1982 602P with 700 Machen conversion and 5.5 PSID then I had Aerostar factory complete the gross weight increase and add winglets.
So she is a 702P but with KFC 200 Autopilot instead of KFC 225

Speed: I forgot

Headed to airport now to find out,

Will report back

Reporting back,

Yesterday I went up to 15500 and saw 245 KTAS at 37MP and 2400

GPH was...NOPE, not going there

Coming back from Idaho on the way to Nebraska at 65% power
32MP and 2200 RPM @ FL230 speed was 240 to 248 KTAS

Hopefully flying to NYC this weekend and will report back

Also, I agree I do not "NEED" spoilers but MIKEY LIKEY

why are you descending at 3600 fpm?

I suspect he's doing it because he can with the spoilers. He's descending at 3600fpm, indicating around 200 knots, which is well under "top of the green" airspeed and more than 50 knots below Vne. Oh, and he's presumably keeping enough power on the engines to keep the pressurization controller happy.

It's a very versatile airplane without spoilers, even more so with them.

What James said:

Cause-I-Can

I will get over it, (hopefully not soon) and want to be efficient,
But not just yet. My Columbia will cruise at 15000 feet truing 175
KTAS approaching 15 NMPG

Why did I upgrade?

Speed...pressurization...SPEED, radar, A/c, speed,
Second engine which will actually fly me to an airport

Oh, did I say speed

You never get over it.

Tim

Once you've tasted Aerostar..... there is no substitute!

Enjoy. My only complaint about the Aerostar is my never ending source of projects.

Best thing about the Aerostar is that when ATC gave you a descent, all you did was push the nose over. Never throttled back - just took the speed. Thing has almost no yellow arc, very high Vne and is just built like a tank. I used to come screaming down into the LA basin after I cleared the mountains. "N79SR, would you mind slowing down - you're overtaking the Citation".

Not to throw a damper on things, however, speed does come at a price. It is inescapable and its cost increases exponentially relative to speed gained. The key word is "inescapable."
But, like Tim said, "you never get over it." It is very addictive.

Tom's right, of course, but an Aerostar is designed to go fast, the speed where going faster starts to take a lot more HP is a lot higher than lesser airplanes.

Add more power and Aerostars go significantly faster.

Brad's plane is a 700HP (instead of a 600HP, like mine) version, that extra 100 HP (really 75 HP at 75%) gets him from 235KTAS to 260KTAS+ (in cruise), the drag curve is still pretty flat above 250.

Aerostars can be economical too, I run LOP between 15 K and FL230, I see speeds between 195 and 210KTAS and fuel burns between 25 and 27 gph.

Low drag airframe, high wing loading, and fairly efficient engines, Aerostars were built to go fast (and far).

If you want to go fast, you want an Aerostar. There is no argument. There is no other aircraft out there of similar make and model that will come close. There just isn't.

I need to stop reading this thread. The Aerostar is the only airplane that could cause me to defect.... The performance numbers (aka speed) are mind-blowing. Good thing it won't fit in either of my hangars!

You know what? It's not just the speed. Yep...that's nice. Love it. But it hand-flies in such a balanced, positive manner and is so precise in its handling. With the wing and center of gravity & lift behind you, it's just a different feeling, much like flying a jet.

Takeoffs and landings are very positive, super smooth, and easy to control. Because the nose steering is hydraulic, you could use very precise crosswind correction and hold rudder where you needed well into the rollout when you'd use differential braking for minor corrections once you lost the rudder about 40 knots. That works well on takeoff too.

Are you sure? It fits in the same hangar as most other twins.
Plus, you could always switch hangars....

Oh, in terms of speed, I beat multiple KA-90s from TN to NJ. The local shop where I was based in TN was a KA specialist, and I had business in NJ. So there were multiple times we took off together and flew to NJ.
They would beat me on climb out, but I would stay with them in high 20s cruise, and beat them on descent or down low where the fuel burn would kill them to keep up.

Tim