Let’s dive straight into it? Why shouldn’t i buy one of these 1980 westwind jet for 240k?? Like come on i could get a type rating and fly that? What would my insurance payments be for private use with a ? And don’t laugh... one every plane post i hear people crying about maintenance? Would it be logical to hope for at 200 hours no maintenance cost? Please people with some experience reply or knowledge
Ever think there might just be a reason or two that everyone offloaded those old kerosene burners and the market priced them accordingly because of it?
Meh, I’d just get a mig https://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/list/manufacturer/mikoyan
FWIWI: Better hope you got a buddy who wants the same thing. Last I saw all the jet commanders/westwinds were 2 crew aircraft??
No experience with Jets. I can extrapolate from King Air maintenance I've been part of, and it's... well, scary to imagine "adding a zero" to THAT. Hard to imagine it would cost less.
Back in the 80's I was doing some flying out of KILG... One of the DuPonts had a hanger next to the place I was renting from and there were a few Migs in there... I don't think any of them moved the while time i was there..
Can you afford to put fuel in it? Do you have a clue what it cost per hour in fuel? A Jet isn't a fun plane to fly. A PC-12 would be cooler... You buy a old jet for $240,000 and the first annual may cost you $300,000. LOl! I have some rich buddies with jets. They tell me the parts are extreme high.... One just spent over $100,000 putting in a new windshield on one side. A friend just bought a older Citation and I think the number is 225 GPH for a short hop.
I recall Premier1driver quoting like 5k per hour to operate his jet. I would imagine an old Westwind would be worse than that.
For one thing, old jets are a dime a dozen to buy. Operating them is a whole different story. All those old jets are a two person crew, you think you'll get insurance for yourself, a rooky, and maybe some cheap low time co-pilot? Or maybe someone with time in type to ride along with you at maybe $700-800 per day. Fuel, the engines are 731's and burn roughly 2000lbs the first hour and 1500lbs the second hour, that's 300 gallons and 225 the first two hours. Add insurance, regular and unexpected maintenance, hangar, crew salaries', hotels and meals for the crew while traveling. Our Hawker cost us about $70,000 last summer for ADSB, and we replaced one-half of a windscreen the year before for $30,000. Yes the Westwind is a pretty good plane for the money, solid and fairly fast, climbs to 45,000' and has a large baggage area. Oh yeah, no maintenance in 200 hours for a 40 year old plane, wishful thinking. Unless you have a way to make money with it, it's just a large money pit.
I couldn't afford to fly it one time for more than a few hours, even if you gave it to me for free, lol. Much less worrying about maintenance, 2nd crew members, and insurance.
Hey, if you're going to get a jet, get a jet. Think Boeing will sell us one of these? It's a trainer, after all, doesn't carry armaments. 33,000 feet per minute initial climb, sounds like fun. If we all got together and formed a club, do you think we could afford one?
225 gal per hour? Big deal. Fly minutes at a time. That’s only like 4 gallons. Per minute. Totally affordable.
Isn’t there an upcoming SB or something I read required on the older 731’s (on the Westwind) that will pretty much make it cost prohibitive? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I’ve never gotten a jet home from prepurchase inspection without needing maintenance, and that’s never been more than 4 hours. So...no.
https://www.libertyjet.com/jet-ownership-costs.aspx?jetType=IAI-1124 I wouldn't buy a machine that I can't legally fly single pilot...
Ya sure? I don't see a red handle. About the only jet I'd be interested in is the ViperJet, and I'd need to make 10 times what I do now to even consider it.
@ja_user mentioned to me that brakes on a Westwind are $15k. The issue as has been mentioned is maintenance cost. Although I could trade the MU-2 straight up for several of these old jets, the operating cost per mile would be enough higher that there's no way that Cloud Nine could even pretend to afford it. The MU-2 we can at least pretend. 200 gph or so...
Why fly an antique? PM your credit card number to me and I'll call my colleagues in Ft. Worth and see what sort of deal I can get you on one of these:
Reminds me of a vintage yacht I saw for sale (built in the 20s and had actually been a commissioned warship during WWII). The ad said ‘recently completed $15M overhaul’. And it was now for sale for less than $2M.
You'll need a 20k type rating, and a mechanic close to do some basic tasks for you. It may be a cheap jet, but it is still a jet. The acquisition costs are not the big issue here. The first time it needs even the most routine maintenance............... How do you feel about burning 2000lbs the first hour and maybe 1500lbs every hour after that? That's only about $1200 in fuel the first hour, assuming $4 fuel..
If you want to fly a jet that bad, you could find some sleazy 135 operator to put you in the right seat of something old and ancient for a lot less than you'd spend on that Westwind.
When I first learned about the Eclipse jet I was interested and kept up with what was going on. When the single engine Eclipse 400 was made public, I was pretty sure I wanted one. Even with only 4 seats I wanted one. But that dream has gone away. Maybe I will build a scaled down replica of the Spruce Goose and call it the Plywood Pelican...
