Todd on shorter trips I use less power and fly lower. 15,000 feet 60% power (1700rpm/30"MP) 195KTS on 35GPH. Time difference is about ten minutes on a 300NM trip. Block GPH is a moving number depending on weight,Temp etc. runs 40 to 42 Block GPH. Enjoy your Duke it's a great looking plane

Rocky,

That was just too informative.

Tim

rocky, so much objectivity leaves us with no comments....

Rocky,

One point to make. A "comparable" Duke and 421C are nowhere close in price. I can buy my Duke fly it 500 hours with all expenses included and crush it and still have less invested than a 421C that never flew during the same time period.

This is what the draw is for me. Having virtually nothing invested means I do not need to insure it and do not worry about resale value. I can part it out for more than I paid if I can't sell it, although, I think I could sell it tomorrow with a phone call for more than I paid. I had a Baron pilot sit in it today and he could not believe what I paid for it.

Yes, same here. And sometimes my pig will,even run LOP. If I lost 50lbs, I might fit a. Ted sled.

Yes, our POS Dukes run about 1/4 the acquisition cost of one of those C machines.
That is about a lifetime of fuel burn for me in the difference . My passengers will have to pee in a vacuum hose, but I think a couple of them rather like it.

I have the hose and a potty chair that has a privacy curtain. The 421 potty is nicer, but not $250K nicer.

I maintain a 421B. Owner flies it in the low 20's. 15 GPH per side LOP. ~190+ knots.
(it took us some work to get the engines ironed out. One side was easy, the other... After much trial and testing we found a chaffed injector line which was restricting the fuel flow to that cylinder.)

2 seats in front (wife flies copilot) +4 seats mid cabin plus 2 others ( potty seat and 5th rear seat)

Really impressive machine with a lot of capability..

Owner does his homework .
pays about about $10K-$15K a year for maintenance.

Bought the plane for less than $250K. Mid time engines. Has flown it for 4 years at aboout 150 hours per year.

Updated the garmin stack to EDM 930, G1000 and G600 touch screen for (whatever it is.) Overall has about $35K in the avionics. Found a shop who took 430's in for trade in.

Nice to work for a smart owner.

Pretty sure he paid more than $35K in avionics. Base price G600 is $30,000, base price G1000 is $27,000, ... and don't forget installation costs. (Trade-in for GNS430 is only about $3K). And AFAIK, neither unit is "touch screen".

Kent, what does your client figure block to block on a 600-700 nm trip?

I think I know who you are talking about (has a well known brother). I think his panel is easily $100k. His airplane is fantastic! He was thinking about selling it at one point (and I kicked around the idea of buying it).

I had the opportunity to fly in a C421B this past week on a trip from OH to SC. What a great bird.

The owner had just redone the interior and upgraded the avionics to GTN 750/GTN 650 and a single Aspen on the pilot's side. We did 190-200 kts at FL190 burning 20-21gph per side, running ROP. The roominess in the cabin was just fantastic, pressurization was awesome and the smoothness and sound levels in the cabin were great. None of the passengers felt the need to wear headsets. The owner said they had hourly costs worked down to the $350-400 / hr range but they also had a sweetheart deal on fuel at their home base.

There is a lot going on up front and it's obvious that a great deal of training and recurring training would be required to stay safe and insurable in this airplane. The pilot said their insurance requirements include 2500 hrs total time and 1000 hrs multi time!

You have to be very careful how you reduce the power transitioning from cruise to descent. We brought back the power an inch of Manifold Pressure at a time over the descent. I'm also told engine outs can be quite exciting and with all the systems, there's a lot going on.

That being said, for carrying 4-5 adults and bags, the C421 is exceptionally capable. My missions could never justify the machine but I thought to myself I could REALLY get used to it. I really need to stop flying around in machines like this...

421 is a wonderful traveling machine. We have been to Costa Rica, La Paz, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, British West indies several times. Ours had the wing locker tanks giving 256 gallons total. Big roomy cabin for four adults traveling in total comfort. Engines went to TBO with no major issues.

Baloney and baloney.

He high have been talking about the open pilot clause of their insurance, but 2500/1000 is definitely not required for an owner/operator. I got into my 421 with 5 hours multi and 1700 or so total and my insurance required an initial course (I did SimCom) and 25 dual. Not difficult at all.

Also, the 1" per minute thing is bogus. You don't want to jack the power back on any engine, but the one inch thing is just silly.

Robert

That's very good to hear Robert. 2500/1000 sure seemed excessive to me.

I'm curious how you use your 421. How often are you flying by yourself vs. with passengers? Are many of your trips overnight?

For overnight trips w/ pax, the 421 is truly awesome. I know a former 421 owner who flew just himself most of the time, which seems like incredible overkill to me.