Flew a MU2 for 10 years. Great airplane with plenty of support.

Cooper - great choice!

Thanks Guys - appreciate the feedback.

I get most of my (good) information straight from beechtalk!

There are a couple of maintenance and avionics guys near Atlanta who I have become friends with over the years. They have both given me good advice.

I also talk with some of my other flying buddies about planes they currently own or have owned in the past.

If the deal goes through, I will make a new post with some pictures. In the mean time, I am looking for opinions on training. Several people have told me that simcom would be the best start. They begin the next Cheyenne training class on Monday, and I am not ready to start then. Not to mention the $10AMU price tag. Probably go with Executive Flight Training or Florida Flight Center. I would like to do the training in the aircraft I will be flying.

How does the Cheyenne I stack up against the Conquest I ( 425)?

It’s not the cost of fuel per hour, it is the cost per mile.

That's the key metric.

And it isn't just fuel. Lots of things cost per hour, so when you go faster, those things are cheaper.

For example, engine overhaul, prop overhaul, certain inspections, etc.

The faster the plane, the less the hourly things cost when judge per mile.

Mike C.

I agree with the cost per mile being an important metric.

I looked at (online) and made quite a few calls regarding Conquest I's and a couple of MU 2's.

I must admit I am a little concerned about the noise level of the MU2 on the ground.

The conquest I's seem like a really good "first twin turboprop." It was a challenge to wrap my head around the SIDs. I learned a lot about them and I would be willing to purchase one of these aircraft. The best example of a conquest I (nice aircraft & priced correctly) that I found on controller had multiple offers on day 1.

I think many pilots who read this forum are listening to the advice - "for the price of a newer piston single, you can get a twin turboprop."

Just like the prices of SETPs, It seems like these twin turboprops are going up as well.

While you would like for it to be quieter, it was never an operational problem during my ownership. It was never the case the MU2 wasn't allowed wherever I went.

The Piaggio P.180 had airports that did, or wanted to, ban it. I think Baples FL was one such place. The Piaggio is not noisier than an MU2, it is that the noise has a particularly penetrating sound that apparently comes from the pusher prop configuration.

https://www.avweb.com/news/naples-targe ... gio-noise/

Mike C.

Cooper - I like Carmody’s place. It’s an enjoyable experience, the people are great, and Beaufort is a lovely little town.

The market for a quality entry-level Cheyenne I/425 is narrow these days. I’ve always got tabs open…glad you found one you’re happy with so far in the process.

Agree with Nick . Carmody’s place in Beaufort is a great place to train .

I have talked with them in Beaufort - nice people. Trying to decide between simulator or train in my own aircraft. I like the idea of training in my own aircraft. Several knowledgable pilots have told me to do simulator training. Any thoughts?

I’d fill the square however you need to for your policy, but ultimately do both (which EFT can do).

These things you know: the sim doesn’t reflect the cockpit layout or handling characteristics of the plane well, and you won’t get much on practical daily normal ops/procedures.

If you front load your training with prior self-study, understand what you can about systems and keep a note sheet with questions for your instructor, check the box & rehearse EPs in the sim, then spend time with a good instructor in your plane, you’ll be golden.

I don’t have Cheyenne experience, but went through this in the KA - the idea is the same.

Chris DiPaola is a good friend, and made this step 4 years ago..if you have specific questions he’ll steer you straight.

I may have missed it, what's your multi experience? Sim training will definitely help with that if you're a lower time multi pilot.

On these older twins, without a sim that's similar to your plane, it won't make you comfortable in 'your' airplane.

We did the initial training on the 421 & 441 in the plane. You're still drinking from a firehose, but it's easier to apply the training to real world.

OK, wow. 2 full days of training so far. Flew about 2300 miles yesterday. Several "missions" taking people places.

This is my first twin turboprop experience. I have flown (with the owner) a Piper Meridian which is a great aircraft. I am also a newly minted multi engine private pilot. The first thing I realize about this aircraft (Piper Cheyenne I - N39TL) is that it needs a job. We flew 2300 miles, 6 stops, and the plane would have been very happy to fly more. I did a few 5 stop long days in the P210R, which were great, but that aircraft was happy to rest when we got done.

I will also say, that this plane is thirsty. Being my first twin (and METP), I was expecting a higher fuel burn 70-80 gph, and it came in right about there. I think I paid between $3.54 and $7.66. Big difference in fuel bill between the two extremes.

3 more days with my current instructor and then 3 days next weekend with a different instructor. We will see how confident I feel at that point.

I just wanted to follow up on this thread. I certainly appreciate the wealth of knowledge on beech talk.

Didn't happen without photos:

If you run charter, or airlines, probably true. But for owner pilots it is not that simple. We aren't always full throttle point A to point B. I would say most of us on this forum fly because we enjoy it. I fly a lot for work, and sometimes the time is critical (get up late, or the weather or ATC is a mess and I am held on the ground for 20 minutes, or have to be somewhere really far away). But sometimes I am doing recurrent in the plane, or flying someone on an intro flight, or just up doing slow flight or practicing approaches on my own. Sometimes flight seeing, and that can be a small percentage or large percentage of a pilots time. Taking the family to Cancun tomorrow. 1800 nm. I could use a little more speed for that flight, but the plane gets the job done and beats the heck out of slogging through the airline experience. For my daily commute that is 0.5 hobbs in the TP, and 1.0 Hobbs in the piston, I really enjoyed taking the piston as long as the weather was good. low, slow, look out the window. So not so simple.

I can take my TP up for an hour with the throttle pulled back, flying low and slow and really only add about $120 to my yearly flying bill in fuel. Everything else is just absorbed into the fixed costs of owning a turboprop.