Tim,
That Aerostar must have had every option. Dick Taylor from Boeing, the prior owner, once told me he never should have sold it to Fred Astaire's widow. Taylor invested a small fourtune into the plane and then the widow put even more money into it when she had it. It was a supberb machine.

I wonder if the current owner knows what he has.

It was the best plane I ever had. I miss it every time I go flying, except for the fuel bills.


Andy

Their advertisement in the Aerostar Log explains it best:

OP mentioned hangars at each end, be sure the Aerostar will fit. The wing is pretty far back and the back of the wing to nose distance can be longer than the T part of some T hangars is deep. FWIW, this is a problem with MU2s as well since the back of the tip tank to nose distance means you need 20' for the T part of the T hangar to be able to get the door closed and some hangars, like mine (19' 5"), aren't deep enough.

it also has a 12 foot high tail so it needs at least a 14 foot door or a special tug to lift the front wheel

Agree. And Norm loves it; we still chat ever couple months. I negotiated as part of the sale, I get first right of refusal if he ever decides to sell it. His wife and kids also know. Somehow I doubt my opinion of the fuel bill has changed, but who knows

Outside of the avionics treadmill, there was only one AAC upgrade left that I was aware of after I was done (I added the gross weight increase, nose hat, and a number of others). The one I did not do, because it was not available was the winglets, and they were certified just a few months before I decided to sell. After 2 years and 300 hours, I still was not used to the fuel bill, and I knew at some point I would likely make a dumb decision because of it.

But, wow I miss flying that plane.

Tim

Trey- see the Aerostar is for sale, good luck!

What's next?!?

Eh we will see if it sells, I’ve been to Mead in kansas, Casey in Lufkin, and Intercontinental Jet in Tulsa. I liked the planes in Tulsa the most !

The siren song of the 42,000 rpm “screaming banshee” is strong for many prior Aerostar owners, myself included.

Keeping the aerostar for a while longer, goes in the end of the month for the 6850lb gear kit.

Hopefully I can get an air conditioner kit installed this winter too

My instructor had an air conditioner when we taxiied - open the top door! My hand that close to spinning metal was a bit much!

Plenty of clearance.

Just finished another aerostar annual....
Right at 80 hours for the year.(11 of those hours were to/from maintenance)

Other than oil changes in the past 12 months:

Had a turbo controller die. (Last December)
Had the pilots left brake master cylinder rod fail. (Feb)
Had the A/C condenser fan fail.
Had a flat tire on landing.
Had the bulb burn out in the Autopilot mode indicator.



For the annual I dropped it off at the flight shop on 9/29 and picked it up yesterday 10/11.
The big items this year were bad waste gate. (Left inner)
Leaking combustion heater fuel pump.
Failed combustion heater blower.

Total bill was $7742 in labor and $3081 in parts with $764 in sales tax.
Total 11570.36.

The total maintenance cost for used hour was: ~$250.
Use Costs including fuel was about $650/hr. (Not including reserves)
If I doubled my usage to 120 hrs/year costs would likely dip to <$500.

If I added reasonable reserves that would add about $100/hr.

My box of log books...

Those are impressive numbers for a P model, Paul. You're obviously taking good care of that plane. I spent a couple thousand more on my annual but I did add SureFly e-mags this session. But no unscheduled maintenance to speak of during the year, nothing other than annual so I came in below $200 / hr for a 600.

I had to rent a Cessna 172 recently for an hour to finish my BFR since my sim shop isn't Part 142 qualified. $195 / hr for a steam gauge 172. I'll take the Aerostar any day.

I also never had an annual exceed $13K when I owned my Aerostar. But, I did however overhaul engines and that was considerably more, so that might throw things if you'd count that.