Seneca vs Baron 55 Operating Cost

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JC150

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JC150
I am looking to purchase a twin, and I am curious if there are any Seneca II/III and B55 Baron owners on here that can share what their average hourly cost is to operate? Including insurance, hangar, maintenance, etc. I fly around 100 hours a year. I hear the Barons are closer to $500/hr?
 
There’s a good article on CSOBeech I think about Barons, 55s and 58s. I think they are closer to 300-350/hr? Maybe fuel cost now a days push that up a little higher. But I’m just a cheerleader. The real owners will be around shortly.

Senecas have those funky Conti TSIO-360s, right? Also between those two you may also need to run a $/nm comparison as Barons are fast.

Disclaimer: I’m a huge fan of Barons
 
My D55 is 20-25 grand for "hour one" each year and it's fuel (22-24gph) after that. I would expect a B55 to be a little less than that, but not a lot less. I'm in a HCOL area. Shop rates here are in the 125-150 range for GA.
 
Comparing a Baron to a dual TSIO-360 Seneca, I'd bet the Baron is A LOT cheaper to maintain.
 
OneCharlieTango said:
Comparing a Baron to a dual TSIO-360 Seneca, I'd bet the Baron is A LOT cheaper to maintain.
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I wouldn’t take that bet.

Way too many variables.

And with most GA light twins, many have endured years of cheap owners and neglected maintenance.
 
There’s that. The first two or three years are a crap shoot. But once established, I think a Baron would be cheaper to operate.
 
kaiser said:
There’s a good article on CSOBeech I think about Barons, 55s and 58s. I think they are closer to 300-350/hr? Maybe fuel cost now a days push that up a little higher. But I’m just a cheerleader. The real owners will be around shortly.

Senecas have those funky Conti TSIO-360s, right? Also between those two you may also need to run a $/nm comparison as Barons are fast.

Disclaimer: I’m a huge fan of Barons
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Maybe, the Seneca 1s had LIO360s.
 
JC150 said:
I am looking to purchase a twin, and I am curious if there are any Seneca II/III and B55 Baron owners on here that can share what their average hourly cost is to operate? Including insurance, hangar, maintenance, etc. I fly around 100 hours a year. I hear the Barons are closer to $500/hr?
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Never owned a Seneca, but did own a 1978 B55 Baron for a few years before I upgraded to the Beech 18.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of calculating/comparing cost per hour because every person is going to have some different variables. If I were to calculate what my average cost per hour was for say 100 hours a year it was closer to $315/hour not included any 'engine reserve'.

My Baron was in excellent shape when I got it. My average maintenance cost was around $7k per year. Most common big ticket maintenance expense on a Baron is cylinders. You will occasionally replace cylinders before TBO on big bore Continentals. Another big ticket item I did was a fuel bladder replacement. But overall the airplane was extremely reliable. I don't think I ever had a maintenance issue on that airplane that grounded it. The few maintenance issues I did have on the road were all things that I had two of: lost one of two alternators, one of two vacuum pumps. I did not do any owner assist maintenance or oil changes. All done by the shop, so it is possible to get the maintenance cost down.

Insurance was around $3500 per year IIRC, but that was 7 years ago. I imagine today it's a bit higher. Biggest factor in premium is usually hull value.

Hangar was $500 per month/$6k per year. High, but that's the area I live. Cheaper hangers are available in many other parts of the country. Some parts worse or not even available.

Fuel burn 25 gph to go 175 KTAS (mine had fun de-ice so slower)

The Baron was a great traveling airplane for us. Only reason I sold mine was because I really wanted a Beech 18.

Again, never owned or flown a Seneca, but I kind of doubt they are any better or worse to maintain. Any airplane can have surprises.

My personal recommendation is to sit in/fly both and see which one you and or your family like best and then go out and buy the best possible airframe you can find.
 
Seneca does 170-180 (depending on altitude) at 26gph 65%, or 155 at 20gph 55%. Overhaul lately looks to be around $80k per engine (although haven't had one myself, just basing this on some quotes from people online recently having to go through it). Most are FIKI. Turbo so DA less important. Remainder of operating costs come down to how well its been maintained in the past and how much catch up you have to do. When I was looking, Senecas were cheaper than Baron 58 and I wanted the rear door entry. 55 requires everyone to pile in through the copilot door. Seneca is wider and roomier in the back. Baron is faster and a bit more responsive on the controls. I didn't like the throwover yoke of earlier models, nor the weird orientation of throttle quadrant (they fixed that in later years, but IMO the fact that both exist is a recipe for disaster). Insurance depends more on pilot experience and hull value. They both are retract twins so insurance is gonna be pricey. Turbo has recent V band AD- hard to find parts for that. TSIO360 has a variable reputation- some love it, but others think its pushed way too hard in this configuration. So- total operating cost/hr will depend on : purchase price/loan payment/hull value+ pilot experience+ maintenance catch up way more than any difference between aircraft type.
 
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