Need to lease a Cessna 340 or similar

[erika]

Anyone have any idea where I could lease a Cessna 340 or similar for corporate use (Part 91 executive transport, apx 25hr/mo, Minneapolis area)? Oher aircraft that may work include 414, Duke, B58, or even possibly a Senneca III/IV/V.

Thanks,
Erik

 

[Lrjtcaptain]

why would you want to use a C340? I flew one of those for about a month and didnt like one thing about it other then it had wings and two engines. If your gonna go twin cessna go for a 400 series. As for a Baron, they are great performers but quite small. How many people on average will be flying? We operate a B58 out of Omaha and like it just fine. I had its size but performance wise you can't beat it in the piston market. If I were you, I would look for a lease on a B58 without the turbos. We figure our operating costs on the 1994 model to be about 170 an hour. Thats at a TAS of 195 and fuel flow of about 16gals a side. Cost wise it can not be beat. We just got rid of our navajo thank god, what a miserable airplane to fly. It was a Pa31-325 and it seemed like we had mag and turbo problems all the time. Operating cost was almost double and we never fly more then 2 pax on average.
Speaking of minneapolis, i have to fly up there tommorrow. Hope the weather is nice.

 

[Lrjtcaptain]

woops, sent that too quickly..

Duke-fast fast airplane. That plane would seriously be a huge success if its operating costs weren't about 10000 bucks an hour to run. Seriously. Dukes are fast. But a duke is gonna have more maitience issues then anyone would want to deal with.
Seneca in my book is a training aircraft. For that size of plane a Baron is gonna be alot cheaper per hour due to the extra 30 + knots you get. If your carrying a full load of lets say 5 people go twin cessna. Ive had 6 in the baron before and never want that again. I don't like having pax ride up front unless they really want to and its a short trip. Those light twins are small enough as they are. Sorry about the rambling but I'd go baron if i were you. Where in minneapolis are you based?

 

[erika]

Ok, lots of info (which I appreciate), but I don't really need help chosing a type of aircraft, what I need is someone willing to LEASE one, which somewhat difficult for piston twins (no problem for turbine, obviously.

340's are appopriate for this need because the client would best be served by something that is reasonably fast and can take a pilot +3 pax, which a 340 w/ Ram upgrades or VG's can do just fine. 340's are not worth as much as equivelent 414's, and therefore should be cheaper to lease.

As for your problems with the Navajo, I hear much more good info on cost of operating than bad. The Baron is OK (we are renting one right now), but a sceneca III would not be much slower on most trips, and has KNOWN icing. Plus they are significantly cheaper to operate, more comfortable for pax, and I hate the pre-'84 throw-over yoke in the barron (barons after '84 are big $$$).

As for the Duke, I agree, operating costs are horible, and frankly I don't think it's that fast. Plus short fields are a problem. Good payload, though.

Anyway, anyone know of a twin for lease?

Erik

 

[Lrjtcaptain]

well holy **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**, sorry for replying to your post man. Thats a good way to get lots of help.

 

[erika]

Ah, sorry if that came across wrong...

I tend to be short and to the point on emails, and since there is no intonation (sp?) or other verbal cues, I guess it has the potential to be easily mis-interpeted.

I do appreciate the info you provided, really, I do.

I'm just anxious to find an airplane so I can get flying

Thanks
Erik

 

[Lrjtcaptain]

hey no problem, i was just messing around. I think i missread your post to begin with. Thought you wanted to know which would work best. We hated our navajo, loved the cheyenne but ran it out of time, and we love the baron we use now as well. 340 seriously was no good. I would goto elliott FCM and see if they can do something for you. They helped us out alot at the OMA base.

 

[Capthuff]

I might be able to help. The 340 is in Florida but, being an airplane, I'm sure it is capable of going to Minn. PM me if you are still looking. How long will you be needing it for?

Cappy

 

[Conquest Driver]

I am part owner of a Cessna 414 based in Glencoe MN (GYL). It is a 1970 model with a RAM VII conversion. It has 335 HP TSIO-520NB engines with VG's and a 400 lb Gross weight increase. Usefull load is 1,200 lbs with full fuel. Its a full fuel full seats airplane. The engines have about 150 hours on them and it is in very nice shape. It is kept in a heated hanger and is maintainted very well by St. Cloud Aviation in St. Cloud MN. It has a Garmin 430 and a Color radar and the old Cessna 400 AP Works very well and holds Altitude well. The airframe has about 5,000 hours on it. We have owned it since 1996. PM if you are intersted.

It trues out about 225 knots at FL 230 on about 40 GPH fuel flow. At 10,000 feet it does about 200 KTAS at 40 GPH. You can get about 210 KTAS at 230 at about 34 GPH.