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My wife says it looks funny
Doesn't look funny to me at all, looks damned fine!
MegaMillions winner.. what do you buy?
- Thread starter jbrinker
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Doesn't look funny to me at all, looks damned fine!
EppyGA
Touchdown! Greaser!
Ronbonjovi
Pre-takeoff checklist
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Ronbonjovi
We had a work pool too, and the winning ticket was bought not too far away from me. Oh well, I had a fun two days of dreaming.
Zeldman
Touchdown! Greaser!
I went to high school with the son of the donor. I never thought to ask how much it cost. Of course the cost was insignificant to the dad.
I understood the story is that some other school had a bell tower and the dad thought that A&M should have one.
Timbeck2
Final Approach
I would like to revise my answer. I would use $100 million to bribe an alderman or the mayor of Chicago to let me rebuild Meigs Field. I would then use the rest to rebuild Meigs Field.
Ted
The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
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iFlyNothing
My answer should be pretty obvious. Retire and do Cloud Nine full time.
I really am very happy with the MU-2 as an aircraft for our mission, so I would probably stick with it. However there are some changes I would make, like a crew door up front (this was an option on the freighter models).
I really am very happy with the MU-2 as an aircraft for our mission, so I would probably stick with it. However there are some changes I would make, like a crew door up front (this was an option on the freighter models).
flyingcheesehead
Touchdown! Greaser!
I would start with a King Air B200, 90's/early 2000s model, G1000, Blackhawk, and all the Raisbeck mods, to build up some multi-turbine experience. I would also immediately place my order for a Pilatus PC24, and once that was delivered would likely put the King Air on leaseback with someone.
I would buy a home somewhere out west near some of the good backcountry places - Alpine, WY or Sandpoint, ID or something like it - and buy a Carbon Cub or C185 to live there and go to those places.
I would keep my current place in Wisconsin too, because I like it here... But I would put an Extra in the hangar so I could go tear up the sky now and then, and just have a plane to fly around here that wasn't a jet.
And somewhere, I would have a place in a warm climate on the water, maybe with a Twin Otter on amphibs.
I would plan to spend as much of my time as possible, though, doing charity flights: Angel Flight, Pilots and Paws, Veterans Airlift Command, etc.
I would buy a home somewhere out west near some of the good backcountry places - Alpine, WY or Sandpoint, ID or something like it - and buy a Carbon Cub or C185 to live there and go to those places.
I would keep my current place in Wisconsin too, because I like it here... But I would put an Extra in the hangar so I could go tear up the sky now and then, and just have a plane to fly around here that wasn't a jet.
And somewhere, I would have a place in a warm climate on the water, maybe with a Twin Otter on amphibs.
I would plan to spend as much of my time as possible, though, doing charity flights: Angel Flight, Pilots and Paws, Veterans Airlift Command, etc.
Ted
The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
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iFlyNothing
In your fantasy, I'd recommend flying a few options besides the B200 first.
King Airs are solid airplanes and there are good reasons why they have the status they do. That said, they're not the most fun or interesting aircraft in the class. Maybe you'll find them fun enough (I find Navajos fun, and they're trucks), but there are other options that you might find more interesting to fly. Not knocking the King Air, just making the point.
If I'm getting paid to fly, I'm happy to fly what the boss pays me to fly how he pays me to fly it and don't have any ego over what it is so long as it's in good mechanical condition. But if I'm the one choosing the aircraft, I'll be a little more picky and generally choose something less conventional, as shown by my record.
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Mantis Toboggan, MD
Guess I'll button up the flap before going in to work today.
Nauga,
cheeky
Nauga,
cheeky
Timbeck2
Final Approach
For the record, I won $4 which paid for my cup of coffee this morning.
1) Find a really good lawyer
2) Find a really good financial advisor
3) Avoid annuities - they really aren't your best investment. In the long run, you'll pay more taxes than if you take the lump sum and invest it (see #1, #2 & #4) and may not have control of the remaining funds after your demise.
4) After paying off whatever bills, setting up trust funds, making substantial donations to your preferred charities, then let the financial advisor discuss tax-free bonds and similar solid investments. Don't forget FDIC insured items at local banks (lousy interest but safe) A good mix is what you want.
Oh yeah, and $5mil to the Univ of Texas Longhorn Marching Band to remind them that the Aggie Band can march or play instruments, but not both at the same time. And the Aggies perform the same halftime show all season, in hopes of getting it right before the end of the season.
(Note: One of my band mates in the LHB, back in the Dark Ages, donated $5 mil last year, to be used only by the band and no other organization or department. Really annoyed the Music Dept - which co-opted the band years ago when Mr D retired. Until then, LHB was an independent entity on campus, beholden to no one other than the VP of Student Affairs and the Athletic Director. Where the football team goes, the band goes, in style. Chartered aircraft included.)
5) Take a small amount, say a couple hundred thou, and go silly. Possibly finish my Phud. Or the law degree. Or both. Or open a new flight school that understands the student pilot is a customer first, then a pilot.
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flyingcheesehead
Touchdown! Greaser!
What would they be?
I guess I've been partial to the King Air ever since I worked the line at college at an FBO that had a B200 for charters. Getting some stick time in Dave's C90 didn't hurt either.
I must admit, I was quite impressed with JT's 425 as well... And there are missions I would love a Twin Otter for, and the Dornier SeaStar is appealing too, if only it was actually being produced!
I guess one of the main things I like about the King Air is that it'd be very easy to sell or put on leaseback - Its main mission would be as my primary cross-country aircraft until the PC24 was delivered.
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Ted
The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
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iFlyNothing
Pretty much anything.
Keep in mind King Airs are generally the lowest performers in their respective competitors. A C90, for instance, is significantly slower than a Cheyenne I/II, 425, or MU-2 short body. A 200 is significantly slower than a Cheyenne III, 441, MU-2 long body, the KA350 is a far inferior performer to the Cheyenne 400LS. Throw in Commanders wherever you feel like, or the Piaggio P180... they're all better performers and more interesting to fly. But the King Airs are stable, easy to fly, and have ramp presence, plus really nice interiors for the passengers and they're well supported. I wouldn't turn one down, but if I won $1B+, I'd spend my money on something that is more interesting.
I guess I've been partial to the King Air ever since I worked the line at college at an FBO that had a B200 for charters. Getting some stick time in Dave's C90 didn't hurt either.
I must admit, I was quite impressed with JT's 425 as well... And there are missions I would love a Twin Otter for, and the Dornier SeaStar is appealing too, if only it was actually being produced!
I guess one of the main things I like about the King Air is that it'd be very easy to sell or put on leaseback - Its main mission would be as my primary cross-country aircraft until the PC24 was delivered.
The fact that they're easy to resell and popular on charter (because of the ramp presence and interior). But you just won $1B here. Buy something fun and who cares about leaseback? That's for regular people.
MauleSkinner
Touchdown! Greaser!
I would think you'd get tired of having those surgeries every day...especially if you didn't give yourself time to heal.Oh, almost forgot. Boobs, different ones daily, foreverrrrrrr!
OkieFlyer
En-Route
I'll tell ya what I'd do man:
It's a quote from a movie. Don't get your panties in a bunch.
It's a quote from a movie. Don't get your panties in a bunch.
flyingcheesehead
Touchdown! Greaser!
Pretty much anything.
Keep in mind King Airs are generally the lowest performers in their respective competitors. A C90, for instance, is significantly slower than a Cheyenne I/II, 425, or MU-2 short body. A 200 is significantly slower than a Cheyenne III, 441, MU-2 long body
What does it look like if those King Airs get the Raisbeck mods (specifically, the wing cuff and strakes, both of which significantly reduce drag) and the Blackhawk engines? The engines alone are supposed to be worth 20-30 knots, and the Raisbeck mods 10.
That is an entirely different animal - It has more of a jet-like mission than turboprop.
I will confess, the other reason I've always been smitten with King Airs is that I had an opportunity to ride right seat on that same B200 I was talking about earlier shortly before I started my flight training, and we landed on a runway that I believe was only 2500 feet long at the time. (It has VGs added.) Then, we took off from the same runway. I was quite impressed with that performance, and runway performance is a key thing to me. It means more usable airports, and getting closer to the destination via air.
Like a PC24?
Lndwarrior
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Gary
A war-hardened group of mercenaries to act as security for me and my family.
texasclouds
En-Route
‘05 Gig em
mscard88
Touchdown! Greaser!
Anymouse
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Total Stud Bush Pilot
Ted
The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
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iFlyNothing
The Raisebeck mods and Blackhawk engines definitely help the equation, but you're still adding more fuel to make that work. Compare that to a 441, where in RVSM land you have people truing out at 300 KTAS on 50 GPH combined. In MU-2 world with the baby engines I do about 250 on 52 combined at my most efficient setting. That efficiency doesn't just mean less money spent at the FBO, it also means more range.
The KA 350 is sort of an exception there since it just holds so much fuel and as a result has pretty ridiculous range. But if you compare that to a Cheyenne 400 LS, the Cheyenne will win hands down. The negative on the Cheyenne being that there are only 25 of them operating in the country. But again, you have $1B in this scenario, do you care? I wouldn't.
That's how the 400LS is. You get something that has mots of the benefits of a jet with most of the benefits of a turboprop.
And there you have one of the best reasons why a King Air might make more sense vs. the others if runway performance matters to you that much. I've found that it doesn't matter much to me, since the vast majority of runways I frequent (and want to frequent) are 4,000+ ft. Laurie's company operates King Airs and that's one of the benefits of that airplane for their mission - they fly into a lot of small, remote strips for their MedEvac purposes and the King Airs do it well. What they don't do well is fly fast or particularly far or efficiently. The other benefit is that they're easy to fly.
Like a PC24?
Sure, but we were talking turboprops. The PC-24 is an interesting jet but I'll also admit to not knowing a ton about it. I actually like some of the Citation Mustangs and the Phenoms in the single pilot personal jet category, but I'd be more likely to get a Lear just because, and then keep some qualified SICs on speed dial (having another pilot in the household who would qualify helps that equation).
flyingcheesehead
Touchdown! Greaser!
Something that really drove it home for me was when I got to fly the Hawker. The actual destination was Cresco, IA which has a perfectly good GA field (KCJJ), but with a runway that's far too short for the Hawker. So we flew an hour to KRST, which is an hour and fifteen minute drive from Cresco. A King Air could have flown directly to Cresco in 1:10 and saved an hour door to door (not to mention 1000 pounds of fuel).
In fact, the owner had been planning on taking his King Air that weekend, not the Hawker, probably for that very reason. Unfortunately for him, the King Air had some sort of maintenance issue.
See, if my wife was a pilot I'd have to get a Gulfstream or something too, and I'd have a place in Hawaii. The main reason I like the single-pilot jets is I don't want to have to depend on someone else when I want to fly.
So, my lottery fantasies have mainly revolved around the largest/fastest of the single pilot jets: The Citation CJ4, Phenom 300, and now the Pilatus PC24. The CJ4 wins by a hair in speed (11 knots faster than the PC24) and range, the Phenom in max gross weight... But the PC24 has by far the largest cabin (plus the giant cargo door), the crazy-good runway performance, and the "weightless APU" (Williams' "Quiet Power Mode").
Ted
The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
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iFlyNothing
It all comes down to mission and where you go. Like I said, for me I've found that 4,000+ ft runways are easy to come by and it doesn't impact my operations. Plus the MU-2 is plenty capable of less, it's just a matter of the pilot (me). I've landed it on a 3600 ft runway and using only half the runway during training. I'll admit that part of it is that I'm somewhat lazy since 4,000+ ft runways are normal for me. If 3,000 ft strips like CJJ are the norm, then most jets are going to be a poor choice and you'll need to look at what turboprops you really want to do.
All jokes aside, I would buy myself a brand new Cirrus SR22T and build a new hangar at the airport for it.
It’s nice to dream isn’t it?
It’s nice to dream isn’t it?
Dav8or
Final Approach
I got $4 too. It feels just like aviation. I spent $10 to get $4.