That time we smoked a TBM 930....

stratobee

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stratobee
Took a little ride in my buddy Steve's Turbo Commander 980 yesterday. He was kind enough to fly me up to see my old antique heep. Camarillo to Stockton and back. FL280. Just before us was a brand new TBM 900/930 on a conforming flight (they do final deliveries at CMA). After takeoff, ATC was like:

ATC: "You have traffic climbing at 2-3 o'clock at 9700ft"
US: "No factor"....as we busted through 12000ft and overtook it... ;)

It's hard to keep up with a light TC with the Dash 10 engines. They haul a** and can do 3000-4000ft/min in climb without burning much more fuel than a TBM. This particular model, the 980, was one of the later ones Gulfstream produced before they finally shut down the line in 1985 with the 1000 model. Many in-the-know Commander people will tell you the 980 model is probably the best one they ever made.

My friend Steve has spared no expense on his. It started out as a bankruptcy sale that had been sitting for awhile, repossessed, unloved, but now it's like factory new. New engines, new paint, new interior, new panel - you name it and he's got it. Not cheap, but he got it the way he wanted it. Very impressive plane. I'm extremely jealous.

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Wheeling it out at CMA.

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New G600 panel with dual GTN’s. Steve put a clever additional PTT under glare shield. Smart addition as your hand tends to rest there naturally.

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Brand new TBM900/930 on a conforming flight from delivery center at CMA ahead of us.

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Notice the fuel flow during taxi and compare it with the later one in cruise. Almost identical – flying at 295kts costs the same as taxiing…

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Watch your back! The old-timer is about to eat this lil' upstarts lunch…

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FL280. If you take some mind altering drugs, you can almost see the curvature of the earth…

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Steve leveling out.

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Fuel flow at FL280. 420lbs/hr doing eventually 290-295kts (hot day with +17 ISA). It’ll do 300-305kts when colder.

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G600 with two GTN’s. I'm a luddite and prefer steam, but can't argue with this. Very nice setup.

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FL280 and accelerating towards 290-295kts.

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Torque, EGT’s and prop RPM at FL280. At high altitudes you tend to be temp limited. Lower down you’re more likely to be torque limited.

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Steve put new Q-tip Hartzell’s on, replacing the Dowty’s. No real performance difference or maintenance improvement, just easier to service and better support in the US. Maybe a little quieter than the Dowty’s.

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Steve shows the appropriate tongue action for a landing.

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Landing KSCK.

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Clearance for return flight taken down.

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Beautiful California from FL270 on return.

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The sexier pointy spinners. It's an upgrade that does nothing except make it look faster.

Hope you enjoyed the trip as much as I did!
 
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Very nice! What does he use the plane for? Work or personal?
 
Think he mainly uses it for personal stuff. He has big family.
 
Very cool, stratobee. I hadn't heard of the 980 before. Definitely a mean machine.


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very nice. Sharp looking commander. Gannon's for the write up.
 
Sweet!! Nice write up on a beautiful airplane!
 
OK....now I want that....thanks for the pics. :drool:

I wonder how many AMUs he has into it? $300-400K?
 
If he hung the -10 engines, he has that much or more in the engines.
 
What a machine and way to travel! Nice!
 
Yeah, the Dash 10's are about $250K each. But these are the 7000hr TBO version (normal is 5000hr or 5400hr), so once you actually break it down per hour, they're probably on par with a Lycoming 540 piston engine per hour. Or at least pretty close.

But other than that he's probably got a million into this in upgrades for all the other stuff, is my guess.
 
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Yeah, that's a good looking panel. Nice machine!
 
Great write up on a beautiful plane! I have always really loved the turbine Commanders.

Abram Finkelstein
N48KY
 
Very nice...one of my favorite airplanes!
 
Sort of like the hare bragging about outrunning the tortoise.......... oh wait, never mind.
 
Twin Commanders of any version are nice rides....
 
4.8 statute miles per gallon. An M20J will get close to 20mpg but at only a little more than half the cruising speed.

How is a 4-seat plane comparable to a pressurized 8 seater with probably 3x the useful load? That's like bragging that your moped gets much better mileage than a Suburban.
 
4.8 statute miles per gallon. An M20J will get close to 20mpg but at only a little more than half the cruising speed.

Of course we know that to double the speed we need eight times the power assuming all other things stay the same. Let's see... you're calculating 150 ktas on 7.5gph so the mooney would need 60 gph to double the speed. The commander is doing it on 64 gph while having two engines, a lot more room, weather protection, and is pressurized. I think it is doing pretty damn good!
 
How is a 4-seat plane comparable to a pressurized 8 seater with probably 3x the useful load? That's like bragging that your moped gets much better mileage than a Suburban.

Of course we know that to double the speed we need eight times the power assuming all other things stay the same. Let's see... you're calculating 150 ktas on 7.5gph so the mooney would need 60 gph to double the speed. The commander is doing it on 64 gph while having two engines, a lot more room, weather protection, and is pressurized. I think it is doing pretty damn good!

Of course you're both right. Totally different aircraft and it's one of those things that if you have to ask you can't afford it anyway. 70gph is great if that's what works for you. Just like burning barrels of AeroShell in a double wasp. I'm just pointing out the obvious. I'm flying 4-bangers at 6gph so 70gph is mind boggling.
 
I want to fly a Turbo Commander soooo badly.

That FF for the speed is insane.

Those Garrets are thrifty compared to the Pratts. My conquest was doing 278 ktas on 72 GPH at ISA +17 yesterday. I saw these posts and felt a little envy. Just a little. :)

Of course you're both right. Totally different aircraft and it's one of those things that if you have to ask you can't afford it anyway. 70gph is great if that's what works for you. Just like burning barrels of AeroShell in a double wasp. I'm just pointing out the obvious. I'm flying 4-bangers at 6gph so 70gph is mind boggling.

My journey was Warrior -> Saratoga -> 310 -> Conquest. It's all relative and nobody should look down with scorn or up with green envy. We're all getting to do something that very few get to enjoy. Those jet guys really **** me off though.....;)
 
The -10's on the 1000 model will do 58gal/hr in total doing 300kts at FL350, so they are pretty thrifty up high.
 
She sure is a thirsty beast. 35gph per side in cruise.
Honestly doesn't seem to bad, considering the performance numbers she can do. I would have thought it would have been higher than that.
 
Those Garrets are thrifty compared to the Pratts. My conquest was doing 278 ktas on 72 GPH at ISA +17 yesterday. I saw these posts and felt a little envy. Just a little. :)

My journey was Warrior -> Saratoga -> 310 -> Conquest. It's all relative and nobody should look down with scorn or up with green envy. We're all getting to do something that very few get to enjoy. Those jet guys really **** me off though.....;)

Gives me hope for the future. My journey has been Warrior -> Cherokee Six -> 310. :D
 
The -10's on the 1000 model will do 58gal/hr in total doing 300kts at FL350, so they are pretty thrifty up high.

I would imagine FL350 is not a practical altitude going that slow unless you are in the middle of nowhere ;)
 
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