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 Post subject: My Cessna 425 Conquest I
PostPosted: 29 Nov 2018, 10:56 
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Joined: 07/10/10
Posts: 937
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Location: New Braunfels, TX
Aircraft: Conquest
I’ve had my Conquest for a little over three years and 700 hours so I thought I’d write a short review. So far it has been a great experience.

It’s good for so many of the short, sub-200-mile trips I make for business. Or, if I want to go high, it’ll fly for five hours with reserves and cover nearly 1250 miles. It handles six 200-pound guys (and 100 pounds of baggage) for up to 750 miles. It has that huge nose-baggage area that helps haul my family of eight and all their crap to Colorado twice a year. It has a potty on board that is used often by my munchkins. It cruises between 250 and 260 knots and burns 60 to 65 gph (depending on temperature) at FL250 and does it with two of the smallest and coolest-running engines Pratt & Whitney ever made. It has autofeather, making an engine-out event a non-issue. It has stone-simple systems: Everything is electric except for the hydraulic landing gear. This particular airplane has the venerable Sperry SPZ-500 autopilot, installed in most of the 500 series Citations. The fuel and environmental systems are simple and work great. It has trailing link landing gear that makes me look like a hero. If I want to fly it VFR at 17,500, it’s happy to accommodate, cruising about 230 ktas at 60 gph. It’s easy to fly, requiring no super-human pilot skills, and it has all those cool little round dials that look like they came out of Apollo 11. Plus, it fits in my 40’x 60’ hangar.

In summary:

A King Air 90 has a bigger cabin but the Conquest is faster and has more room for baggage.
A 421 is cheaper but the Conquest is more reliable.
A TBM is faster but the Conquest is bigger.
A Pilatus is…well…a perfect airplane. But a used one costs about $1.5M more than what I have in the Conquest.

And for you Mitsubishi and Commander guys - sorry, I don’t like Garrett engines.


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 Post subject: Re: My Cessna 425 Conquest I
PostPosted: 29 Nov 2018, 11:02 
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Joined: 12/12/07
Posts: 7771
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Location: Dallas, TX (KADS)
Aircraft: 1969 Bonanza V35A
I have a buddy, flies a CJ1 and a 425 for a principal - likes the CJ, but loves the 425 - says he'd take it every time, given the choice.

Envy!

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 Post subject: Re: My Cessna 425 Conquest I
PostPosted: 29 Nov 2018, 11:28 
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Joined: 11/06/13
Posts: 403
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Location: KFTW-Fort Worth Meacham
Aircraft: C208B, AL18-115
John,

Did I see your airplane at Wilson Air at Houston Hobby two weeks ago? I was in the white Caravan with blue and yellow stripes. If it was your Conquest-it was a nice looking bird.

CAA and Wilson have won my business at Hobby.

Ed


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 Post subject: Re: My Cessna 425 Conquest I
PostPosted: 29 Nov 2018, 11:40 
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Joined: 07/10/10
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Location: New Braunfels, TX
Aircraft: Conquest
Username Protected wrote:
John,

Did I see your airplane at Wilson Air at Houston Hobby two weeks ago?

No, not me. Unfortunately I usually just drive to Houston unless I'm going somewhere near DWH.

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 Post subject: Re: My Cessna 425 Conquest I
PostPosted: 29 Nov 2018, 11:51 
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Joined: 05/13/14
Posts: 8308
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Location: Central Texas (KTPL)
Aircraft: PA-46-310P
That's a great airplane John. What's your take on Garretts? Wouldn't a Conquest II be much cheaper to operate?


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 Post subject: Re: My Cessna 425 Conquest I
PostPosted: 29 Nov 2018, 12:10 
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Joined: 07/10/10
Posts: 937
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Location: New Braunfels, TX
Aircraft: Conquest
I think in the engine wars that began in the 60's and 70's, Pratt & Whitney won. More people are familiar with them, there are more service centers and they are not quite as delicate as the Garretts. I agree that a Garrett engine is more efficient but I also remember my dad buying a Betamax because it was better.


I'm sure there are many more educated people than I who can give opinions on Pratt vs. Garrett.

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 Post subject: Re: My Cessna 425 Conquest I
PostPosted: 29 Nov 2018, 12:15 
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Joined: 01/24/10
Posts: 6730
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Location: Concord , CA (KCCR)
Aircraft: 1967 Baron B55
John, are you getting ready to sell it?


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 Post subject: Re: My Cessna 425 Conquest I
PostPosted: 29 Nov 2018, 12:20 
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Joined: 01/29/09
Posts: 4693
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Company: retired corporate mostly
Location: Chico,California KCIC/CL56
Aircraft: 1956 Champion 7EC
I flew ser#5 in 1983-84. (It started out as a Corsair) I really liked that airplane. If my lottery ticket ever hit, it would be my go to.
Ours had the 800 series Cessna radio package.

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soloed in a land of Superhomers/1959 Cessna 150, retired with Proline 21/ CJ4.


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 Post subject: Re: My Cessna 425 Conquest I
PostPosted: 29 Nov 2018, 12:58 
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Joined: 05/31/13
Posts: 1227
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Company: Docking Drawer
Location: KCCR
Aircraft: C425
I'm closing in on my 3rd year of ownership of my -112 powered 425 and I'm very happy too. I've put about 300 hours on it and been everywhere from Vancouver to LA to NY to Mexico City to Cabo and pretty much everywhere in between. Mine has the 8th seat instead of a potty so it frees up a lot of space in the cabin and allows for the occasional trips with 8 people which is kind of nice. I see anywhere from 250 to 265 KTAS depending on weight, season, and altitude and I regularly fly it at FL270/280. As John said, the systems are silly simple and it's the perfect step up airplane. No fuel tanks to manage, auto feather, simple electrical system, and hugely derated engines that are pretty much impossible to over temp or over torque. It's definitely "pilot proof". After getting through the first year of ownership I've been pleasantly surprised at the opex. All in, including every single dime I spend from maintenance to property tax to hangar to training to charts to insurance it's about a $900/hour airplane. I think that will go down a little in the next couple of years since it seems to take about 3 years to work through all the issues related to buying a 35 year old airplane. And that figure includes little upgrades here and there, plus my OCD when it comes to airplane maintenance in general (the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, and I have a problem). If you are willing to overlook the occasional flaky engine gauge and stuff like that it would cost less.

Pros:

- easy to fly, simple systems
- relatively economical by turbine standards
- easy to live with (fits in a large T hangar, uses a normal tug, etc)
- good size cabin given that it's an entry level turbine.
- good payload/range/speed
- It's good looking (beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I think it looks great on the ramp)

Things I wish I could change:

- I wish it had 200nm more range. Another 60 gallons of fuel would be perfect.
- I wish the cabin door was 3" wider. It's fine for people but it's tight if you are loading boxes or bulky cargo.
- A PC12 size cabin would be really great but then you lose the efficiency and overall size advantage, so I guess I can't really complain about that.
- I wish it had hinged cowls instead of ones you have to remove altogether. That would make engine MX a lot easier.
- I fly in MEX a lot and I wish it didn't require PRIST.


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Last edited on 29 Nov 2018, 13:09, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: My Cessna 425 Conquest I
PostPosted: 29 Nov 2018, 13:08 
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Joined: 12/19/11
Posts: 3302
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Company: Bottom Line Experts
Location: KTOL - Toledo, OH
Aircraft: 2004 SR22 G2
Absolutely love the Conquest. I wish I could buy about 100 hrs on one...

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 Post subject: Re: My Cessna 425 Conquest I
PostPosted: 29 Nov 2018, 13:10 
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Joined: 01/11/08
Posts: 2070
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Location: Gaithersburg , MD (KGAI)
Aircraft: 1980 Baron 55
Don:

Come on man, time to step up!!!!

Rick


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 Post subject: Re: My Cessna 425 Conquest I
PostPosted: 29 Nov 2018, 13:13 
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Joined: 05/31/13
Posts: 1227
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Company: Docking Drawer
Location: KCCR
Aircraft: C425
Quote:
Absolutely love the Conquest. I wish I could buy about 100 hrs on one...

For what you have in that 5 year old Cirrus you could just go out and buy one (or get very close). A nice -112 powered example is like $600 - $700K.

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 Post subject: Re: My Cessna 425 Conquest I
PostPosted: 29 Nov 2018, 13:17 
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Company: Bottom Line Experts
Location: KTOL - Toledo, OH
Aircraft: 2004 SR22 G2
Username Protected wrote:
Don:

Come on man, time to step up!!!!

Rick


According to my math, my all-in costs to fly (capital, mx, fuel, hangar, ins, training, etc) the same # of miles would go up 210%, which is quite aggressive. I think the reality is more like 250%. I love the 425 but not quite that much...

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 Post subject: Re: My Cessna 425 Conquest I
PostPosted: 29 Nov 2018, 13:27 
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Joined: 06/28/09
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Location: Walnut Creek, CA (KCCR)
Aircraft: 1962 Twin Bonanza
These certainly look like a great value. Is the cabin the same as the 421?

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 Post subject: Re: My Cessna 425 Conquest I
PostPosted: 29 Nov 2018, 13:30 
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Joined: 05/31/13
Posts: 1227
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Company: Docking Drawer
Location: KCCR
Aircraft: C425
Quote:
the same # of miles would go up 210%

I totally get it. But one thing that I didn't understand when I moved to a turbine is that you will not fly the same amount of miles. You will fly a lot more because now all of a sudden trips that you would never take in the Cirrus (or on the airlines for that matter) are suddenly very convenient and doable. I now visit customers in rural areas that I never would have seen before because it was too much of a PIA on the airlines or in my piston commander. I take the family places that they never would have gone in the commander because of the speed/noise/lack of pressurization. If you step up I guarantee you'll fly 50% more. Of course you'll pay more too but who's counting??

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Last edited on 29 Nov 2018, 13:33, edited 1 time in total.

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