Good Evening,

Wondering if anyone here has any experience with these odd birds. The particular specimin I'm looking at is equipped with Pratt -135s, not the Lycomings that seem to be more common.

I'd love to hear experiences from anyone who has owned / flown / operated one.

Thanks,

John IV

Turbine conversions rarely work well, they are often very range and/or payload limited. Usually range limited due to lack of volume to store enough fuel. Often structurally limited.

They tend to have other limitations like inadequate anti-icing, parts support, performance. And then they're hard to sell when you want to get out.

Especially when you can usually get a purpose built turbine for not much more.

Just a few thoughts for you.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_425
Get the real thing

+1

Gentlemen,

I truly appreciate your comments and thoughts. Let me try to refine my question just a bit so that we don't get off on a tangent before we get started.

I'm familiar with the 425 and have a little time in them. I have more time in its bigger brother the 441, though there's a significant difference between those airframes. I'm also familiar with some of the drawbacks that are generally associated with piston to turbine airframe conversions, and while I don't dispute that those drawbacks often do exist, I'm not particularly concerned with generalization drawn from the whole of the turboprop conversion fleet. Heck, I have more than my fair share of Merlin IIB time and those are about as close to being a conversion as you can get without actually meeting all of the criteria.

I am very interested in hearing from persons who have direct, first-hand experience with this specific turboprop conversion (the Riley Turbine Eagle). No doubt there are better aircraft out there; but respectfully, this thread isn't about other aircraft, it's about the Riley Turbine Eagle and I would truly appreciate it if we could try to make that the primary focus of our discussion.

Yes, I know there will be thread drift, and I know that a discussion of one type of aircraft will naturally draw comparisons to its contemporaries, but simply discussing the contemporaries and ignoring the subject aircraft entirely doesn't yield any worthwhile data from my perspective.

Now, let me step off of my soapbox and offer a little background on my reasons for brining this subject up in the first place. I'm not on the hunt for a new turboprop right now; however, I have been presented with what appears to be an "interesting" opportunity to purchase a Riley Turbine Eagle. I started this thread in an attempt to garner some knowledge and data points from operators who have first hand experience with this, admittedly odd-ball, aircraft. If I don't buy the Riley, I'm not going to purchase something else in its stead, nor do I plan to replace any of my current aircraft with the Riley should I in fact acquire it. I'm merely trying to decide whether or not it's worthwhile to purchase this aircraft, or if those who have owned them in the past have some noteworthy reasons to run in the opposite direction.

Thus this thread, presented to the great font of all aviation knowledge... BeechTalk! So what say you? Surely someone here has operated one of these frankenplanes and has tales of its horror or delight with which to regale us.

Respectfully,

John IV

Do you know the history of the 425 tail redesign?

If you can get it for part-out value, go for it! It's an attractive airplane and would probably be fun to fly for a bit.

I'd be interested in hearing your opinion on the Merlin IIB. There's a thread started here if you are interested in contributing. viewtopic.php?f=38&t=115679&hilit=Merlin

Good luck with this John, getting past those with zero first hand experience that know it all and will suggest something you're not looking for comes with territory.

My only suggestion is to go fly it.

I guess you already looked here:

http://www.vazar.com/riley-421-turbo-conversion.html

Vince

Do you mean 441? Was quite a problem at the time.

I don't recall any 425 tail redesign.

Mike C.

Do you mean 441? Was quite a problem at the time.

I don't recall any 425 tail redesign.

Mike C.

Have you thought about an MU-2.......just joking.

Craig,

I'll follow-up over in the T-Bone subforum in the existing thread over there.

John IV

John,

I believe the ex Cessna CEO Jack Pelton with Excaliber purchased this Riley STC and are looking into bringing this back into production. One benefit seems to be getting away from phase inspections. You are back to an Annual for the airframe and whatever engine inspections/maintenance is recommended by PW. This should lower the cost of ownership below 425 costs.

Mike