Most Popular Part 91 Corporate Jet

[LegacyDriver]

What airplane would be considered the most popular Corporate Jet in existence today?

I.E. if one wanted to be as marketable as possible, what are the top three type ratings to have?

I'm guessing:

1) Citation 500 series
2) Learjet (Which model I don't know)
3) Diamond Jet / BeechJet

 

[Gulfstream 200]

GIV.

Many more flying around than (gulp) Diamond Jets.

 

[NJA Capt]

GIV.
Many more flying around than (gulp) Diamond Jets.

Are you crazy?
Beechjet(655)/Diamonds(87) worldwide, approx 742
More than I ever thought.
GIVs worldwide, approx 562
add in GIIIs (209) and you get 771
Citation 500 series.... XLs EXcluded, (US alone...823)!!!!
Learjet (23,24,25,31,35,36,55,60) US alone...approx 650
More Beech/Diamonds than Lears , I would have never guessed.

 

[banned username 2]

A DA-50 Type would get you:

appoximately 335 Falcon 50/50EX
appoximately 225 Falcon 900/900B/900C
appoximately 125 Falcon 900EX

Total: approximately 685 airframes.

 

[TIS]

I agree - G-IV - and add the HS125

It may well be that there are plenty of Beechjets or Lears out there but when somone obtains a G-IV it isn't to stay close to home. The possibility that a charter operator would need as many as four pilots on the thing to legally do a trip is something that a Beechjet operator will never, EVER face.

I add the Hawker because there are SO many of them out there. The type is good in EVERY last one of them as long as we're not talking about the 1000. That's the 1A, 400, 600, 700, 800, and 800XP. I'm not sure how many all that totals up to but I'd bet it's more than 700 aircraft.

Of the two of these the Hawker is DEFINITELY the less expensive type to get.

Hope that helps.

TIS

 

[Gulfstream 200]

Im not crazy!! (??)

beechjets...

who the F wants to fly a beechjet??

there may be 655 of them out there...655 too many!

 

[learflyer]

Im not crazy!! (??)

beechjets...

who the F wants to fly a beechjet??

there may be 655 of them out there...655 too many!

I do!! I like it's mission. I don't like long legs! Easy to fly great avionics.

 

[LegacyDriver]

Great thread, all. I appreciate the input. I'm wondering if it is worth it to whore myself out for a type since Legacy jets are a little hard to come by in the States.

Beechjet is fun to fly, eh? It sure looks cooler than a Citation. Does it have a tiller?

 

[TIS]

Nope, no tiller

Still have to steer it like a 152.

Hawker has a wheel though (round tiller). So does a Gulfstream.

TIS

 

[captainv]

how are the early Citations faring with RVSM? from the prices I've heard, the Lear 20 series may be greatly affected by this....

 

[TIS]

Not quite sure

I know that we're pursuing some ADCs for out Citation II but I have no idea how much the retrofit will cost. Someone's gotta do it cheap or there's gonna be a whole lotta scap aluminum around pretty soon.

On a slightly different note, it seems that the FAA hasn't quite decided that January 2005 is the date certain for implementation of RVSM over the continent. Supposedly there will be a decision in Spetember about whether January is it or not. It may all be a moot point for just a bit longer if loads of older aircraft are suddenly grounded.

TIS

 

[Rick1128]

The last conference I had with the FAA on RVSM stated that January 20th was a solid date. There are too many other countries that have published dates corresponding to the US date to push it back any further. This meeting was with the RVSM folks of the FAA. From that meeting it is my belief that the date will not get pushed back more than 10 to 15 days at the most.

There are presently two companies offering LR20 RVSM STCs. Bizjet and Avcon. Bizjet's mod is approved and Avcon's approval should be this month. From the operators I have talked with RVSM and TAWS is not going to kill the aircraft. While the cost is significate compared to the current value of the aircraft, it is a great deal less expensive than a replacement aircraft with RVSM. Now the engine overhauls will IMHO be the item that kills the LR20s. At 400K each, a double engine overhaul is more than the value of the aircraft. That is a no brainer. The aircraft you see parked will be the ones that don't have a lot of time left before engine overhauls and 12,000 hour inspections.

 

[cvsfly]

Is that particular engine in the LR20 getting more expensive to overhaul? Isn't the cost of overhaul supposed to be accounted for in the operating cost? On resales in general when it comes to considering aircraft value and time on the engine - what is a standard formula. IE if you had an aircraft coming up for resale and overhaul at the same time - is it better to have it overhauled or not and take the cost of engine overhaul/replacement into account for the resale value? Will you recoup the cost of a fresh overhaul in the resale value? Or will it still be somewhat less? I know some advertised aircraft buyers are specifically looking for high time aircraft/engines to buy and resell. Do they have discounted overhaul shops in mind for a resell?