I have access to a CJ3 for fuel cost, contract pilot cost, engine reserves, and expenses. I'm CE-525(S) typed, but too cheap to pay for a recurrent and wouldn't fly enough to maintain "safe" currency. I've never taken the owner up on his offer. 2.5X the fuel burn plus another $5-10k in pilot and expenses depending on trip length and logistics. No thanks, I've already scratched that itch and am satisfied with my Meridian.

So do 135/91 jets get the same treatment or are they allowed to mix with the 121 traffic? I go into IAH a few times per year and it varies. Most of the time they let me into the conga line with the 121s (though that "maintain 170 to the FAF" is fun when your Vfe and Vlo are 176 and I like a little margin on those) but sometimes they bring me down early and vector me around like they did when I was in the Cirrus.

Not just pilot, but also engine reserves, FBO fees, lodging and meals for the pilot, or airline trip back and forth. Typical 750nm Friday to Sunday trip, call it 2 hours one way:

Pilot - 3x$800 = $2,400 (I also have a pilot, great guy, that is $800/day, but I don't think $1,200/day is out of line either.)

Lodging - $500

Meals - $200

Engine reserves - 4x$400 = $1600

FBO Fees - $300

Total = $5,000

Add fuel (4,400#s at $7.00/gallon) and the 750nm trip costs about $10,000. Go farther or stay longer and $10,000 plus fuel isn't unreasonable.



Comparatively, in my Meridian, it's a 3 hour flight so the costs are:

Engine reserves - 6x$150 = $900

FBO Fees - $150

Add fuel (1,700#s at $7.00/gallon) and I'm looking at a total cost of about $2,750.



So, the moral of the story is look at all the money you can save by flying your own jet!

He must mean the B100.

Yep!

Always thought a B200 with -14’s would have been a heck of a machine!

Yeah...

There is no 200/B200/300...with TPE331.

B100, but that is a lot different than a 200.

Haha yeah sorry. I meant the B100. 100, 200. Haha whatever it takes

I looked hard at the B100 and had that in my mind.

Sorry for the confusion.

I guess numbers matter.

Mike

Having flown an MU2 a lot, and now a jet, the jet gets better treatment from ATC. It just does. The jet is given higher altitudes faster ion departure, and can stay higher on arrivals.

You can see this on an arrival which both turboprops and jets use. The jet altitudes at the fixes are above the turboprop generally.

Example: Gopher One at KFCM.

The airspace stack up is piston, turboprop, jet from low to high altitude.

Mike C.

A lot of it has to do with the airports you're flying in and out of. Coming out of the Boston area it's rare to be given an unrestricted climb up to altitude, we usually get 1 or 2 level offs. Nothing for an extended time, just enough to make you have to reengage your climb mode instead of just spinning a dial. There's also times when you're going to get diverted around faster traffic or held at an altitude for an extended time. Just the cost of not being a 350 knot climbing big iron airplane.

In the Meridian, we also got less optimized routing leaving Boston than we do in the Phenom. The routing in the Meridian when we would head down to N Myrtle Beach would often take us out towards cape cod and then hugging the coast south. It was about an extra 25 miles or so and when we were fighting winter winds, those extra pounds of fuel just hurt mentally to not have. So we would ask every controller for shortcuts, most of the time they'd cut us corners, but not always so we could never plan on it.

In the Phenom, the routing is more direct for us and we don't have to do that Cape Cod juke ever. Also being able to fly further out over the water really helps getting down to Florida efficiently. Being on top of the clouds is also always nice, however we are pretty picky about our flying days so it really wasn't ever an issue in the Meridian either.

Arrivals coming into BED/Boston are at the same altitudes with the Meridian as they are with the Phenom and at the same places. You're just going faster in the Phenom, but you can stay higher longer in the Meridian and then just chop the power and descend at 2500fpm without a sweat if you're pushing your fuel.

There's a lot I don't miss about the Meridian, but the cost is WAY cheaper on every front.

Chip-

Not just pilot, but also engine reserves, FBO fees, lodging and meals for the pilot, or airline trip back and forth. Typical 750nm Friday to Sunday trip, call it 2 hours one way:

Pilot - 3x$800 = $2,400 (I also have a pilot, great guy, that is $800/day, but I don't think $1,200/day is out of line either.)

Lodging - $500

Meals - $200

Engine reserves - 4x$400 = $1600

FBO Fees - $300

Total = $5,000

Add fuel (4,400#s at $7.00/gallon) and the 750nm trip costs about $10,000. Go farther or stay longer and $10,000 plus fuel isn't unreasonable.



Comparatively, in my Meridian, it's a 3 hour flight so the costs are:

Engine reserves - 6x$150 = $900

FBO Fees - $150

Add fuel (1,700#s at $7.00/gallon) and I'm looking at a total cost of about $2,750.



So, the moral of the story is look at all the money you can save by flying your own jet!

Except the up front purchase cost and all the costs related to hull value. Those costs are one time or mostly invisible, so you don't recognize them as much, but they still exist.

Mike C.

Yep!

Always thought a B200 with -14’s would have been a heck of a machine!

Except the up front purchase cost and all the costs related to hull value. Those costs are one time or mostly invisible, so you don't recognize them as much, but they still exist.

Mike C.

People would gladly buy a 1990 Meridian to save money. But they can't, because they didn't make them back then.