons, but a pressurized single could be a good substitute.)
  3. What hangar options are available to you? (The Twin Cessna tip tanks take you out of a lot of T hangars. Wingspan, length, and height of all twins will be a factor.)
  4. Will you ever have to park outside in cold weather? (Preheaters for two six-cylinder engines will cost a lot more than for one.)
  5. What local maintenance options are available to you? (Don't buy a super-specialty plane if you have to rely on the plane to fly itself 1,500 miles to the nearest experienced mechanic.)
  6. How much multi time do you have? (May make you uninsurable or bankrupt from insurance premiums in any but the most basic twins.)
  7. Are you able and willing to spend your annual vacation time traveling to attend recurrent simulator training? (Mandatory in most cabin-class twins.)
The best certified plane for your mission could be anything from a Mooney up to a short-body MU-2. Therefore, you should obviously just get a Bonanza.

More seriously, the "get a Bo" response has a lot of value because it is a really good plane from which you can measure all others, and then make an objective determination of which plane best fits your mission.
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Passenger in Co pilot seat. Flight is from South Florida to Eleuthera monthly. It's entirely over water hence the thought of buying a twin. Warm Weather always, plenty of maintaince options. I have very little multi time I will have to fly with instructor a lot clearly. But yeah insurance will have to have instructor until time goes up.
 
TCABM said:
I like Mooney’s, too but OP wants a fast twin and Mooney ain’t a twin.
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Twin Mooney Mark 22
mooney22-01.jpg.a1791d6ca317bc87e2fb0f4ef6f361c7.jpg

"The designation Mooney Mark 22 was first used for the only Mooney twin-engined design. Designed by Al Mooney and completed early in 1958, that Mark 22 was a low-wing cabin monoplane of conventional layout, as the prototype consisted of a Mark 20 fuselage with new wings. Powered by two 150 hp Lycoming engines, it had a large dorsal fin, and a tricycle landing gear. The sole example was registered as N5299B
 
Daleandee said:
Can one be had (that's worth having) for less than 400K?
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A Mooney 305 Rocket would get you close on speed (225 ish?) and you can have 2 of them for 400! Does that count as a twin?
 
Garavar said:
Passenger in Co pilot seat. Flight is from South Florida to Eleuthera monthly. It's entirely over water hence the thought of buying a twin. Warm Weather always, plenty of maintaince options. I have very little multi time I will have to fly with instructor a lot clearly. But yeah insurance will have to have instructor until time goes up.
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Seminole will work for your mission and probably be the least expensive to operate. Baron 55 will be faster and easier to sell someday. Seneca or 310 will give more elbow room. You should be able to get insurance in any of these without paying too much or having to bring an instructor to the Bahamas for your first 20 trips.
 
I think you need to buy a Cessna 414. Talk to @Ted about what's involved in buying a twin Cessna. He'll try to talk you out of a 414, but don't listen to his advice and buy one anyway. He *loves* that.
 
kayoh190 said:
I think you need to buy a Cessna 414. Talk to @Ted about what's involved in buying a twin Cessna. He'll try to talk you out of a 414, but don't listen to his advice and buy one anyway. He *loves* that.
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Damn mods, always trying to trigger my PTSD... ;)
 
Twin Comanche, but for two seats I'd take a Wing Derringer if I could find one :cool:
 
EdFred said:
Warm water. Invest in a sweet *** life raft, and save the money for something else.
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If I could go my whole flying career without ditching or attempting to ditch that would be great.
 
Garavar said:
If I could go my whole flying career without ditching or attempting to ditch that would be great.
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The only way to guarantee that is to stay at home on the couch.
 
I mentally think of the aerostar as a twin mooney.

If I had that CapEx budget, rather than get a high-strung and fussy piston twin (which the fast ones are going to be), I'd be looking at starter turboprops instead (MU2, Cheyenne) and expect to have way better dispatch reliability and similar OpEx. That opinion gets nullified if the buyer is aiming to operate under Basic Med -- in which case, his hot piston twins are going to disappoint when operated at 18K and under too.
 
Don't let your wife have a ride in a Cessna 414 or she won't want one of the smaller ones available. South Florida, Bahamas you want A/C. Happy wife having sandwich in back of 414. For $400k you should be able to get a beauty.
IMG_8544.jpeg
 
Spinka said:
Wing Derringer
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Had to look this one up. Only 12 built and 7 left on FAA register. Pretty much an orphan airplane. Too bad. It does look pretty cool.
 
Lance F said:
For $400k you should be able to get a beauty.
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That may be true, but how much does a good 414 cost? :cool:

Jokes aside, the only airplane upgrades my wife has asked for are pressurization and less noise, so I guess someday I'll be stuck with a 421 or 425 (as soon as I find a buyer for the house and an STC for a sleeper cabin arrangement in the Golden Eagle). But we fly over the Great Plains and Colorado Plateau where we need to be prepared to spend a couple hours at 14,000. You raise a good point about air conditioning, though. I never think of that.
 
You want a Fairchild C-123.
Not the fastest, but a very respectable 198 kt cruise. Tops out at 29,000 feet. It has plenty of room, an 83 kt approach speed, an 1,100 nm range (without external tanks) and you can take off and land it in less than 1,900 ft, paved or grass.
But more importantly: Think of the attention you will get when you drop in for breakfast at the next fly-in.
 
Garavar said:
Passenger in Co pilot seat. Flight is from South Florida to Eleuthera monthly. It's entirely over water hence the thought of buying a twin. Warm Weather always, plenty of maintaince options. I have very little multi time I will have to fly with instructor a lot clearly. But yeah insurance will have to have instructor until time goes up.
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I fly from north central Florida to the Abacos monthly and have fought this fight. Used to have a Cherokee 6. Now have a Cessna 310Q. My flight is routinely under 2 hours.

The 414A and the 421B/C have been in my sights lately. MX is the biggest thing for me. For you, it would be the insurance.

You can get a Colemill 310 that will get you 200kts+ that will leave you plenty of money for fuel.
 
schmookeeg said:
Name me a cheaper one to acquire. :)
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365460ddeba0c0293.png


Low purchase price does not mean good for newbies. Please turn in your flight instructor certificate at the nearest FSDO, and review the multitude of relevant NTSB reports. Then go find the nearest chalkboard. You should write the following on it:

bart-simpson-generator.php
 
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