That's prop think maths

Andrew

$3500 an hour to fly a Citation X is based on 400 hours a year. Check the chart Allen posted.

They haven't made very many. Everyone went and bought Phenom 300's.

$3500 an hour to fly a Citation X is based on 400 hours a year. Check the chart Allen posted.

That's prop think maths

Andrew

Ditto! I could easily be talked into lunch at KACT!

Robert

Yes I know. Cutting the hours in half also doubles the cost per hours. 200 is half of 400.

The only reason that chart makes the X look so cheap is they're basing the cost on 400 hours per year. Jet A is cheap. My plane costs the same to run as it does to sit.

Yes, 400 hours per year in a X in a huge amount of flying. If you are travelling that many miles a year and the legs are long, it might make sense... but certainly not the norm for a private operator.

They sure are pretty though...

A CJ3 would be awesome! But, I don't need the seats or the range - I'd like them, but would rarely need them.

MP was talking about the comfort and the PC12 (I think the KA is about the same) and my CFO was talking about this too. We brought her up to Denver (SDL BJC) on this trip and I brought her home in the KA. From her perspective, it was a break even. CJ was faster but the KA was more comfortable. She is tall and the CJ had four people in back and she said their legs were intertwined, not uncomfortable but you had to pay attention in order to not kick the other person.

The CJ2 has 6 seats in the back but 2 of them are like the seats in most convertible cars - pretty useless unless you put little kids in them. I think of them as "seat shaped purse holders"

I had a different perspective on this trip than my CFO. The CJ cockpit was smaller but I was comfortable enough. Less time in it made up for less room. But what was really cool was the weather we flew over at 410. I looked down from clear smooth air and saw solid clouds with embedded thunderstorms. I'm sure I could have picked my way through them in the KA but it would have been a rougher ride and a ton more work. I flew three legs that day; 2 in the CJ2 SDl-BJC-SDL, and one in the KA SDL-MTJ. I would have been tired on the last leg if I flew the KA for all of them. An extra hour or so of flight time but more importantly picking my way through storms in rough air tires me out more than clear air. Not that I'm always smart but if I did the first two legs in the KA, the smart thing to do would have been to call it a night and do the last leg in the morning.

I've also been thinking about this in terms of my age. I am 52 and I'm not sure why but the clock seems to be spinning faster as I get older. I don't have any reason to think I'll decline mentally in the next ten years but it is going to happen someday and once it does the door for flying a jet closes. So in thinking about this, I have to project a time where the possibility of the door closing increases. I use 65 just like the airlines. So 13 years left..... But there is more, it takes a year to get trained, comfortable and into a CJ - I know this sounds like a long time but I'm fairly busy with work and life so I can't just stop and focus on this. Also, I think 4-5 years is a good ownership horizon - shorter than that and it doesn't make as much sense. So now I only have 7 years left to make this happen. That is not a lot of time! It'd be great if I had the money sitting around but I have to grow the business to afford this and that's a giant task. I decided a few years ago to go for this because owning a jet was on my bucket list and I just couldn't seem to let it go. How long does it take to grow a business to the point where it can afford to own a jet? Good question, certainly longer than it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.

Not sure why...but it's the truth!

Jeff

JL

My clock seemed to speed up at 21 and it is in full Warp speed now... at 62!

HOT DAMN!!!!! all the chicks in tRide thought you were 41!!!!!

Get the Jet though man, CJ3 or Phenom, don't be cheap


.........and agreed, getting above the weather is HUGE.......experienced that big time this past 3 flights.

Some folks love spending other peoples money.

Yes Phenom 300.

Yup flying in the 40's is a completely different experience than flying in the 20's. That and seeing a 4 in the first number of your TAS is pretty nice too.