Conquest vs Cheyenne

gibbons

gibbons

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iRide
Anyone have any info on the Conquest vs. a Cheyenne for a charter aircraft? It looks like you can find a pretty nice Cheyenne for around $600,000 but I'm just now starting to look into operating costs and insurance. Someone today suggested a Conquest as an alternative.

Any thoughts on either?

Chip
 
Chip. This friend of yours needs to realize that there is no way to do this for under $125,000 per year. If he is interested in that sort of $$s, then do the King Air B-90 or C-90 with at least dash 26 engines. If you pay the big bucks, get the nice cabin and capabilities.

If you want to stretch range and are willing to give up the nice cabin, the Twin Commander is faster and has real range.

But in this price range, you might think about an old Lear 25. They are worth precisely the time that's left on the engines. Not a dime more.
 
Yes, but the Cabin in the C90 is move-around. In the Cheyenne it's creep-crawl around. For the payors of the big bucks, it's the CABIN that counts.
 
So, you're saying we should actually think about the charter part of this and not focus so much on which one we'd rather fly? Gee Bruce, you're no fun at all.

There are three of us who are considering the option of buying something which would work for us a total of about 60 hours / year, but could also help pay for itself when we're not using it. It may not be possible.

Chip
 
I spent lunch today with a mechanic discussing the costs associated with running a Conquest, a Cheyenne, or a King Air for charter.

Never mind.

Chip
 
Charter Biz

gibbons said:
Never mind.
Click to expand...

Chip,

Something I think is interesting is that I never see or hear of folks out selling charters. The firm I work for is a prime example we have major offices in 6 locations on the east cost...2 near Philadelphia and the rest near Providence and Boston...you kill at least half a day going from the Philadelphia offices to the others. If you have to be "their" for an early morning meeting you often have to go the night before. Typically there is a group of 2 or 3 or more folks traveling betwe

If I was in the charter business I'd be out with a mass mailing followed up by power point slide presentation pitching the advantages of chartering an aircraft (what ever aircraft I had). I'd do the sales homework to find the right potential customers and sell to them like crazy.

Why should the fractional firms be the only ones to reap the benefits of terrible airline travel?

Len
 
Let me see if I understand the question. You and two friends would like to own a turboprop which the three of you would use about 180 hrs per year total. You would like to recoup some of the expenses by chartering the aircraft when you are not using it.

Have you thought of using an a/c management company to operate the aircraft? Many 135 operators will manage an a/c and place it on their operations specs. You will of course absorb all the costs of doing this. It is nearly impossible to underestimate the costs and complexities of 135 operations.

If you are going to use a management company perhaps you should first find the company you want to use and then see what aircraft they can use/sell. We can all speculate to our hearts content about what the "best" airplane is, but if this is a business, the "best" airplane is the probably the one that meets your financial goals.
 
Arnold,

Probably very sound advice. I think this was simply a case of getting the cart before the horse. When we really sat down with a spreadsheet it was pretty easy to determine that this was not going to work for us. The reward just isn't worth the financial risk.

It comes back to "stick with what you know", and we discovered we don't know enough about the charter business or about turbines to keep from getting neck deep in trouble.

Chip
 
Chip, then you'll lose your shirt. Don't go there.
Arnold, I think you mean it's almost impossible to overestimate....
 
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