I may have missed it, but what was the reason why the aircraft hasn't flown in 4 years? A "late model" turboprop not flying for 4 years (not being sold/leased/whatever) has me scratching my head.

I wouldn't take that risk... the plane sat for 4 years, it needs to be priced accordingly or else move on. When are the HSI's due? I don't know about a "light overhaul", but I think you could figure out a lot by just doing the HSI's.

Hot sections are due in 300 hours.

HSI doesn't open the gear case, usually.

The turbine blades and stators naturally sit in the open air, so they already don't get the oil bath that is otherwise absent in idleness. It is the gears and bearings that mainly suffer and an HSI won't check that.

Oil analysis/chemistry, filter examination, and good ground run probably say more than a HSI on idleness damage.

Mike C.

First, I LOVE "crawfished"! I thought of the crawfish with their teeny little claws backing into their mudhole or under their rock! I haven't heard that in 30+ years!! The broker may be looking for an idiot and Caveat Emptor situation. What you may find is that the HSI/Light Overhaul, Prop IRAN, Landing Gear Inspection, and Phase Inspections, and avionics tweaking (provided everything is installed correctly) are more than the owner wants for the entire aircraft. Deferred MX* is a bear!


Between the answers and cross-posts everyone has nailed your question on the head. It doesn't sound like this is a KingAir but keep in mind that there are other inspections that may be required dependent upon aircraft and manufacturer. On the KingAir, outside of the 6 year landing gear inspection, inspections are likely due for all 4 phases unless they have been kept up with and not pencil-whipped.

Additionally, you may desire a major shop with plenty of aviation "HVAC" experience check the "HVAC" system to ensure that it is healthy. That can be $50K worth of repairs if there is corrosion or "black death".

In addition to the light overhaul, whil the engine is off, budget for a prop shop to IRAN the props at a minimum. The O2 bottle probably needs replaced due to the age. If not, a hydro check. Wing Bolts and the bathtubs will need inspected as well. Don't throw a brick at me; I didn't say replacement! At least it wasn't out on a ramp getting water and dust in it!

Lastly, those avionics, if they are installed, will need to be flight tested and tweaked. If you buy the aircraft, make sure the shop that did the work will assist with that and get a cost estimate.

About ten years ago I had some money to burn and evaluated purchasing one of a few KingAir 350s at the time, some for a song and two on 135 to use with a flight school on a foreign government training contract. When the cheapest option was all added up by my pilot, the Stevens mechanic, and me - the inspections, overhauls, and avionics update cost more than the KingAir was worth! The ones coming off 135 had some expensive inspections and overhauls due within 12 months and, when included with the price, the aircraft were overpriced by about 30% each.


One of my close family members has dementia and possibly Alzheimers. My first flight instructor passed away from Alzheimers at 64. It's a horrible disease and my prayers are with the seller.

Everyone here makes a good point, but all it takes is one buyer from South Africa or South America to come along and take it as is, and the seller has met his mate

Being this picky over a turbine twin, may save you a lot of bucks in the long run, but it may cost you a transaction now

I'd still be picky though- don't own someone else's mistakes

I'm the OP and will spill the beans of what's going on here.

I own an '85 model 425 Conquest that is serial number 231 of 236 built. It's a really nice aircraft with slightly above average time on the airframe (8700 hours) and stock -112 engines. I've owned it for a little over six years and usually fly between 300 to 400 hours a year for business and personal use. Next year I plan to do a major avionics upgrade and switch to four-bladed props.

As for performance, I usually see about 250 to 260 ktas burning between 400 to 450 pph. My best true airspeed was 267 knots on one or two flights.

Because I'm a pilot and airplane guy, I'm always looking for the next airplane, however, it's tough to beat what I have. Sure, I could drop $3M on a beat-up Pilatus, but the performance would be pretty similar to what I already have, and the maintenance costs likely wouldn't change much. I thought about going to a B200 but I just don't need that big of an airplane. I'd love to have a TBM, but it's not quite big enough, as I have six kids and need the baggage space and the potty seat.

So I thought -- to scratch the itch for something new, I'd do a Blackhawk conversion that (supposedly) would do 285 knots on about 500 pph. However, a one-million dollar conversion on a 37 year-old airplane doesn't really make sense, and finding used -135A engines have been particularly difficult.

When I saw this 425 pop up for sale on Controller, I thought, "Aha! I'll just swap my ride for this one. It has everything I'd like to have and the airframe has only 6200 hours." But then I found out it hadn't flown in five years. Here's the link:

https://www.controller.com/listing/for- ... p-aircraft

My plan was to go look at it this Friday (in two days), but the broker told me this morning he had an offer of $1.3M on it already. It's probably worth that, but with the unknowns of the engines and the fact it hasn't flown in five years, I just figured that's more than I'm willing to stomach.

I hope the guy who buys it has good luck with it. I'll just stick with what I have and continue as planned.

I think it would be worth 1.3 if the engines had been run consistently. In it's current condition I wouldn't pay more than 1. They are lucky to have found someone who's willing to roll the dice on the motors, assuming the sale goes through. They may or may not be OK, but there is a 100% probability that they'll be fighting MX issues on this airplane for a year best case. Is the avionics shop going to provide any warranty support for an install that's never been flown? How long ago was the install?

In other words, I would't get too torn up over losing this deal. Keep looking for a pair of -135s to install on your airplane.

I think Brian and Scott nailed it.

As many have said, in other posts, this is a weird market!

Caveat Emptor
They found a buyer who doesn’t care or who doesn’t know they should care.


…or maybe someone really smart that is going to use inspections to advocate about $550K off the price and settle around what the plane is really worth.

Or buy a 441 that will do 315 KTAS on 500 pph or 260 KTAS on 360 pph.

And those were FL280 non RVSM numbers, lower fuel flows if you go higher with RVSM.

It is like having a 60 knot built in tail wind, and a larger cabin, for the same fuel flow, as what you have.

Also, the engines will last much longer, too. Cost per mile will be way down from the 425 since it is so much faster. This makes an even bigger difference on the headwind days.

Can be hard to find, though.

Mike C.