That's what I'm saying. I'm not spending any more money on piston airplanes. I'll keep what I've got or go "whole hog" with a PC12.

I did my numbers with my friend that has a PC12 the other day. We calculate $650 an hour all in. That's what it costs to run a big pressurized piston twin like a 421 or a Duke. You just need to get over that acquisition hurdle of a couple million $$. But, if you can do that, I think you've got an airplane that will last you a very, very long time and that is very liquid if need be.

I think our discussion the other day about SVT triggered me again. Just because I can write a check isn't a reason to spend money for margional benefit. We're in a different world that's not going to change for a long while. I don't need a single piston with every available bell and whistle.

I'm saving my money for what will provide real value, and in my book, that's a single turbine. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my Bonanza.

Me too. SVT is outrageously overpriced. I may do the Rammer 2 but probably not.

I've got a great plane and I'm gonna fly the wings off of it until I can get into a PC12.

I'm not spending money on anything that doesn't give me "a lot" of benefit.

I wouldn't mind owning a TBM or PC12, then again, I wouldn't mind owning a G36 either. Lucky guy.

Keep the Bonanza, ship the 'stuff':

https://wwwapps.ups.com/ctc/request?loc ... appId=fctc

I have a friend with a wife and 2 kids and this is exactly what he does. He ships everything. He's says he so much happier doing it this way.

This may have already been discussed, but has anyone considered a Jetprop? They seem to have a reputation for very low operating cost vs. a matrix and can be acquired for about the price of a TN G36. Clearly not a PC12 competitor, but turbine, A/C, pressurized, ~270KTS/34 GPH, known ice, short field performance, is pretty hard to beat for $800K.

Here's an example for sale:

http://www.controller.com/listingsdetai ... 174833.htm

I guess the biggest downside is the useful just like the meridian.

Rocket says the per hour cost is ~$280, pretty cheap for a turbine.

Thoughts?

I sat in a Matrix at Oshkosh. There is a numeric keypad front and center near the floor which must get kicked a lot. The salesman brought it to my attention so I wouldn't.

I'm a svelt 158 lbs and 5'11". So the getting into and sitting in the left seat was just a couple simple yoga movements. I would still worry about kicking the controls getting in...

http://www.piper.com/home/pages/MatrixG1000360.cfm

$280/hour for a JetProp? Sounds incredibly low. Assuming 34gph at $5/gallon means you are incurring a $170/hour fuel cost alone. Even if you take the capital cost out of the equation I am pretty confident you won't be able to fly the JetProp for anywhere near $280/hour all in. The $110/hour left over that Rocket talks about at 200 hours per year is $22,000 left over to pay all of your other bills associated with the plane such as maintenance, insurance, tiedown, etc. Sorry, I don't buy it. Perhaps Rocket is talking about direct variable operating costs only and not all in ownership cost per hour.

-Neal

The JetProp always comes up and we always just ignore it when it does.

1. It's a "Frankenplane"
2. Useful load is bad

I just don't think it's a viable option. I'd rather just Pony Up for a Meridian. They're not all that expensive in the first place.

I figure my Bonanza costs me $250 an hour to run. Not sure how a turbine anything would be $280.

The Meridian cost us $690.00 per hour ,with all overhead added,,,The Jet-prop is a Malibu, not a Meridian,,,,Big difference,"Frankenplane" is a good discreption

I know it's a Malibu. But if you stick a turbine on the front, isn't it just an "old meridian"?

What are the differences exactly?

Here is a link the to the Rocket comparison page:

http://www.jetprop.com/comparisons.html

The forum on the Rocket Engineering site sure is a love fest for the Jetprop with several claims of operating expenses in the same ball park.

Jason,NO,The Meridian wing,tail, stabilator,fuel system,pressure vessel,etc (malibu's have a service celing of FL240 meridians are FL300,even though you can only use 290 because of RVSM.)are all different,actually side by side they don't even look the same, I could never figure out how they did the Jet prop,for example, If you take a malibu,put extended fuel on it which adds 40 gal of avgas,then convert it to a jet-prop, which uses jetA,which is heaver,how does that stc work?You talk to a Jet-Prop guy and they all love them,and I'm not dissing them,they always reminded me of putting a V8 in a jeep wrangler,It works but man what a way to get more HP,that wrangler was pretty squirrly compared to a factory Jeep...

Good question and I have been a happy beech guy as well. In general I had ruled out the larger older twins just because of the old and getting older factor of a plane that was last manufactured in the early 80s, and I don't have a friend at my airport looking to partner in one. Given my flight hours over the past two years, a partnership structure makes more sense, and currently I have a great Baron partnership opportunity and potentially a Navajo one (not to introduce another option, but I guess i just did). There is another tread here where the Navajo is compared to the Baron pretty well, short answer is that you can burn more gas and take your whole family, the neighbors' family, and a small piano with you, but not as fun and agile to fly as a Baron and parts are starting to get expensive.

Also, to the turbine posts, I looked at that first--the TBM 700s are starting to get down to $1 million used. The Pilatus is still high, but I think I saw a 90s one for $1.5. Then the second issue is insurance and recurrent training required. It seems like a lot of work to get access to the flight levels, but obviously the safety factor and speed would be nice. I do not have over 1,000 hours yet, so I think that transition might be pretty expensive from an insurance standpoint and i fear the first unforeseen mechanical issue -- having to add a zero from what the Bonanza surprises cost.

SVT is not so expensive if you do a G500 upgrade. We priced one at $21k the other day and it has a "scaled" version of it.

Frankenplane. Funny but true.