Steve-- You have some good info from the guys here on BT.
Your mentioning of high maintenance cost is always an issue with the the recip twins and you will hear hangar stories about ALL the twins having issues. If you maintain the aircraft then it will be reliable whether it's a C421 Aerostar or MU2...

Based on what you've posted, I would consider a Malibu Mirage. The only issue could be useful load. You'd have to run the numbers. But from a cabin/comfort, cost to acquire, cost to operate, and ease of transition, it falls more squarely in your range, and is an upgrade to the very hard to beat A36. But having said this, I think the advice to keep the A36 is very sound.

I went form a A-36 with one kid, to a 421C with three kids, and now I have a Conquest 2 and it might be vasectomy time! I've been through your dilemma and a lot of the advice here is spot on. Pressurization is the most important thing you can get for your YOUNG family, then worry about recip vs turbine vs yada yada yada if your budget allows.

Enjoy the "dilemma"!

I have my vasectomy appointment scheduled. I certainly can't afford 7 seats!

You've got a great plane now, so, it's a bit more difficult for you to move than in some clearer cases.
I'm a Beech guy. Had an TN A-36 with tip tanks. It was a very usable, capable plane, but no K-ice or pressurization. So, I moved to the P-Baron. That is very close to an A-36 inside but with redundant systems, K-ice, pressurization and AC and some other nice things. Flew it very much like the A-36 twice. That is, knowing the numbers on engine ops in the A-36 was pretty close to just doing things on two engines the same way. As has been said, the nose area can hold a LOT of stuff if it's not full of avionics or other systems stuff. My problem with the P-baron was when carrying a lot of folks in summer when I was headed a long way. The full fuel payload was just over 600 pounds and in summer when full, it was a real runway queen. Hate to think of how busy it would have been if I'd have lost an engine at a challenging time. Rate of climb in summer was only about 700 FPM when full to keep CHTs reasonable when climbing into the flight levels. Still, a wonderful bird.
The C90 King Air was an easy transition from the P-Baron and has around a 1,000 payload with full fuel, eight seats and a potty. Of course, pressurized, K-ice, AC and very reliable.

Good luck in your search. I stayed with Beechcraft until the jet. Still have the King Air and love it. Lots of choices and you just have to figure out what meets your budget, mission and what you like.
Great info on here.

Best,

Dave

At $50k/yr a 55 or 58 would be great.

Malibu would also be superb but you'd need a purchase budget more like $300k

If you like your A-36, try out a 58. You will be surprised just how much stuff will disappear into the huge nose compartment. They are relatively cheap, very easy to maintain, and reliable...very hard to beat for the money.

I've thought about the Malibu, but the useful load is worse than my A36, so that won't work. Same problem with the jetprop or Meridian. Has anyone flown an Extra 400? It is intriguing along the lines of the Malibu but with better useful load.

JOOC, I ran a compare of some twins on Conklin & deDecker.

Can anybody with knowledge confirm or deny that the $ ratios are even close to accurate?

What is the UL on your A36? My Malibu (which is for sale!) is 1340lb. Pretty easy to trade fuel for payload as it can go pretty darn fast on 14-16.5gph.

50k per year flies a Malibu probably close to 200 hours or 40k mile.

Pressurization is the game changer.

Useful load on my a36 is 1350.

I've owned three of those (58, 58P, and 421C).

You can use my approx all-in numbers (from memory) to compare as a ratio.

58 - $275/hr

58P - $450/hr*

421C - $550/hr


These numbers WERE low for the average user due to the fact that I fly 300-350 hours annually. OTOH, fuel has dropped $2/gallon since then so they are probably doable for most today if your avgas price is 4.50 or less...

*I did not actually achieve this until the last months of my ownership of the P. The first year was more like $1,200/hr. This is why the expensive planes are actually the cheapest... I believe these numbers present an apples/apples comparison...

Thanks Jesse

With the parameters you have outlined I would think you might look at the big Cessna's. 340, 414, 421. KA 90 would be perfect yet you will be hard pressed to find a good one under 500K. The increased speed will help off set fuel burn. Jet A is also cheaper. And a turbine may be a bit overkill with your 200 mile trips.

$500K

$50K annual

100hours


This will almost cover a 400 series Cessna ($60-$65K is a better number if you buy a good one). It will pay for a GOOD PBaron and easily cover a 58 Baron or similar.