Help me pick the right plane for my mission

[N747JB]

Ouch. That’s pretty steep.

I’m guessing that thing burns 40-45 GPH, so that’s $225, pay the pilot $3-500 per day unless they get paid by charter hour. Maintenance reserves on these 40+ year old pressurized twins ain’t cheap either, plus insurance, pilot training, subscriptions, staffing. I’m sure they are netting some money, but not tons and those engines are about $50-55K each!

 

[Salty]

From my work experience with cabin class Cessna twins, that's reasonable for an outfit wanting to cover some cap ex and make a profit.

And anything is fair game if customers pay it.

Didn’t mean to say it wasn’t fair, but rules it out as a solution to this problem.

 

[FormerHangie]

Feel free to convince me. The double MX doesn’t scare me too much.

You're looking at carrying four people plus bags plus three hours of fuel plus another hour of reserve fuel. That's asking a lot of one 300 hp engine. Add to that you'll be covering some very inhospitable terrain regularly, and I'd like to have the extra fan to help, plus if one fails enroute you'll have the option to coast down and land at an airport rather than who knows where.

Next issue is look at what an A26 or nice Cessna 210 goes for these days. You can get an Aztec or 310 for similar or less than what a 300 hp single is selling for.

 

[Albany Tom]

I think an Aztec or Apache would be great for east coast. Rockies? I'd rather have turbos. I'd look at single engine altitude limits before buying a twin. Sure, 200fpm descent beats 500, or maybe more accurately 8000 max altitude or whatever is better than nothing, but if you're going to go to all the trouble of buying a twin, you might as well get one that will perform OK single engine for your trip.

On the other hand, if you keep making the next step toward performance, someone is going to suggest King Air...

 

[N747JB]

Didn’t mean to say it wasn’t fair, but rules it out as a solution to this problem.

I’ve owned a few twin Cessnas and they aren’t for the faint of heart or wallet!