While I endure the tortuous wait for my Copeland paint job, I've been shopping around for a little tail dragger. The tail dragger will serve as a fun little hamburger hopper and occasional back country camping plane. I probably wont fly it all that much, so it makes sense to partner on it. I'm AOG for a few more weeks yet, and one of the people I will partner with has a 421C. We wanted to go see a little Champ we're looking at, so let's take the Golden Eagle! Wow, what a plane. I'd never been in one before so it was really cool to check it out, and his is just beautiful.



It really feels well built, and the air stair door and cavernous interior are super nice. The panel is well equipped and similar to mine.



I'm spoiled now though by my GTN's. I'd forgotten how slow all that knob twisting is on the 530W. This is one well equipped plane though, full flight into known icing, pressurized, etc. Pressure is so nice we were picking up ice at 15,000 and just hopped up to 17,000 no problem, no o2 to deal with and a comfortable and warm cabin altitude of only 4k feet.



There was a little bit of ice on the leading edge there but not enough to even warrant popping the boots. We were about 10 kts faster than my Baron and were burning nearly twice as much gas so you do pay for it, but wow was it nice. Pressurized, FIKI, air conditioning, potty... a pretty awesome cross country cruiser.

Overall the 421C is an awesome plane though and definitely a contender were I to ever upgrade. The other thing that amazed me about the plane is how quiet it is. The props are geared and in cruise they turn at just 1700 rpm. It sounds almost like the engines are idling it's so quiet, you really don't even need a headset in the cabin.

Just a tiny bit painful at the gas pump.

Careful Adam......flights like those can be very expensive.

Did you check out the nose baggage?

Yeah it's huge! This one had wing lockers too. Also the ride in turbulence was nice, this one also had a yaw dampener. Total personal airliner.

The 421 is a great plane. For 4-5 people the Duke is a better plane for 1/3 the cost.

Bacon are PIGS too.

Therefore Dukes are Bacon.

Bacon is good.

Duke is good.

I haven't flown in a Duke yet. My shop are Beech guys and they tell me Duke's are brutal on the Mx.. they maintain a few and I always see one in the shop when I stop by or go for an oil change. One of them is Cherry but it's still always chasing something expensive with seemingly long stretches of downtime.. They are sweet looking! The 421 cabin seems bigger though.

Bacon tastes good...
Pork chops tastes good...

Sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I wouldn't know because I would not eat the filthy.....

Todd you have never owned or maintained a 421C. The Duke is a great plane for 4 to 5 and the 421C is a great plane for 2 to 8. A Duke will cost as much or "more" to maintain than a good 421C. Enjoy your Duke. Jerry

anyone that i know that has been around 421's with geared engines = maintenance night mare. I have been advised to RUN. Any one that I know who has one, does not have one now... LOL

Apparently you hang with pilots who don't know what they are doing....or even what the real issue is with 421 engines. :box:

Between my friends and I, we have a total of 27 years ownership of the 421 which is now mine. No problems with geared engines so far. In fact, they have all made it to TBO with original cylinders. GTSIOs are the best turbo'd motors Continental ever made. They run cool and put out tons of power.

Russ there is nothing wrong with geared engines if the pilot has more than a room temperature IQ. Would you say the same about T Bones with geared engines. I guess it's just a miracle the 421 outsold the Duke two to one when they were new. It's just another miracle there are four times as many 421's still flying than Dukes. Looks like a lot more pilots are running from Dukes than 421's. LOL.

If I was going to buy a Duke I would buy Rocky's in a second. He has done a great job documenting everything and creating a real bargain in Lazarus. That will be a great Duke for somebody.

Climbing through 22K @ 900 FPM @ 187KTAS using 31.5"/Max RPM. I usually only climb at 75%, but this would give a good rate through ice with some mid topped convection. More MP left, but not necessary. Too noisy at this setting for me. Old King Air performance though.....

[youtube]http://youtu.be/AUwedtXEdho[/youtube]


Here is high speed cruise. Nice cool temps. My FF gauge only has 3 settings for Kfactor and always reads 5% high (just gonna have to trust me). 229ktas on 23-24gph/side with cool temps at FL250 and a 9k' cabin.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/iHymJp4HiUQ[/youtube]


Now this is where I like to be. Sub 17gph on fuel, 206ktas, turbine smooth and above the weather. TAS resulting in 6.1NM/gallon. I hold 232 gallons. Notice how quiet....


[youtube]http://youtu.be/hQuEA_kUM4c[/youtube]


I'll take 4 adults and 3 kids 3,800 miles in May. Potty, no bags inside, everyone has there own movie streamed...... I feel like I'm rob b ing the bank. Nearly old C90 performance on nearly Pbaron money (except no temp limit vs. old turbines - I flew nonstop from Phoenix to Mobile AL at FL270 over a blizzard across Texas that topped at FL250).

Apparently you hang with pilots who don't know what they are doing....or even what the real issue is with 421 engines.

Between my friends and I, we have a total of 27 years ownership of the 421 which is now mine. No problems with geared engines so far. In fact, they have all made it to TBO with original cylinders. GTSIOs are the best turbo'd motors Continental ever made. They run cool and put out tons of power.

Jesse, your's is freakin sweet. Where are you going in May?