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 Post subject: Express 2000 RG
PostPosted: 06 Aug 2017, 04:07 
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Joined: 05/10/09
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Company: On the wagon
Location: Overland Park, KS (KLXT)
Aircraft: 1978 Baron 58
I'm not very well versed in experimentals and google hasn't given me much.

I found this today and I'm really interested.. if it's not a deathtrap/money pit/unsellable.

https://www.trade-a-plane.com/search?category_level1=Turboprop&make=EXPRESS&model=EXPRESS+2000+RG&listing_id=2244463&s-type=aircraft

Do an of you know anything about these?

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 Post subject: Re: Express 2000 RG
PostPosted: 06 Aug 2017, 05:39 
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Joined: 02/13/10
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Location: Castle Rock, Colorado
Aircraft: Prior C310,BE33,SR22
..haven't heard of this one, but it sure must be fast.

He had a gear collapse and substantial damage in 2015 http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2017/04/b ... ident.html
and I would wonder why it flew just 45 hours since it was born in 2007..?

It would be interesting to talk to others who have built and flown this model.

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 Post subject: Re: Express 2000 RG
PostPosted: 06 Aug 2017, 06:28 
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Joined: 09/12/11
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Company: RPM Aircraft Service
Location: Gaithersburg MD KGAI
Aircraft: Mooney 201, A320
Looks like it came from the wheeler express.


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 Post subject: Re: Express 2000 RG
PostPosted: 06 Aug 2017, 07:26 
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Joined: 06/08/12
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Company: Mayo Clinic
Location: Rochester, MN
Aircraft: Planeless in RST
Looks fast.
Not getting the TBO and hrs thing.....

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 Post subject: Re: Express 2000 RG
PostPosted: 06 Aug 2017, 08:59 
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Joined: 08/24/13
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Company: Aviation Tools / CCX
Location: KSMQ New Jersey
Aircraft: TBM700C2
Username Protected wrote:
Looks fast.
Not getting the TBO and hrs thing.....


Used engine was installed 45 hours ago.


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 Post subject: Re: Express 2000 RG
PostPosted: 06 Aug 2017, 09:01 
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Joined: 01/16/11
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Company: Underground Airways
Location: CYKF Kitchener, Ontario
Aircraft: Mooney M20K 231+
How much is that engine worth? Might be value in that alone.


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 Post subject: Re: Express 2000 RG
PostPosted: 06 Aug 2017, 09:13 
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Username Protected wrote:
Looks fast.
Not getting the TBO and hrs thing.....


Used engine was installed 45 hours ago.


Aha, thanks!
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 Post subject: Re: Express 2000 RG
PostPosted: 06 Aug 2017, 09:17 
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Joined: 02/13/10
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Location: Castle Rock, Colorado
Aircraft: Prior C310,BE33,SR22
Username Protected wrote:
Looks fast.
Not getting the TBO and hrs thing.....


Used engine was installed 45 hours ago.

It does say Airframe Total Time 45 hours too. I wonder if that's a mistake by the broker...since the 2015 gear collapse surely would have resulted in prop and engine changes or repairs.
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 Post subject: Re: Express 2000 RG
PostPosted: 06 Aug 2017, 09:53 
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Joined: 06/18/12
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Company: Revolutionary Realty
Location: Coeurdalene, ID (KCOE)
Aircraft: 1954 Bonanza E35
I built an Express RG 2000, what would you like to know? The plane I was building didn't have a Turbine, though, just a measly....TIO-540 AE2A (twin intercooled twin turbo). I didn't finish the project, but I came very close.

The time period I was building in had Larry Olson, the owner & co founder, pass away in a plane identical to this one after taking off from an airport on the way to Oshkosh. A big part of why I didn't finish was that the company itself; after Larry's passing, was in bad shape, and for a while there really wasn't any support. I know that has changed to date, it is a viable company now, form my understanding.

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 Post subject: Re: Express 2000 RG
PostPosted: 07 Aug 2017, 01:15 
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Aircraft: 1978 Baron 58
Username Protected wrote:
How much is that engine worth? Might be value in that alone.


It's a military edition PT6, so I believe it can't be used on certified aircraft. Therefore, worthless or nearly so except to a home builder.

It's also possible that it had a prop strike, the ad isn't very clear about what was done after the gear collapse.

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 Post subject: Re: Express 2000 RG
PostPosted: 07 Aug 2017, 01:16 
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Username Protected wrote:
I built an Express RG 2000, what would you like to know? The plane I was building didn't have a Turbine, though, just a measly....TIO-540 AE2A (twin intercooled twin turbo). I didn't finish the project, but I came very close.

The time period I was building in had Larry Olson, the owner & co founder, pass away in a plane identical to this one after taking off from an airport on the way to Oshkosh. A big part of why I didn't finish was that the company itself; after Larry's passing, was in bad shape, and for a while there really wasn't any support. I know that has changed to date, it is a viable company now, form my understanding.


Interesting. I'm not sure if I'm keen on the fact that the co founder died in one, that tends to make me a little nervous.

What did you do with yours?

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 Post subject: Re: Express 2000 RG
PostPosted: 07 Aug 2017, 01:18 
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Aircraft: 1978 Baron 58
Username Protected wrote:
Looks fast.

It certainly does. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Turbine speed, PT6 reliability and easy to find maintenance, experimental avionics and a stupid low price for something that burns kerosene.

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 Post subject: Re: Express 2000 RG
PostPosted: 07 Aug 2017, 01:56 
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Joined: 06/18/12
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Company: Revolutionary Realty
Location: Coeurdalene, ID (KCOE)
Aircraft: 1954 Bonanza E35
Quote:
Interesting.

Improved version of the Wheeler Express, the retractable gear on mine was FIRST rate, as in it looked like it should be on an F-18 or something, very solid & well engineered system, quick up & down, very precise gear.

Plane flew very well slow, and would also scoot along nicely. I made a choice between it & a Lancair 4 over the premise of the slow speed handling & stalls being a lot more forgiving. The plane still has the comfort & so on, but no pressurization.

Quote:
I'm not sure if I'm keen on the fact that the co founder died in one, that tends to make me a little nervous.

I think it would make anyone nervous.
That being said, the line of Express Aircraft is smaller, but well respected. The designs had a cruciform tail for a little while, then went to a conventional tail. If you have interest in it, go fly it; I guarantee you'll like how it flies, I sure did.

I went to Express before I bought mine & flew one of theirs a decent amount of time, that one was a fixed gear plane, and if I remember right around 185 or 190 KTAS, plus or minus. Like the Bonanza, though, you can slow it down....

My understanding of the accident with Larry was that it had to do with fuel starvation on takeoff, and that he either had a problem with feathering the prop or didn't do it, the plane did stall, that much was widely known. He was on his way to Oshkosh when it happened.

Quote:
What did you do with yours?

I sold my plane to another builder, that was years ago; maybe 03?

I can tell you this; the asking price of $199K on that plane is cheap, to me, I sold mine unfinished for close to that, and I also lost a pile of money in it. :shrug: The finished product, though, will not be quite as fast as a Lancair, I don't think; but I do think it'll forgive you a lot more if you ever need to land w/o an engine, or frankly, in just about any flight regime. NO OFFENSE to any Lancair drivers, because they are a phenomenal machine; but the slower you can land, the safer you are, and that's been proven over & over again.

Chris :cheers:

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 Post subject: Re: Express 2000 RG
PostPosted: 07 Aug 2017, 02:06 
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Chris: Thanks for all of your input on this. I knew BT would come through for me.

Username Protected wrote:
Improved version of the Wheeler Express, the retractable gear on mine was FIRST rate, as in it looked like it should be on an F-18 or something, very solid & well engineered system, quick up & down, very precise gear.

So, if put together correctly, the gear collapse shouldn't have happened?

Quote:
Plane flew very well slow, and would also scoot along nicely. I made a choice between it & a Lancair 4 over the premise of the slow speed handling & stalls being a lot more forgiving. The plane still has the comfort & so on, but no pressurization.

+1


Quote:
My understanding of the accident with Larry was that it had to do with fuel starvation on takeoff, and that he either had a problem with feathering the prop or didn't do it, the plane did stall, that much was widely known. He was on his way to Oshkosh when it happened.


That's a little more comforting

Quote:
The finished product, though, will not be quite as fast as a Lancair, I don't think; but I do think it'll forgive you a lot more if you ever need to land w/o an engine, or frankly, in just about any flight regime. NO OFFENSE to any Lancair drivers, because they are a phenomenal machine; but the slower you can land, the safer you are, and that's been proven over & over again.



It's the bad low speed behaviors of the lancair that I was specifically worried about. I've never flown one, but I've heard lots of stories.

I'm getting much closer to giving them a call and flying down to visit this plane.

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 Post subject: Re: Express 2000 RG
PostPosted: 07 Aug 2017, 10:39 
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Joined: 06/18/12
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Company: Revolutionary Realty
Location: Coeurdalene, ID (KCOE)
Aircraft: 1954 Bonanza E35
Hi Sean,
I would dig into the "gear collapse" story & find out if maybe he just didn't lower it....the gear system on my plane was as close to fail proof as a person can get, so I'd be thinking more along the lines of maybe forgot to drop the gear?

Larry's wreck didn't happen because of the plane being deficient or bad news, at least not to me. It was a really hard thing for all of us involved at the time to think that he probably (I don't know how much was proven or disproven) made some pretty crucial mistakes.

Go fly it; I will assume a couple of things in advance:
It is docile, in pretty much all regimes, the Express' I flew were, just friendly planes. It has enough engine to REALLY climb, seems like I remember (could be wrong) 2000-2500 FPM climbs in the turbine. Speedwise, all according to altitude, but I'd think at altitude, 240 KTAS or better.

Could be wrong on the climb & speed, but if I am, not by too much.

For the money, it's an honest bargain, to me.

Fwiw-
Chris

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