Actual Aztec Capabilities

[wah-fu]

Ladies and gents,
My company is currently in the process of buying a late model F piper Aztec. Looks like I may soon be flying on a regular basis! Question I have is this: Does anyone have an idea of what the ACTUAL crosswind capabilities of the aircraft are? The POH notes a measly 12 knots ‘demonstrated’ crosswind capability. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rnobson]

handles 25/30 reasonably well

 

[fokkers&beer]

good in cross winds, excellent in ice for a little piston airplane, take one over a Seneca any night.

 

[banned username 1]

It's the light twin that all things being equal, you'll have the best chance of living to old age in.

Enjoy it.

 

[Tinstaafl]

Depending on the model & equipment, it's one of the few planes that can take fuel fuel, a bum in each seat & still have W&B to take some amount of baggage.

Nice amount of room for each seat. Even the rear row pax. sit bolt upright in a 'proper' seat. Compare that to the Barons, C310s etc where one's bum is only a few inches above the floor.

*Lots* of alternative gear extension methods. I often wonder if the bloke who designed the gear had a few gear-up related frights & swore "Never again...". Even if that all fails the gear can still support the a/c in the retracted position. Lose a few antennas, gear doors & possibly the props but at least you won't power sand the belly.

Wing section is the same as the Piper Cub. Enlarged a bit but still the same wing. Relatively docile handling as a result. Also good short field ability.

160kts TAS at ~130 Lph(?..been a fair few years since Iast flew one & that was a C or D model) (whatever that is in USG...) so abit fuel hungry for the

Biggest problem is a fairly narrow gap when the over wing door is open. The door travel is limited by the R engine nacelle.

Try to get one that has had the second hydraulic pump fitted. The original fit was one on one engine so you could have a nasty time of it if that was the donk that failed after take-off & the gear & flap was still out.

The only other thing I can think of off hand is the annoyance of the diagonal brace that blocks the baggage compartment from the cabin if you have a long, bulky item to carry.

 

[wah-fu]

Thanks so much for all of your replies. Extremely helpful. One additional question to you folks in the know: Can’t find anything in the POH that addresses soft field landings whatsoever. Good chance I’ll have to be using a grass strip at one particular location. I’m almost positive I’ve scene at least a few Aztecs on grass fields. . What gives?

 

[Lead Sled]

can’t find anything in the POH that addresses soft field landings whatsoever. Good chance I’ll have to be using a grass strip at one particular location. I’m almost positive I’ve scene at least a few Aztecs on grass fields. What gives?

Yes, Aztecs do quite well on dirt/grass strips. I've spent a bit of time operating one off of a mining strip in the interior of Mexico. The thing you must remember is that you're going to be flying a twin and you've got some special operating considerations to factor into your operations. Back in your initial (single-engine) flight training days the goal for softfield takeoffs was to get the weight off of the wheels as soon as possible; i.e., get it flying as soon as possible. This is a maneuver that we all have practiced in our single-engine training airplanes. With twins, you never do that because of the obvious dangers of being airborne at speeds below Vmca. Aircraft like Aztecs and Twin Commanders do quite well off of appropriate unimproved strips. If that isn't good enough get a single.

'Sled