Thanks fellas. I don't know jets well at all, maybe I need to reign in my expectations.

I like the thought of a single pilot jet because I can go where and when I want. I'm not allergic to the idea of hiring a SIC, but he'd better get used to sitting right seat. Anyway, I thought it might be nice to be able to make NY to LA happen every time, but I don't really go out to LA much. About as far as my business will ever stretch is Portland, ME to El Paso, Tx, so 1835NM. I love it out west, but there's not enough population density until you hit California, and I can't stomach the government. I'm from Queens, NY and I won't do business in NY either for the same reason. Too much bullcrap.

My buddy flys a Global Express, he's routinely sitting in the 50's at .86 or better, maybe that's where I got the number.

So, is there a SP way to go 1835NM with IFR reserve even with an occasional 100knot headwind, or am I asking for something that doesn't exist? The absolute speed doesn't mean as much, if the airlines are doing .76 I can settle (lol) for that so long as I have the legs. Never mind the budget; I'll either be able to pay the freight or not, the equipment costs what the equipment costs.

Oh yeah, and you can forget waiting to buy my MU2, lol. So long as I don't go bust, I'm not selling that thing. Jay Leno can have a pile of cars, I can have a few airplanes. Everyone has a vice.

2500nm at .86 mach in a single pilot jet?

The only thing that comes remotely close to that is the SJ-30X. The new Syberjet models will be in the vicinity of 9 million - 10 million USD.

A Sierra modified Citation II comes close on range but along with everything else that is single pilot, won't even enter the neighborhood of .80+.

The jet market is fundamentally different from the turboprop market in that regard because jet engines have continually improved over time whereas turboprops pretty much matured by 1980. A -10 MU2 ... with an engine that came from the factory 35 years ago ... is state of the art. A 20 year old jet, by comparison to current production, is very inefficient and a 40 year old jet will eat you out of house and home. Unless you have access to something no one else does - like $2/gal Jet A - the market seems pretty efficient.

Type ratings also make a big difference. Every jet is type rated and very much flown by the book and always has. You don't have the chance for a jet to develop a reputation like the MU2 did to keep prices down.

But, that said, you really seem to value SP. There aren't that many SP jets. I'd just turn the search on it's head and look at everything out there and what suits you. The CJ4 has 2100 nm range. http://cessna.txtav.com/en/citation/cj4

A premier is fast but shorter legged.

You don't have to fly as fast as an airliner to travel as fast as the airlines.

Take out the excessive waiting, the delays for weather wholly unrelated to your route, the flying on someone else's schedule, and flying limited spoke to hub and transfer to final spoke, and you can beat the airlines on lots of routes even 1000nm direct hub to hub and you crush them on most 1500nm random city pair routes.

You're right to focus on single-pilot and the range you need for 90-95% of trips.I wouldn't focus near as much on the difference between 0.72 and 0.86.

Yeah well Andrew, if you'll read the entire thread, you'll see that I understand that's not going to happen. Sorry guys, if it seems I'm talking out of my ass it's because I am. I'm just getting to learn a little about the jet world.

The SII looks like a good idea, especially with the upgraded engines. I don't need many pax at all, mostly it'll just be me and maybe one other person, never to exceed four people. The Sierra SII looks good at around 2mil...will it do what it claims to do? Also, I'm leary of Cessna, they seem to like to screw the legacy operators by putting new limits on older products. Is this just me being paranoid? Lastly, that thing has weeping wings for de-ice. Is that an issue?

Thanks!

Cessna M2 is pretty cool, it wont do 2500 nm but nothing else will anyway.

Nice runway performance also,

http://youtu.be/7JE5XfBK6b0

Not really gonna happen SP.

I think the Sierra modified (Williams engines) CII will do 2000NM (IIRC the website says 2600NM). Sierra is also working on bolting honda engines on the CJ3.

OK, Craig says he is willing to deal with a FO.

http://www.controller.com/listingsdetai ... 347301.htm

According to Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_880

"When it was first introduced some aviation circles claimed that at 615 mph (990 km/h) it was the fastest jet transport in the world."

"...only one is properly preserved: Elvis Presley's Lisa Marie"



The Graceland Plane Package includes "Hound Dog II" Elvis's Jetstar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_JetStar

Which has the 2500 mile range, but not quite as much speed at the 880.

He could fly around in the Jetstar when the 880 is getting an oil change.


Even with some investment in restoration (and hush kits), the capital outlay would be minimal compared to any modern business jet with comparable capability.

Of course, operating costs would be significant, but those other folks poking around in their in BBJ's will be eating Craig's smoke!

And at a low (less than 100 hours / YR) utilization rate, I bet the total ownership cost for Craig's 880-/Jet star Fleet (plus the MU-2 and the Aerostar) would be less than what what it costs to do the same trips in a BBJ.

Happy Holidays from Virginia

Forrest

I knew I could count on you for a serious contribution. If it's good enough for The King...

Hahahahahahahaha!

Look, I like to fly. It's really the entire reason I do any business at all after selling my last company. I'm a pretty low rent guy and it's my only expensive thing. Maybe it's silly to be thinking about flying all the time. Maybe it makes no sense to have a bunch of airplanes, but it makes me happy like nothing else other than my kids. Anyhow, every time I set my sights on the next bird, I have to build new business to make it a reasonable and legitimate purchase, and that means expansion into new markets and a much better bottom line for the company. If it's good for business then I'm doing the right thing. Who cares if my motivation is childish? That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Anyhow, looks like the best bet for single pilot is a modified SII then? Ok, if that's true, what about the Cessna wanting to ground all their legacy birds concern and the lack of a hot wing?

You don't have to fly as fast as an airliner to travel as fast as the airlines.

Take out the excessive waiting, the delays for weather wholly unrelated to your route, the flying on someone else's schedule, and flying limited spoke to hub and transfer to final spoke, and you can beat the airlines on lots of routes even 1000nm direct hub to hub and you crush them on most 1500nm random city pair routes.

You're right to focus on single-pilot and the range you need for 90-95% of trips.I wouldn't focus near as much on the difference between 0.72 and 0.86.

In October I lost to the airlines by one hour from State College Pa to Denver, with my BE-58, and that included a fuel and lunch stop. There were two of us, hunting gear, empty coolers guns and who knows what else and we got there and pulled the Jeep up to the doors to unload. The trip home we beat them by an hour, brought home about 220lb of raw Elk along with all the other stuff, minus a couple of jugs of Scotch and other fun groceries. No one told me I cant bring that on board and by the way please take off your shoes, belt, watch wallet, turn on your computer and bend over. You dont have to be fast to beat DELTAMERICANUNITEDSOUTHWEST. Are there any others left in the USA??

PL

The TKS was never a problem. Always worked a mint. Of course, it's TKS, so you have to remember to turn it on BEFORE you're in ice.

I don't know much about the Sierra version, but their cost sheet is spot on. We never had trouble with parts availability or strange limits. One advantage to an older jet is that there are plenty of salvage ones available. We rarely had to buy new parts, that helped maintenance costs.

The Phase Vs are ugly though. That's a 6 figure inspection no matter how you slice it.

IIRC, if you check the Citation Inspection section of Sierra's website, at least one of the phase inspection intervals is cut in half after 10,000 hours. In other words, occurs twice as frequently after 10,000 hrs. FWIW. Look at pricing on the older Citations for sale that are approaching, or over, 10K hours