Jason, a lot of Jet suggestions in this thread.
Back to your question..
I was a Beech boy for 25 years. My last plane was a G36TN - fantastic plane.
I did a few crossings and even flew from Germany over the North Pol to Alaska in my Bonanzas.

In 2019 I did the step up to a Meridian.
The only thing I regret is not having it done much earlier.

Not in today's market. Nothing for sale right now is close to that, so it is unrealistic to have that budget to buy a Meridian.


That's the main issue. If you can't stomach the fuel flow, jets aren't for you.

There's no gauge on the panel which shows capital cost "flow", the money you are "spending" on lost investment or interest rate for paying more for the plane. So it doesn't seem real, but it is.

Mike C.

Why not? The older plane can do the job better.

Mike C.

Not in today's market. Nothing for sale right now is close to that, so it is unrealistic to have that budget to buy a Meridian.


That's the main issue. If you can't stomach the fuel flow, jets aren't for you.

There's no gauge on the panel which shows capital cost "flow", the money you are "spending" on lost investment or interest rate for paying more for the plane. So it doesn't seem real, but it is.

Mike C.

Not in today's market. Nothing for sale right now is close to that, so it is unrealistic to have that budget to buy a Meridian.


That's the main issue. If you can't stomach the fuel flow, jets aren't for you.

There's no gauge on the panel which shows capital cost "flow", the money you are "spending" on lost investment or interest rate for paying more for the plane. So it doesn't seem real, but it is.

Mike C.

I think there’s another financial viewpoint that may feed these decisions.

Assuming the owner will be paying cash, the capital cost is viewed mainly as a balance sheet move only. I had X cash yesterday, I have X in the form of an airplane today.

With airplane prices tending to be stable (okay, they’ve gone up lately, but let’s say over the last decade) it’s easy to think you’ll get your capital costs back one day, less the depreciated usage.

This leaves only the upkeep and operating costs to consider.

But the cash decision has an opportunity cost. For turbine equipment it may be better to leave that money invested and pay the loan interest.
When money was cheap that was a no brainer. Even with higher interest rates it still makes sense for me.

That's exactly how I was looking at this. Next statement we get from our brokerage, I'm going to print the picture of a meridian on it and give it to her.

Whats the details on your $600k meridian? Is it looking at an OH on the engine soon or what drove the acquisition cost to be so low?

Those factors can tilt the equation significantly, particularly near urban areas.

A 4000 ft runway is easy for Citation. As you get shorter, it gets less viable. 3000 ft can work, but have to be careful. At 2,500 ft, it is unreasonable IMO.

That being said, jets operate out of KSQL, 2600 ft, including a CJ4 which has no TRs.

Also, as you fly more miles/hours a year, the lower op costs airplane will be cheaper. If you fly less, then the lower capital cost airplanes will be net cheaper.

Another factor is business use, which I have. Outside of bonus depreciation, the higher the cost of the airplane, the worse it is on depreciation. You are better off having lower capital cost and higher operation cost in those situations.

For me, a $1.5M Meridian is a much harder thing to deal with than the $700K Citation V I bought. Right now, however, there are no $700K Citations V out there, of course, just like there are no $600K Meridians.

Which leads to another issue, downside capital risk. If you buy a newer higher cost airplane, there is more downside market value risk. With my Citation, I could easily sell it well over double what I paid. Then, all my flying was free! If a $1.5M Meridian market value falls to $1.0M, and that's possible given one was at $600K recently, the fuel savings will seem insignificant. No one knows the future, of course, but the higher the price, the more downside risk there is just in general.

Mike C.

Those factors can tilt the equation significantly, particularly near urban areas.

A 4000 ft runway is easy for Citation. As you get shorter, it gets less viable. 3000 ft can work, but have to be careful. At 2,500 ft, it is unreasonable IMO.

That being said, jets operate out of KSQL, 2600 ft, including a CJ4 which has no TRs.

Also, as you fly more miles/hours a year, the lower op costs airplane will be cheaper. If you fly less, then the lower capital cost airplanes will be net cheaper.

Another factor is business use, which I have. Outside of bonus depreciation, the higher the cost of the airplane, the worse it is on depreciation. You are better off having lower capital cost and higher operation cost in those situations.

For me, a $1.5M Meridian is a much harder thing to deal with than the $700K Citation V I bought. Right now, however, there are no $700K Citations V out there, of course, just like there are no $600K Meridians.

Which leads to another issue, downside capital risk. If you buy a newer higher cost airplane, there is more downside market value risk. With my Citation, I could easily sell it well over double what I paid. Then, all my flying was free! If a $1.5M Meridian market value falls to $1.0M, and that's possible given one was at $600K recently, the fuel savings will seem insignificant. No one knows the future, of course, but the higher the price, the most downside risk there is just in general.

Mike C.

You keep harping on this, but you've also given us instructions on finding which planes will increase in value - and your plane is worth 3x what you paid for it in less than 3 years.

And for some of us, sinking the money into a plane saved a considerable amount at the IRS window - money that wouldn't have been saved if we'd bought stocks or bonds.

Everyone's CapEx needs are different.

If your Citation V isn't the best investment you ever have made or will make in your life, then you are extremely lucky.

Education is usually the best investment. Much more than triple returns.

You need to compare like for like. How much is a 2006 CJ with 2200 hours? Same hours and year as my Meridian. The capital cost is double. You can't compare a 25 year older plane with 3-5 times the hours.

Almost any turbine aircraft has better performance than a standard -500 Meridian. With that being said, it is a truly excellent entry level turbine. It is simple to operate, has decent performance (especially compared to any piston), and you can drop it off at a service center and not have a jaw dropping maintenance bill. The owner's community is great and the ecosystem is robust, with lots of service centers, instructors, and ferry pilots. Its limitations are very well known, and the only risk is that you don't account for mission creep when you purchase it. If your family is 6 people and you want to fly 1000nm+ legs, the Meridian isn't going to work. If you have small kids and don't mind fuel stops, it's a great ride. I wouldn't want to spend 1.5mil on one, but I'm sure there are some closer to the 1mil mark. Controller isn't the end-all-be-all.

I moved to a legacy aircraft (Commander 980). It's an amazing airplane with excellent value proposition when compared to a similar performing TBM or PC-12. That being said, there are frustrations with owning a legacy airframe. Fewer service centers, ferry pilots, instructors, etc. From what I gather, a lot of the value in owning an older 501 comes from being involved in maintenance. I don't have any interest in hunting down yellow-tagged parts, but different strokes and all of that. The LUMP sounds great, but that handcuffs your yearly usage. All factors to consider. I wouldn't go back to a Meridian, but I'll certainly look hard at M600s as their price goes down.