http://www.trade-a-plane.com/search?cat ... e=aircraft

This airplane seems like a heck of a deal. Any idea why? I don't mind buying airplanes that need a little work, my labor is free-ish.

If the overhauls were done last year, that's a pretty good deal.

If they were done in 2001, much less of a deal. Nevertheless, that's got to be close to what the airplane would part out for, so you probably have a decent out.

Hard to tell, but it looks like it might have done 50 hours in the last 15 years. (Based on some of the log entries that are pretty hard to read.) It "got annuals" somewhat regularly, but I have to wonder how many of those annuals were "P-51" annuals.

You might consider joining The Twin Cessna Flyer organization and asking about the plane on their forum: http://twincessna.org/index.asp

Someone there may know the plane..

If that was in flyable condition and the engines were in good shape, I'd jump all over that. However, my guess is that neither of those are true and just the cost / time to explore that possibility isn't something I would sign up for.

I just heard of a C340 that hadn't been flown or annualed in some time that was bought by an uninformed buyer who is now holding a $150K repair bill to get it up to snuff.

As has been said on this forum many times, the most expensive piston twins are the 'cheapest' ones.

Two things that should avoided, early 421/A's and STD's.

C'mon you gotta do better than that Gerald. More details required on both topics:

What's the problem with early 421's / A's?

Which STDs do you TRULY need to avoid. An occasional itch is one thing but when parts fall off, that's a serious problem.

There is a lot wrong with early 421's. Different engines, 411 airframe, fly like an overloaded truck. No SE performance etc. They are cheap for a reason. The list is too long to post. It's buyer beware!!!

IMO the primary reason the early ones get criticism is because the later ones are so incredibly good. That doesn't make the early ones bad per se.

That makes one of you.

This plane will get bought by someone who thinks they outsmarted the market, then it will bleed them dry. That buyer will likely spend the rest of their life telling others they owned a 421 and it was a maintenance hog/hangar queen with poor performance.

This happens over and over in the big piston twin world. There is no such thing as a "deal". The best value is going to be sold at market price, and will be enjoyed for years by an owner who gets it.

If you are a noob to big pistons, find a mentor that has owned the type you want for some time. This will save you more than the purchase price of that airplane in short order.

Best,

The A model performance and airframe was pretty bad, and yet, your operating and maintenance expenses will likely be higher than a nice C model. The purchase price means almost nothing compared to running these planes. If you maintain them properly, you will get your money back in the end. Its all about OpX vs. performance.

I'm admittedly a noob with these birds. I just joined the Twin Cessna group and attended my first Twin Cessna event at Oshkosh last week. It's a bit like drinking from a firehose. I'm finally gaining comfort with flying the C340 and getting a good education on that model but have a long way to go on 421's.

Thanks much for the feedback Jesse.

The right Twin C is a beautiful thing. Even then, sometimes new owners get shocked at the bills. They can get up there if you are not very careful hunting parts. Bottom line, its just not cheap.

Good Luck!

+1 Especially if you want everything to work! Fortunately if you have some mechanical ability you can trouble shoot a lot of the systems, but not all........

If you have the $$ and need for C421, I don't see how you also have the time to roll your sleeves up and do your own troubleshooting. That's certainly not my situation, at least not at this point.

421B and C's are much better choices. Rocky is right it's more if you want everything to work. I know because everything works on my 421C right down to the lights in the nose baggage compartment.