My issue with the 300 is Service Centers. I can't get it worked on unless I fly it to Greensboro NC. F that.

Brought my team to Pinnacle Aviation and sat through a great presentation by my buddy Ken Casey. Everybody sat in one and went back to the office thinking wow!

Thanks so much for the advice here. Those things are on his list and he suggests we buy a plane already on pro parts. Except for cap cost, it looks like it is a much much better choice than the KA for our long trips. It's tempting to go into a V at half the money when jet A is $3 (average). But it's also cool to think about a direct climb to 450 and miserly fuel burnswhen oil eventually goes up. The CJ2 burned even less on my short little trip SDL - MTJ.

I'm kinda surprised I'm not following Jason on this. Jason, I figured you'd beat me to this by a year or two.

I suggest you study the terms of Proparts very carefully and understand the costs to you under various scenarios with a positive or negative balance:

- You sell the plane and terminate Proparts before the contract ends.
- You sell the plane and the new owner wants to continue the Proparts contract.
- You own the plane to the end of the Proparts contract and don't renew.
- You own the plane to the end of the Proparts contract and renew

If you buy a plane on Proparts and take the contract understand if you are assuming a negative balance.

Proparts charges you full Cessna retail price for the parts. You have no opportunity to shop for alternative sources at a discount. You also don't have opportunities to save money by repairing instead of replacing parts.

Proparts is not a fixed price maintenance plan. It has reconciliation settlements if you terminate your contract. Only in limited cases will you save money over your total parts cost for the duration of the contract.

Proparts is a good tool for the corporate CFO who wants to smooth the monthly maintenance budget and spending. The surprises come on the back end when you sell the plane and need to settle the accumulated Proparts balance.

That's the rub.........you are not.......when you really, really look at the value proposition against the PC12, the CJ's beat the PC12 by about an hour to an hour and a half on a 1000NM trip.......everywhere else the PC12 kicks the living crap outta the CJ (just stirring the pot fellas )....

when you factor in the additional cost of running the bird, the landing fees, the unknowns, Pro Parts, Cessna's not so kind parts and maintenance policy etc. etc. the PC12 is still the best value proposition by a New York mile......

if it was not Jason would be in a CJ..........and frankly I'd be right behind him..........

My issue with the 300 is Service Centers. I can't get it worked on unless I fly it to Greensboro NC. F that.

That's probably what I'd do. The V is really an incredible value.

There are many independent shops that can be a better value for doing much of the maintenance on older Citations. You are not locked into Cessna maintenance.

I'd have pulled the trigger a year or 2 ago if jets weren't tanking in value so fast. The PC12 will sell for what paid for it. The CJ3 and CJ4 seem to be depreciating about $200K per QUARTER. As soon as the right one falls in my lap I'm going for it.

Also, I still do a lot of 250NM flights.

It's true. My motivation to move to jet is very very low. The ONLY time the PC12 sucks compared to the jet is 1000nm westbound in winter.

2 weeks for type rating...... ugh

It's true. My motivation to move to jet is very very low. The ONLY time the PC12 sucks compared to the jet is 1000nm westbound in winter.

2 weeks for type rating...... ugh

Where? Aloft is the quickest I've found at 10 days.

Where? Aloft is the quickest I've found at 10 days.

It's true. My motivation to move to jet is very very low. The ONLY time the PC12 sucks compared to the jet is 1000nm westbound in winter.

2 weeks for type rating...... ugh

CJ2 and Citation V... everything.

The CJ2 is small, efficient, next to latest design. It's simple to fly, work on and own. It's slow and limited weight / range wise.

The V is a older more complex design, a tad more work to fly, and a lot more to maintain. It is fast, has a bigger cabin, carries quite a bit more a lot farther.

Owner flown... a CJ2 is hard to beat. Crew flown, buy an Ultra.