Thoughts on the Aztec?

[JimG]

"I think the Aztec is to official bird of the Bahamas."

__________________
That's where I got my experience to/from Abaco/Ft. Lauderdale.

 

[CDVdriver]

We fly an Aztec.
Sweet plane, I flightplan 160 kts @65% pwr (21MP 2300rpm)
Ours will actually do 185kts TAS if you firewall it and give it 10 min to accelerate.
It gained 10kts after the paintjob and another 10 kts with the new engines.
160kts @24 gallons/hr total.
It's nice and light on the flight controls in the air, and a bit of a big baby on one engine. By far the most pleasant SE characteristics of any multi I've flown.
Single engine with 20mp 2300rpm on the working one the speed is still 110-120kts TAS and ours climbs with 500fpm past 8000' .
Meaning you'll overtake and outclimb a 172 or even an Arrow on one engine at 8000'
Not at MTOW, never tried it but weight doesn't really seem to make a difference with this plane.
Wouldn't really trust anything for sale for 75K seems low to me.
A good plane with decent avionics should get about 120K and I've seen totally tricked out ones for 175K.
Are the engines over time or what?
Does it have a damage history, has it been flown recently or sitting on a ramp somewhere?
I looked at an Aztec some time ago with a "new" paintjob, corrosion coming through already and serious corrosion in the tanks, I'm talking quarter inch stalagtites. Tanks need to be put away wet, full fuel, to prevent corrosion.
Once that happens your whole fuel system is FUBAR and needs to be replaced.
Find an old and wise A&P that has a lot of experience with them and that can tell the model years apart. Minor differences and different AD's for them.
Since they're generally 40+ years old there might be some not so legal anymore modifications done years and years ago.
Really pay somebody to do this right.

 

[FN FAL]

Anyone? Anything?

-mini

They were designed back in the day when pilots wore flannel shirts...and they liked it.

 

[empenage]

Loved the Aztec. Used to haul cats in one from MMU to LNK. If it fit through the door you could haul it. The heater was funny though, ran on avgas.

Good airplane though.

 

[flyinlow67]

Good airplane that won't get you into trouble unless you really try. Flew freight in Aztrucks for a year. All of it single pilot and mostly at night. Flew countless IFR hours in the plane. Picked up all kinds of ice in the thing, and made it home every time.
The airplane does great on one engine, but as stated before, they are kinda thirsty.
I flew a 5.5 hour leg in one one night and still had 1.5 left in the tank. I wouldn't recommend doing that because of bladder and back restrictions, but the aircraft will handle it fine.
The only squawk I really have on the bird, is that the engines can be kind of tempermental on a hot start. There is a trick to doing it unless you want to crank your battery down.

 

[fokkers&beer]

I forgot about trying to hot start those stupid lycomings. I recall the engines are the lycoming 540, or is it 520?, I remember one is in the big Lycoming, and the other is the big Continental, but its been more than a few years since I have dealt with that side of aviation.
It brings back long forgotten memories of new hires, on a muggy summer midwest night, fresh out of IOE trying to start those things and the pyrotechnics show that followed out of the exhaust. Those were the days.

 

[Publishers]

If I remember right, no fuel pump on a hot start. Get the cranking with everything back and bring mixture up with a slight crack in throttle.

 

[Geronimo4497]

Aztecs are a great machine. I remember flying my whole family in a 1972 E model from BOS to someplace near the finger lakes in upsate NY. 27 GPH is the normal fuel flow that I saw.

Hot start problems? - "Be one with the engine"

Aztecs are nice, but hate the fuel bill. I'm currently restoring a 1961 Geronimo Apache with 180 Lycomings. I always enjoyed that machine, and can't wait to get it flying again. SE performance is not as good as the Aztec at gross weight, but it does just fine with full tanks and 2 people on board.

 

[flyinlow67]

If I remember right, no fuel pump on a hot start. Get the cranking with everything back and bring mixture up with a slight crack in throttle.

El correcto!
And the engines are Lycoming IO-540's