Airplane advice please?

[treetop flyer]

The Commanders (-5 and -10) are great airplanes but they are LOW to the ground. I'd be wary of parking on the grass...if it hadn't been cut you'd have a green belly...or worse.

TF

 

[propsarebest]

The Commanders (-5 and -10) are great airplanes but they are LOW to the ground. I'd be wary of parking on the grass...if it hadn't been cut you'd have a green belly...or worse.

TF

I mentioned that because of the quirky design of the nosewheel steering. One pothole and you just paid for your kids Harvard education.

 

[honeycomb]

Airplane advice please?

I have a friend who is looking for an airplane. I am not smart enough to answer all of his questions, but I know there are people on this forum that are.

The airplane needs a 1,400NM range with at least seven seats (including the pilot) and a cabin load of around 1500lbs. Obviously there are many jets that will do this, but he also has a requirement to operate out of a 2,950’ X 45’ runway that requires parking in the grass with 90 minutes of fuel.

I’m not even sure there are any airplanes that will do all of this, but if any of ya’all know of one, I would very much appreciate your thoughts, as well as any performance figures.

Thanks in advance,
Dave Withers
[email protected]
865-335-2187

First ... NO JET can do this. Sorry. It isn't even on the radar of the jet makers.

Second ... The BE-300/350 is a good bet. The commmander with dash 10's is a bag of worms. Depending on HOW the mod is done you get different results. You really need to do some research on the dash 10 conversion if you consider it a contender.

Third ... Depending on Temp/Press. Alt you could find yourself in a bad spot on BFL in the 350. The 300 is a better bet.

Fourth ... Its called 'Ground Fine'. There is NO 'Beta' pitch for the props. Works good lasts long time.

Fifth ... "Say Again Over" is right. Or, just make a fuel stop in a CE-560 (straight V/Ultra/Encore/etc). If the runway is wet then forget it.

Sixth ... All jet makers have become keen to operations on other than "hard prepared surfaces". Make sure you are just parking the a/c on the grass. I'd have some steel plates in place to place the tires regardless of the hardness (or not) of the grass.

Seventh ... There is soooooo much more to cover. Tell the "prospective owner" to get lots of insurance and a well paid professional crew.

Adios

 

[Captain Morgan]

What about a King Air 200T. I think that's the one with the 14000lb gross takeoff weight. It has tip tanks too for added range. It does 1900nm, 6000lbs useful load, and just about fits the bill for field performance. Here is a comparison of some of the King Airs. It's the one all the way to the right.
http://www.dynamicaviation.com/kingair_compare.pdf

 

[honeycomb]

What about a King Air 200T. I think that's the one with the 14500lb gross takeoff weight. It has tip tanks too for added range.

I have never heard or seen such an animal ... EVER.

I lied.....its called the 300. And, they (beechcraft) don't make it anymore.

If'in you want a new bird....the 350 is the one.

Peace.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Negative, I just revised my previous post to reflect some editing I did with the info I found. The 200T is used by some governments and some outfits that needed the added utility. The regular 200 is able to carry more weight, but due to the issue of a type rated pilot being required they cut the gross weight to 12,500, even though the thing can carry 2000 lbs more easily. That's where the 200T came into play. These things might not come cheap but they are probably a beast and a workhorse.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Here is a pic: http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0466613/M/

 

[honeycomb]

On the ground:
http://www.flugzeugbilder.de/show.php?id=408408

In the air:
http://www.flugzeugbilder.de/show.php?id=408317

I have never seen one in the states. I have seen a US Military Version in the US. Flown by the US Army. It is a BE-20 with a Beech 1900 tail, strengthened wing with enough vg's to choke a mule. No hold it that was all the electronics it carried that could choke a horse or was it a mule? Hmmmmmm. It has a beech 350 landing gear if I remember right as well. This was in 1996.

Look I don't think this is legal in the states. Beech doesn't offer this mod if I remember correctly. I wonder if they will service it?

Get a 300 and it will put a smile on your face in no time flat. Of course you'll need to get typed. Of course there is the yearly requirement to go to training as well. Better factor that in to the budget.

Take Care.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Interesting, well either way they are King Airs. You can't go wrong. Good luck with the search.

 

[honeycomb]

Negative, I just revised my previous post to reflect some editing I did with the info I found. The 200T is used by some governments and some outfits that needed the added utility. The regular 200 is able to carry more weight, but due to the issue of a type rated pilot being required they cut the gross weight to 12,500, even though the thing can carry 2000 lbs more easily. That's where the 200T came into play. These things might not come cheap but they are probably a beast and a workhorse.

I doubt it.

It doesn't have the ponies like the 300 so it WILL NOT have the perfomance of a 300.

This thing (BE-200T) is just another in a long line of overweight underpowered turboprops. How many have been converted? Mx was done in a foriegn country....no thanks I'll pass.

This is an un-necessary waste of money.

This thing is not a 300 period.

But my hats off to ya' for finding a one (or two) of a kind King Air Capt. Morgan.

Later.