Best aircraft for $14 million?

[Lead Sled]

The straight 50 is getting pretty long in the tooth. Your boss might like the acquisition price but he's not going to like the operating costs or the maintenance bills. Also, with the 50 line being discontinued parts support isn't likely to improve. Most midsize jets can make it to Europe with one stop so I wouldn't let a small % of your trips dictate the type of aircraft that you buy. The safe bet. Stay out of the process all together. That way your boss can't point the finger at you when he's unhappy about the airplane.

You raised some valid points. Although the 50 has been discontinued, there are enough of them out there that support should never be a problem for the foreseeable future. We thought long and hard about the maintenance issues, and I would be a lot less enthusiastic about a 25 year old airframe if we had to operate it in its original condition. However, with the Proline 21 the airplane was essentially rewired, front to back and all of the old inverters were removed. We converted to lead acid batteries. In fact, we gained about 175 lbs useful load after all was said and done. I saw the pile of old wiring, inverters, etc. that was removed, it was pretty incredible. The airframe essentially went through an IRAN program, the avionics are new and on the Collins CASP program, the engines and APU are on MSP Gold, the cosmetics are "on condition". There's really not a lot of room left for surprises - other than the normal "airplane stuff" that all airplanes are subject to.

LS

 

[Beechjetr]

My company just bought a new 900XP and we just got some runway data.

Flaps 15
28000 lbs (MTOW)
1000' elev
35 C
Takeoff Dist= 6047'

BOW = 16,500
Full Fuel = 10,000

same conditions, at 27,000 lbs:
Takeoff Dist = 5596'

PM me if you want more numbers.

I think base price on the 2008 900XP is just over $14M

 

[Tgaug6300]

It is still a great airplane. No doubt about that. With all the mods it makes it nicer. But, at the end of the day you still have a 25 year old airplane.

 

[Beechjetr]

40 year old airplane.

 

[Coool Hand Luke]

Bullitt -

Why dont y'all just move the 20 miles south down I-35W and base out of a real airport - KAFW, then you could buy whatever airplane you wanted with our fancy CAT III 9,600' runway. Used MD-83's are going for 4.0 MIL right now and just think of all the room for cargo.

On a more serious note, "the other" Fourtune 500 company corporate flight department based here at AFW seems to be sold on the Isreal product. BNSF has two G-200's and a G-150 on the way. The good thing about that is, being local they do all of their training at FSI DFW for both so you are home for all initials and recurrents (not always a good thing granted) and the service center is at KDAL. Just another factor(s) to consider.

No matter what, congrats on getting a new bird.

 

[Bullitt]

Bullitt -

Why dont y'all just move the 20 miles south down I-35W and base out of a real airport - KAFW, then you could buy whatever airplane you wanted with our fancy CAT III 9,600' runway. Used MD-83's are going for 4.0 MIL right now and just think of all the room for cargo.

On a more serious note, "the other" Fourtune 500 company corporate flight department based here at AFW seems to be sold on the Isreal product. BNSF has two G-200's and a G-150 on the way. The good thing about that is, being local they do all of their training at FSI DFW for both so you are home for all initials and recurrents (not always a good thing granted) and the service center is at KDAL. Just another factor(s) to consider.

No matter what, congrats on getting a new bird.

Man, we could get atleast 3 super cool Mad Dogs for that price! :laugh: I appreciate the congrats Cool Hand Luke, we actually have talked about moving the dept. to AFW for the reasons you mentioned. It is a more suitable airport in my opinion considering the rwy length and approaches they have. At the moment, DTO is more convenient to their offices so I'm basing all my research on flying out of a 6000 ft strip. It be nice if they moved to AFW since it would be a lot shorter drive for me . Thanks for chiming in Cool Hand, good info!

 

[G100F16]

Bullit-

Lots of momentum in the group on this F50 plan. Somebody called the -50 a "has been" - and I agree, why go after yesterday's airplane; get something with today/tomorrow's technology.

The G150 is not merely a warmed over Astra...it is a Gulfstream now. Assembled in Israel, yes - but most of the parts/spares don't originate there, and Gulfstream has gotten the #1 spot in product support for 5 yrs straight. Performance - it is beating even Gulfstream's cruise predictions, will burn around 4200# to MMU and 4500# to SMF . Boots - Lead Sled is right - not a problem...boots are great. Takeoff - it needs about 5300 feet of runway for 23k, Flaps20 and 34 deg (data from a G100 with less thrust).

But hey - if you're not sold on the F50 facelift, why not call up Gulfstream (Mike Rose - 214-437-7757) and tell him your boss wants a free trip to MMU in a G150?

-G

PS. Getting a new plane....nice problem to have!

 

[whymeworry?]

What about a Legacy? Sure it's outside your budget ($19-21 mil) but perhaps you could find a used one for close to the $14 mil price you're limited to.

I operated a Legacy into a 4,000 runway in Switzerland all the time.

Your boss might be willing to up his budget once he sees the interior and range capabilites a Legacy provides. Twice the baggage capacity as a GV, 40% cheaper DOC than a GV.

Considering all the airplane you get for that price, I think the Legacy is the best VFM (value for money) investmentin the charter market today.

 

[hawkerjet]

Hawker 900XP

I believe, as stated earlier, that the best move for you at 14 mil, would be a brandy new Hawker 900XP.
The dash 50 engines ( 731) would make this aircraft a real good performer. One added benefit is that you can put this aircraft on Raytheons 135 cert, allowing your boss the tax haven he sought and giving you flexibility to select additional trips should you choose to. Sure beats parking it on someone elses cert and the boss is happy.

 

[Vne]

Ah that would be 7, P-51's!