Cessna 414A

The 414A has a very different wing than a tip tank 414.

I will still take a 421C over a 414A , I like the extra useful load, climb performance and noise level.

A 421C that is in GOOD CONDITION will do 80% of what a C90 will do on half the cost.

Robertson's 2nd Rule of Aviation

It is still any old King Air job, regardless of all the above.

$5k is a ballpark number, but here’s what’s in it.
$1500 G1000 subscription.
$1500 SierraTrax maintenance tracking.
$1200+ XM weather and music (rounded off)
$900+/- ForeFlight pro w/runway analysis.

I dropped Cescom a few years ago and went with SierraTrax for 1/4 the cost and dropped Cessna CPCalc for runway analysis and switched to ForeFlight for a better product at less expense. Still, a jet will take $5k in subscriptions at a minimum.

Thanks Clint. I was surprised the data premium for G1000 vs my G3X, 750xi/650xi.

Right. It depends on what you subscribe to. I have the lower 48 plus Jepp charts with the full meal deal on mine. Safe Taxi, Obstacles, Airport Directory, etc.

It is slow, noisy cabin and not real efficient but there is something beyond the numbers about the Kingair missed here

It’s a truck. I pack in people, bags, fuel. CG is not a problem. Useful load on a 600 mile trip is not a problem.

Ice, dark, starting unassisted cold, rough air, cabin room, seat comfort, lighting, grass taxiways.

Easy cabin door size, ramp presence is ok to nervous passengers, having two engines is noticed by non pilot passengers.

Day in day out, long trips to land at short dark runways when tired. Roll it in the hangar and back out in the morning and go. Yep it breaks but I have not had to abort a trip where I could not work around the problem. Mostly old avionics have been the problems.

Biggest trouble has been going back to redo work performed because it was not done correctly or overhauled components that did not work out of the box. But it’s not the airplanes fault for that. We got through it eventually.

Leaving in a few hours for nonstop from N27 Bradford co PA nonstop to Marco Island FL MKY and return to 76N tomorrow AM nonstop also. 1000NM each way. 5.1 hrs down and 4.6 back. Light winds help. Can’t always make it non stop with the 100 knot headwinds I have seen this winter. I also regularly go 76N to PHL or Baltimore at 7000 ft plus planning on 5 trips to Raleigh area next month. Long short and medium trips. Frequently held down low in NYC area by ATC and pulled back to maneuvering speed or less in the rough air. High VA is needed. Asymmetric power has been very helpful on glare ice and our runway surfaces in the winter. But I sure do miss the 421 control feel and quiet.

Why I went from the 421B and B80 Queenair to the E90 Kingair. As it was said above the 421 is 80% of the Kingair but 1/2 the price. Yet I found I needed the next 20% more and more. I got the 421 to TBO without having to pull any cylinders and it was very reliable but kids and later grand kids of the passengers got bigger. ATC became less cooperative for a non spoiler 421 descent. I could not add spoilers because it was a Robertson STOL airplane.

I needed a low purchase price, reliable, all weather, rough ground capable, big cabin, load hauling tank not a race car. Kingair series is not the cheapest, fastest or best for one mission but it is what we picked to do a wide range of trips and I would get the exact same airplane again if I had to.

Not all G1000 subscriptions are priced the same. Bigger planes are sometimes 2-3x over a piston G1000 subscription. Same product bundle

Not all G1000 subscriptions are priced the same. Bigger planes are sometimes 2-3x over a piston G1000 subscription. Same product bundle

Yes, it depends on the content. Many variables

You might want to ride in some new John Deere Cabs with front axle suspension.

You might want to ride in some new John Deere Cabs with front axle suspension.

Now you are squarely in Meridian territory, and if they are normal BMI types even Malibu/Mirage. SR 22 is a little on the smaller side for 4 people that may not be intimate with each other, and hard to climb above weather for business use where you may want dispatch reliability. Unless you can convince them to use the nose hoses. Same with the DA62. But 4 people 600 nm opens up more options. Need 200+ knots to keep travel time to a 3 hr. bladder time without a lav.

Well, 58 gph at 260 KTAS is about double what I’m using in the 414 at 200 KTAS. Yes, I could bump up fuel flow to 35 GPH to go a few knots faster, maybe 205?

MU-2: 260 KTAS / 58 GPH = 4.5 NM per gal
C414: 200 KTAS / 30 GPH = 6.7 NM per gal (50% improvement)

MU-2: 1 / 4.5 = 0.22 gal per NM * $5 = $1.1 per NM
C414: 1 / 6.7 = 0.15 gal per NM * $6 = $0.90 per NM

***************
Cessna Citation Mustang:

330 KTAS / 75 GPH = 4.4 NM per gal
1 / 4.4 = 0.23 gal per NM * $5 = $1.14 per NM