Power by the hour for the Mustang. Here is what a friend told me about it.
If you dont fly enough per year your basically paying for it for the next guy.

"The power by the hour including the engines, parts and labor is $400-425 an hour I think (don't have my agreement handy). Remember that $200 of that is the two engines which most TBM's aren't doing. So it's $200-225 an hour for the normal parts and labor stuff.

Fuel burn is averaging 105 gph for me, but I fly a lot of 200-300 nm legs. My 700 was running 65 gph for me. I have been seeing speeds of 340-355 knots or 10-15 above book.

You can get into 3000 ft strips, but I am personally more comfortable at 3500-4000 ft. If you truly do go into stuff 3000 ft or shorter frequently, the TBM might be a better fit. I looked in my logbook and over 7 years of TBM ownership, I had never landed on anything shorter than 4000 ft. So for me, it didn't matter. "


I wonder what the fuel burn is on a CJ2 or CJ3 ?

I flew a CJ1 for a fractional, and the airplane held up very well for all the flying we did. It did well in and out of Aspen, etc. We operated two crew btw, and with five passengers you were extremely range limited. with a total of 3 on board I think we had about 1000 mile range. The airplane is extremely easy to fly, though transitioning from a piston single you'll have a learning curve for sure. One thing I remember about my initial operating experience was practicing a short field landing and stopping the airplane 1000' from the threshold. It has great brakes and lands very slow at light weights. It is by far the quietest cabin I've ever been in. This would be the perfect private jet for my family of three. This might be a good first jet for you Jason. You could probably even find one with a 430/530 in it.

That's the kicker. CJ3 is about $200 more an hour to run than a CJ1.

Do the 2009-2010 models all have the potty? Or is it that they don't all have a door as opposed to a curtain?

The Phenom sales guy had some good answers as to why a new one was $1M more than a 2 year old model. Then I heard that the 2009-2010 models sold for that much lower price originally.

So I'm curious why the Eclipse isn't on the list. Too small? Too low payload? Too unreliable manufacturing support? All the above?

Cant wait to see Jason flying his jet at 17500 ft vfr.

Well you know it will take you an extra hour to get anywere IFR ?

Good one.

Exactly. I don't want one for all those reasons.

True story

My flight to Ohare added 30 minutes because I had to go in there IFR. Look at the flight track. Crazy.

Well at the speeds you will be going in the jet, those extra miles wont had more than a few minutes and then ATC will feel pity for you about burning all this fuel and will clear you direct!








True story

My flight to Ohare added 30 minutes because I had to go in there IFR. Look at the flight track. Crazy.

Oo! Good one, Marc. You got him with that one.

[Link]http://www.nextantaerospace.com/nextant-400xt/overview.html[/Link]

I would also include this option in your search.

Needs 2 pilots

The Phenom sure looks good, better features than the CJ1.... and the CJ3 seems overkill.

But this stuff is out of my league. If I were seriously shopping VLJs, I could argue a good turboprop would do the job better..... the Blackhawk KA or the dash 10 Commander would be on my list.

The Commander would beat the pants off those VLJs in just about everything, and the jet would only be a bit faster on trips over 500 miles or so.

If you're going on ramp appeal, I like the Phenom 100 best.

As for the single pilot issue....

Every guy I know that flys a CJ single seat is a high time, salty dog. When it comes to a 6 + 2 configuration like the CJ3, I rarely see less than 2 pilots. Everything I've been on above a CJ1 has been two pilots.

The complaint for entry jets is payload vs. fuel. That means you're not going to fly long range with the seats full, which makes insurance claims lower. The CJ3 trip I flew on was 5 + 2 crew for 1200 NM into the west winds. I can't imagine flying a long leg, into weather, in a serious piece of equipment, and handling all the duties of a single pilot when tired. There are many articles about the single pilot jet issues.

A single turboprop is a lot more forgiving. As for jets, there are a lot of sucessful transitions for owner/pilots in the Cessna Mustang. That's probably where I'd start looking, especially since it has the G1000 integration.

There's probably a good reason why single pilot in anything above entry level isn't common. I'll just bet the insurance company has the answer!