Need info on Navajo Panther

[310]

My brother in law is looking at a PA-31-325 Navajo Panther for a corporate bird. He is not a pilot. He hopes to use contract pilots.
Any info on all aspects of the ownership of one of these is needed including safety and MX issues from those with first hand experience.
Thanks

 

[Rick1128]

I flew a Chieftain with the panther mod. The mod really don't do much for the aircraft. This particular aircraft was better off without the mod. From what I can tell, there is no increase of power and the aircraft empty weight increases. The winglets add drag and so on. I have been told by pilot who have operated the -310 and -325 that they do much better with the mod than without. I would also consider intercoolers and VGs for the aircraft. Over all the Navajos are a good aircraft, straight forward and honest. But I would be very careful about contract pilots. The big piston engines are tender in regards to shock cooling. A pilot who is not careful will tear up an engine quite quickly. Also most of the newly training multiengine pilots have little understanding about how to use multi tank fuel systems. They have to know how to manage them.

 

[Gulfstreamlover]

I have a lot of Cheiftan time w/o the conversion and like it. Great airplane, we've put full fuel and 7 people in it with no problem. We've had problems with the engines recently, both have been overhauled one after we had a failure about a month ago and had no problem getting back to the airport, and one was making medal, but that should be expected from an older airplane.

 

[avbug]

It's been a while since I flew any Navajo, but I've flown with and without colemill and the panther. I thought the Panther was a performer in comparison to a standard Navajo.

Depending on the mission of the purchaser, he might want to step up a little and consider a Conquest, if it's within his financial ballpark. If he's comfortable there, the I'd recommend stepping up to a King Air. He will be much more satisfied in the long run.

 

[PA31Ho]

The people I fly with have a 350 Panther and a 325 C/R. The C/R is about 10 knots faster than the Panther. Like stated earlier, the C/R performs better than the Panther. Go figure.

 

[Kingairrick]

I flew a Chieftain with the Colemill(Panther) conversion, Intercoolers, and vgs. Great airplane.

I second the comment about contract pilots, the engines are touchy about temp. The Intercoolers help performance up high, but nothing really increases the performance of a chieftain down low. The Panther conversion doesn't add any horepower to a cheiftain as they are already 350. Mine had the increased gross weight mod, which is basically a gear mod. It made loading easy, but sacrifices climb perf. The other part of the Panther is the Q tip props. They are supposed to be quieter than the 3 blades, and give you better acceleration. One more blade to feather though when they become drag instead of thrust. It's fun to tell passengers that they are from a "really hard landing..."

I also second the fuel tank issue. Mine had the nacelle tanks which are fairly complex to operate. My insurance rerquired FSI every 12 months, and I was glad to go.

The 325 with the Panther conversion is suposed top be the hot rod of the series. I've never flown one.

Tell him to buy it and HIRE A PILOT!!!!

 

[310]

Thanks for the info everyone.
I baby the IO-470D's on my 310 also- gradual power reductions included. Some specifics on power management for the PA-31 would be helpful, if anyone has the time. (mp- rpm for TO, cruise, descent, what config works good on ILS etc. )
Also the cost of the repetitive AD's.
Thanks