BAE Jetstream Info Request

[SFL Accipiter]

Folks,

I'm presently managing a King Air C90 for a company in South Florida. The owner has asked me to start looking for an upgrade, perhaps to an early King Air 200, or maybe something else. Ballpark price ~1M. An executive configured J31 looks like an attractive airplane (you can get them for around a mil), but I don't know much about it; From first glance it looks good: it's got more room than the 200 and supposedly burns slightly less gas!

My problem is: I've never flown or even ridden a Jetstream and would like some advice. Are they comfortable (how is the A/C, is it electric or bleed air; does it get hot?)? How do they perform in hot weather? How are they on maintenance? Any quirks? Does anyone have any experiences with J31's, good or bad? Feel free to throw me your two-cents!

Regards,

Accipiter

 

[propsarebest]

a million bucks for an airplane that has 12,000 hours on it is a ripoff!

 

[SFL Accipiter]

Really. Have you taken a look at the market? Have any suggestions?

 

[avpro91]

Flown both of them. They each have attractive qualities, so it all depends on what you want. If you want a large cabin, then go with the Jetstream, But if you want a quiet smooth ride thats just as comfortable if not more, then get the 200. The Jetstream requires 2 pilots, of which arent hard to find, but more costly to train than the 1 king air pilot you would need for the 200. Also you don't need a type rating for the 200, like you do the Jball. The a/c in the Jetstream sucks on its best days, doesn't hold a candle to the KingAir. Its electric freon air from a box in the back on the airplane, which takes forever too cool down if it were a brand new unit. Not to mention, that you need both generators on line or a GPU to run the thing. You could sweat out 5 pounds in the front of a Jetstream in the summer.The King Air had about the same fuel burn as the Jetstream, I believe, but you aint getting a Jetstream above 18000 unless its cold or your empty. Itll go there, but it doesnt like it. 12-18 is a good range for it. The king air on the other hand will go straight to FL250 with no problem and fly like a dream the whole way. One of the most attractive features of the King Air is its performance. You can go fully loaded in and out of a 3000 ft strip on a hot day with no problem (quite often 2800 if needed). In a Jetstream, you can't go anywhere with less than 5000ft of pavement on any day! Coming from the 90, the transition to the 200 for whoever is going to fly it will be cake, the Jetstream requires learning the Garrett engine a systems. not hard at all, but no the piece of cake a king air is. Maintenance wise, anything will run well if you put good parts into it, and treat it right. The king air seemed to be a little more reliable, and easy to fix if it broke.

All around, they are both great airplanes. I enjoyed flying each one thoroughly, the Jetstream gives you a lot to do with no autopilot, and the King Air lets you relax and enjoy the ride. From a passenger standpoint, it all depends on what you want, the big noisy cabin...and I do mean noisy...but you can stand up in it and have room to move with a real lavatory and galley, or do you want the cadillac and just bend a little getting in and out. Any Jetstream you will get will most likely be high time as its previous life was most certainly a commuter airliner; the king air will have been a corporate a/c, probibly better maintained. BAE demos the Jetstream for perspective clients, I'm not sure who to get in touch with for that, but whoever is selling one should be able to get you a demo at somepoint to make up your mind. PM if you have any more questions.

Avpro

 

[ksu_aviator]

Performance wise

Fuel Burn
800, 600, 500, 500.

TAS
230 kts

With the 10 or 12 pax configuration you'll have good range in the winter, but you'll be quickly limited in the summer. Best bet is to find a water meth injected engine. That will probably cost more, but you'll gain a ton of t/o performance in it. With out it, at sea level the maximum take off weight will start to decrease in the mid to upper 80's.

If you don't have a pod you'll be short on baggage storage.

The aircraft do have solid systems on them. The power plants are probably a little weak for the weight (might want to get a 32, that tiny bit of extra power is worth it). Plus get a mechanic with Garrett experience, they really aren't quarky, but P&W guys just don't seem to be able to find the problems as quickly.

The cabins do get very hot in the summer. You will have an electrically operated freon a/c but it only cools by the door. Once you get going the bleeds don't do a great job of cooling the aircraft. So we use to climb to 8,000 unpressurized and then slowly repressurize so that we drew in a bunch of the outside air. That helped to some extent, but it was still a hot mother until then.

Over all, a JS 32 would be a lot better for your performance and I believe that Kingman AZ still has a bunch of the Blue Bellies that are practically brand new. Some still have the plastic covers on the new leather seats because the seats where never used!

http://www.kingmanaviationparts.com/

Almost forgot, most Jetstreams don't have an autopilot on them. If you can find one with an autopilot you will save a lot of wear and tare on yourself. The airplane is squirly, it is like trying to balance on a ball while juggling flaming tourches and doing calculus in your head! Ok, maybe not that tough, but it does require constant attention from the moment you start your taxi until the props stop turning.

So to sum it up, if you want cabin space and cheap, the Jetstream is a good airplane. But if you want something that's faster and more familiar you might want to stick with the King Air. Very few props are better than the King Air line anyway.

 

[81Horse]

... The airplane is squirly, it is like trying to balance on a ball while juggling flaming tourches and doing calculus in your head! ...

... in the back of a moving pickup truck.

Make SURE you find one with Y/D and A/P. They're hell for stout, though. And I never had any complaints about the freon AC (of course, they were new when I was flying them).

I did develop a grudging admiration for the Jetstream and the Garretts; but, at this point, I'd have to say they're outside the mainstream. Get a plane that's easy to love (for owners, pilots, and mechanics alike); IOW, get a King Air.

Garrett, n.: hideously complex yet highly efficient aeromechanical device for converting aviation jet fuel into noise.

 

[SFL Accipiter]

Thanks guys. That's all I needed to know.

 

[Snakum]

Interesting info.

I see quite a few SAABs configured for corp work. How do they stack up, real-world, against a B200?

 

[SFL Accipiter]

A Saab is in a completely different league; it's like comparing a Citation and a BBJ.