Twin pilot going to single?? Early Alzheimer’s?

Solid IMC for hours. Rain, snow, night... warm, smooth, comfortable. This is an EXCELLENT single for cross-country flying. Dual static, dual heated stall, copilot instruments, great boots, hot prop, the defrost clears the entire windshield (not sure I’ll ever need the hotplate). With all of the room in the back the kids can spread out like they’re in a minivan. They have their own music so they watched movies and listened to their audio while Mom and I did the same up front.

Weather nav was easy with onboard XM backed up by GdL52 XM and ADSB. Synvis was a great backup for following 87 highway home at night below an overcast with rain.

Robot tug performed flawlessly on wet surface.

Found an EXCELLENT Mexican restaurant. Lucy’s in Carlsbad NM KCNM. Self serve and free courtesy car.

Business meetings were great.

Win!

I had a trip in the jet, where I would be leaving the plane in Nashville, so I decided to risk it and do what you should never do.

I set up a meeting with Steven Givens (the seller and a BTer) to fly the plane to pick me up in Nashville after I landed in the jet. We would then do the test flight from KBNA to his shop at KCVC which is Covington outside of Atlanta, GA. I wanted to decowl and inspect, including a boroscope, and then finalize the deal.

This is not generally a good idea. In my defense I have worked on/overhauled/tuned/restored several airplanes and so I have learned how to identify issues via flight and with a cursory inspection of the airframe and engine. Still, there is no substitute for a good prebuy for the typical transaction.

My FO cancelled the jet trip at the last minute, so I called Matt Mullahy to see if he could right seat. Matt is a BTer who relocated to AZ and flies for the regionals. He also lives in my hood and is a great dude. He jumped at the chance. We did our jet trip, met with Steven in Nashville, and the adventure began...

Solid IMC for hours. Rain, snow, night... warm, smooth, comfortable. This is an EXCELLENT single for cross-country flying. Dual static, dual heated stall, copilot instruments, great boots, hot prop, the defrost clears the entire windshield (not sure I’ll ever need the hotplate). With all of the room in the back the kids can spread out like they’re in a minivan. They have their own music so they watched movies and listened to their audio while Mom and I did the same up front.

Weather nav was easy with onboard XM backed up by GdL52 XM and ADSB. Synvis was a great backup for following 87 highway home at night below an overcast with rain.

Robot tug performed flawlessly on wet surface.

Found an EXCELLENT Mexican restaurant. Lucy’s in Carlsbad NM KCNM. Self serve and free courtesy car.

Business meetings were great.

Win!

Solid IMC for hours. Rain, snow, night... warm, smooth, comfortable. This is an EXCELLENT single for cross-country flying. Dual static, dual heated stall, copilot instruments, great boots, hot prop, the defrost clears the entire windshield (not sure I’ll ever need the hotplate). With all of the room in the back the kids can spread out like they’re in a minivan. They have their own music so they watched movies and listened to their audio while Mom and I did the same up front.

Weather nav was easy with onboard XM backed up by GdL52 XM and ADSB. Synvis was a great backup for following 87 highway home at night below an overcast with rain.

Robot tug performed flawlessly on wet surface.

Found an EXCELLENT Mexican restaurant. Lucy’s in Carlsbad NM KCNM. Self serve and free courtesy car.

Business meetings were great.

Win!

Okay I’ll play.

My useful load on my TAT TN 550 powered ‘76 A36 is 1,638 lbs.

What’s the useful load on the ‘Toga?

No, I don’t have a nose luggage bay, but we get everything in the luggage bay between seats 1-2 and 3-4 (which face aft). We’ve also got the newer style aft luggage bay (that came out in ‘79 I believe).

We’ve got lots of room. Lots of useful load. Lots of HP with the TAT TN 550.

What’s not to like?

:-)

Jim

The $100k + premium over the toga.

Okay I’ll play.

My useful load on my TAT TN 550 powered ‘76 A36 is 1,638 lbs.

What’s the useful load on the ‘Toga?

No, I don’t have a nose luggage bay, but we get everything in the luggage bay between seats 1-2 and 3-4 (which face aft). We’ve also got the newer style aft luggage bay (that came out in ‘79 I believe).

We’ve got lots of room. Lots of useful load. Lots of HP with the TAT TN 550.

What’s not to like?

:-)

Jim

Will it be more economical for you to own/operate the Citation and the piston single compared to just eating the added Citation expense on the shorter trips?

I cant believe you bought that airplane. I use to fly the hell out of that thing for the previous owner. It is an awesome airplane. I think I still have an extra set of keys for it in the office.

Great...start a thread and detail your experience.