My guess is then we need to be sitting in the rear working John, at least until we can "make like MH". Heck you have a ready made pilot anyway as soon as she gets done with physics/engineering/school and driving the Shuttle. Maybe then she'll have time for Dad.

So I ran the numbers when looking at my first jet. Was looking at a 501SP, again because of the cap cost. But when I ran the spreadsheet, I would spend enough in extra fuel (the fuel burn on a 501SP is eye watering) where I could own the Mustang for essentially the same cost on an annualized basis. Now, that's assuming 200+ hours of flying per year, but in my case, it made it a no brainer for the Stang or the 100...

Now, if you're not flying that many hours, than the 501 comes out head by far because of the lower cap costs, as long as you don't get bit by a mx event.

Short answer - on these jets you REALLY have to look at TCO. Spreadsheet it out and model the flights in ForeFlight performance plus. The numbers can be very telling...

One of the problems with the CJ2 is flying alone - its too much airplane for that and I don't like to do it. If I had something less expensive to operate I'd feel better about it. The Mustang would be perfect!

I haven't followed the 501 performance numbers very closely, what are the first and second hour burns?

No doubt the G1000 makes things a lot easier than dealing with a Universal.
Re 501: MT quoted 1000# first , 800# after that. Dirty IFR 8-900 Mile range.

John - as you know, I came from the mustang to the 2+. In my spreadsheets, assuming you go to 450, the 2+ costs the same to operate than the mustang on trips over 550nm. I am on all the programs, so the most expensive part of the airplane isn't the fuel but the hobbs meter.

This was assuming fuel prices were under $4 - but thanks to a handy program called JFX, I am usually always under $4. :-)

But yes, I feel guilty too when I am flying by myself.

That sounds too low to me. I thought that is about what the CJ/CJ1 burns.

Here’s the numbers I use for planning in the CJ2
1200 first hour
800 second
700 third

I just plugged a few flights into ForeFlight to verify. I sometimes beat these by maybe 100#

Sam, I don’t think those are accurate.

I have read that the 1SP burns more than the CJs per/nm

Here’s a pic at of the CJ2 panel at FL430 burning 700# doing 400TAS

1SP burn is 180 GPH 1st hour and 120 GPH 2nd hour, same as a CJ2, but unlike a CJ2, it goes at a leisurely 350 KTAS and is far smaller.

For me, over the past year, it has worked out to be 2nmpg for long legs and 1 to 1.5nmpg for short ones. I am always in a hurry and never have a need to travel beyond 800nm or so, so I never go above FL360.

Wow, that works out to be only 13% more fuel per/nm. If your trips are within the range of a 1SP and you don’t need to carry a bunch of passengers, that’s a pretty good deal (compared to considerably more cap costs).

Yup, that's why I bought it . The capex is amazingly low these days and the saving buys a lot of fuel, but no long term value.. A Mustang or a CJ/CJ1 or a 501 with Williams engines will hold its value, thanks to engine programs *and* continued Cessna support via parts programs. If you don't fly a whole lot (like me), it makes sense to run the airplane and P&W engines to end of life and expect zero value at the end, which is probably also the end of my flying career .

That said MX expenses for these old birds are quite insane (MT's ultra-low cost experience is not mine) and every time I worry whether a part will be available.. so far I have *not* been able to find many "overhauled" or "overhaul exchange" parts when I have needed them.. I have had to settle for "as removed". So yeah, ownership is not for everyone and part availability is a big risk. After a few years, even finding "as removed" will be difficult.

Thanks for the chime in Sameer. Was going to revisit the Flight Safety data but will take your word. Also one of my standard flights is 2 hrs in the 501 and would come in at 2000# on fltplan.com. So that agrees with you. Soooo, without too much embarrassment what sort of maintenance issues have ou run into? Do you have a local independent mechanic that can help?

Sam, took this pic today thinking about you. It’s a little hard to read but I’m burning 1050, doing 403TAS at .69.

It’s a good example of some real world numbers - I’m burning a lot more than I planned. In this case it was hot and I was tankering 800# more fuel than I needed. I saw ISA +19 in the climb. It took me 15 minutes to speed up to this from my TOC. I could have drug it higher up but I’d never accelerate up there. This leg was SDL-SBP, about 1:30. In these conditions, I burn close to 1100 in the second hour instead of 800. This is because of high temps, being heavy & LA center bringing me down early. I had planned FL 380 but it wasn’t going to happen. Not sure tankering the fuel really saved me anything because I could have gotten higher and burned less if I was lighter.

Stop torturing yourself, John! Get a P180, ride the same speed at same altitude but burn 700lbs/hr instead!

Did you sell your commander yet Adam? If so you need to go get yourself a P180 and share your stories. If the stories are good, I’ll consider it!