Hey guys, I've been following along on individual threads talking about each of these planes, but despite their similarities, I haven't seen a direct comparison. The reason I ask is a group of us were planning on going in on a Conquest together but I've seen some very nice Cheyenne IIs out there as well and for lower prices than similar Conqeust Is. So for the sake of this discussion let's talk about a stock Conquest 1 with -112s and a cheyenne II with the typical speed mods (ram air recovery, speed stacks). Could we discuss differences in performance, maintenance, and cost of ownership?) Much appreciated!

I can't give you any info on Cheyanne costs or performance, but here's a little bit of info I have from owning a -112 powered Conquest I for almost 3 years.

- 260 KTAS @ FL260 @ 400 pph
- 500 lbs first hour, 400 lbs each additional hour, 2452 usable
- Climb is 1600 - 1800 fpm through about 10,000. Will still climb at 600-700 fpm+ @ FL280.
- The -112 engine temps out at 16k to 18k depending on OAT.
- My plane is 5375 lbs empty. GW is 8600.
- 5.0 psi pressurization. 11,000' cabin @ FL280
- Pretty easy to keep in CG for almost all flights. If you have people in the far aft seats you will need some weight in the nose baggage compartment.
- Easy to fly, simple, pilot proof systems. Simple fuel management, no aux tanks, no transferring, etc.
- Maintenance will run between $200 and $350 per hour for 150 hours per year usage. Depends on the initial condition, what SIDS are due, etc. Parts availability is generally good. A few parts are very expensive (flow packs, windshield). Two best MX shops are in Fresno, CA and Grand Junction, CO.
- Stay away from airplanes near 9300 hours as there is a huge spar mod that is due then. Big $$. Or buy one that already has it. All SIDS except for the corrosion inspections are on hours/cycles, not calendar.
- Motion simulator based training available in Carlsbad, CA.

The biggest issue with buying a Conquest I is there doesn't seem to be a lot for sale. When I bought mine there were 30 for sale on controller but for the last couple years there have only been around 12. Fleet size in the US is something like 180 airplanes. I have a spreadsheet that shows the frequency and approximate cost of the SIDS, as well as a pre purchase checklist. PM me if you want those.

Wow thanks for the info. PM sent

I fly an 81 Cheyenne 2 with -135a’s. Empty is 5600, ramp 9050, takeoff 9000. Holds 2450 in fuel. Ours has speed stacks and ram air recovery with 4 blade hartzells. Very simple to fly, simple systems and a great performer. Our summer speeds are 265-270 true and winter speeds 275-280. It does the same speed above 11000 to 28000. Up high 700 pounds an hour down low, 400 up high. Inspections are every 100 hours. We mostly put fuel in ours and go. It requires very little between inspections. Let me know if you have any questions.
Craig

Thanks Craig. The -135 sure are nice but may be out of our price range. One I was looking at said it had -28 conversions. Do you know anything about those?

Yes we had one. Also a great airplane. Just not nearly as fast. At 25000 it’s a 245-250 knot plane. They are good climbers. The 135 airplane under 12000 feet does around 3000 fpm at 170 indicated. The -28 will be around 2200.

I agree with Scott’s performance numbers. I flew 3 of them when I was flying charter.

Great flying airplane! Loved every minute of it. That nose baggage is awesome. And like Doug R said the big twin cessnas have the best cockpit of all.

Added benefit. The conquest has trailing link gear like the citation bravo and just makes you look like a rock star pilot!

Having owned and operated several CHeyenne’s and Conquests, I can say that the Conquest I is my favorite turboprop for personal flying. Wide oval cabin, huge nose baggage, easy to fly, trailing link landing gear makes every landing a greaser, low noise in the cabin, good parts availability and just an economical airplane to operate. Down side are the SIDS and corrosion inspections but if they have been done by a good shop then they aren’t as big of a deal. You do have to pull the entire tail every 5 years which runs around $10,000.

The Cheyenne series to me are too narrow and cockpit visibility is not very good. The biggest issue I have found on the Cheyennes is parts availability. Piper destroyed all jigs for airframe parts many years ago so you can’t get any airframe parts unless you find them in a salvage yard or fabricate them. We had a flap microprocessor switch go bad and the downtime was 30 days trying to find another one. Its a cheaper airplane to buy for sure but I would go with the Conquest hands down.

That's actually not true. See this article:

https://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/F ... 889-1.html

This has been debated on BeechTalk several times. No sense in rehashing.

I also do not believe this is true. As long as you are current on the corrosion control program all of the SIDS can be complied with using hours instead of calendar as long as they were complied with when they first came due. These big inspections have very long intervals. I believe you may be talking about phase 45 which is due every 2000 hours. My notes say it's about $6K but I've never done it so I could be wrong about that.

I operate a 1980 Cheyenne II, stock -28 engines, stock Hartzell 3 blade props, speed stacks and American Aviation pitot cowls. I would generally concur with numbers and experience posted above,

A few more data points:

- 245 to 250 kts true at FL250 on 460 pph
- 255 to 260 kts true at FL180 on 580 pph
- CG range basically impossible to bust..if it fits it flies.
- If cabin full of adults and baggage bays full you’re limited to about 2000 lbs fuel (3 hrs plus good reserve).
- Very easy maintenance, if you’re not cleaning up a neglected airplane.
- Maint budget of $200 per hour is generous for 100 hrs / yr.

Super simple to fly, and robust solid systems. Environmental control box is rinky dink, a very short list of expensive pieces, overall very easy to support. Overall I find The Cheyenne an excellent value proposition for what they cost to buy and run.

I have zero experience with Conquest, but hard to beat the Cessna cockpit and the shnoz for sheer baggage capacity (trade off maybe trickier CG).

One other consideration is the -20, -21, -28 , and -135 PT6’s are plentiful on the secondary market if you have an incident that drives you to that. Don’t know about the -112.

You’ll be very happy either way....The Cheyenne does a great job but everyone I know who has Conquest time speaks very highly of them.

That’s one plus for the Cheyenne. The -112 is only used on the conquest although some parts may be common with other models. I recently replaced both FCUs and to my surprise there were OHE units on the shelf. Same with a prop governor.

I‘m based in Germany and might upgrade to a King Air C90A or B, a Cheyenne I or II or a Conquest.

Prist premix is almost nowhere available outside of the US. Carrying and dropping in cans is not really convenient. I also have my aircraft refuelled by my FBO at my home base and they won‘t touch Prist.

As far as I understand:

- KA C90A / B:
As per POH, usually don‘t need FSII / Prist, unless it is execeptionally cold. Oil to Fuel Heat Exchanger is efficient enough that people feel comfortable to run without Prist outside of the US.

- Piper Cheyenne I and II:
FSII optional as per POH, for any OAT. Nevertheless, some operators on some trips do use Prist anyhow and are carrying cans in the aircraft. Any ideas and thoughts to this?

- Conquest I and II:
As far as I know, FSII is mandatory according to POH. Outside of the US, some pilots do use Prist, some never do. Equipped with Oil to Fuel Heat Exchangers. Accident reports show few cases (one crash in Germany might have been caused by fuel icing, although the accident report only states that the cause of the shutdown could not be determined and the engine was technically OK). Ideas and thoughts to this?

Thanks for any input, knowledge and experiences!

What do PC12 operators do? That's the most popular turboprop flying and it requires PRIST. I know premixed PRIST is available in Canada and at least at one airport in Mexico. I'm surprised not in Europe. I agree though, the can is a pain in the ass. There's little things you can do to make it easier but it's still not fun.

Well, PC12 operators should do, as most of us might remember sadly (Butte, Montana). By POH they have to. A bit weird for an aircraft that had been developed in a country where you can‘t buy FSII anywhere.

TBM operators have to, too, as by POH, despite the Oil to Fuel Heat Exchanger (which is, like in many aircraft, after the fuel filter and before the FCU). I‘m aware of an incident. TBM has an indicator at the fuel filter. You can see, on ground, at the engine, if the filter got blocked and the bypass had opened.

I guess that most operators of PC12 and TBM do use Prist and fill it from cans, at least for longer flights at cold temperatures. Would be really interesting to know.

Regarding the Conquest I and the Cheyenne I and II: I heard different stories and I‘d really like to know as much as possible about using FSII for those aircraft.