Top Turboprop Series: We Compare Popular Pre-Owned Models
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FOR THE PILOTS OF OWNER-FLOWN, CABIN-CLASS AIRCRAFT SEPTEMBER 2019 $3.95 US VOLUME 23 NUMBER 9 Top Turboprop Series: We Compare Popular Pre-Owned Models Five Questions The Latest on One Pilot’s with Corporate the Cessna Denali Introduction Angel Network & SkyCourier to Aerobatics Jet It US One year $15.00, two years $29.00 Canadian One year $24.00, two years $46.00 Overseas One Year $52.00, Two Years $99.00 Single copies $6.50 PRIVATE. FAST. SMART. EDITOR Rebecca Groom Jacobs SEPTEMBER2019 • VOL. 23, NO. 9 (316) 641-9463 Contents [email protected] EDITORIAL OFFICE 2779 Aero Park Drive 4 Traverse City, MI 49686 Editor’s Briefing Phone: (316) 641-9463 E-mail: [email protected] 2 A Career Shaped by Turboprops PUBLISHER by Rebecca Groom Jacobs Dave Moore PRESIDENT Position Report Dave Moore 4 What Makes a Turboprop CFO Safer? Answer: You Rebecca Mead PRODUCTION MANAGER by Dianne White Mike Revard PUBLICATIONS DIRECTOR Jake Smith GRAPHIC DESIGNER Marci Moon 6 TWIN & TURBINE WEBSITE 6 Top Turboprop Series: www.twinandturbine.com Pre-Owned Piper Meridian ADVERTISING DIRECTOR and Daher TBM 700C2 John Shoemaker Twin & Turbine by Joe Casey 2779 Aero Park Drive Traverse City, MI 49686 12 Five on the Fly with Phone: 1-800-773-7798 Corporate Angel Network Fax: (231) 946-9588 [email protected] by Rebecca Groom Jacobs ADVERTISING ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR & REPRINT SALES 14 The Latest on the Betsy Beaudoin Cessna Denali and Phone: 1-800-773-7798 [email protected] SkyCourier ADVERTISING ADMINISTRATIVE by Rich Pickett ASSISTANT Jet It Erika Shenk 22 Intro to Aerobatics Phone: 1-800-773-7798 by Jared Jacobs [email protected] SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Rhonda Kelly Diane Smith Jamie Wilson Molly Costilow 22 Kelly Adamson P.O. 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Photo Courtesy of Paul Bowen Photography Issues of Twin & Turbine are available POSTMASTER: Send address changes for free www.twinandturbine.com and inquiries to Twin & Turbine, Village Press, Inc., P.O. Box 968, Traverse City, MI 49685. September 2019 / TWIN & TURBINE • 1 Editor’s Briefing by Rebecca Groom Jacobs A Career Shaped by Turboprops In light of the pre-owned turboprop series kicking off this issue, fact that still rings true today (and has probably been the case I asked my father Randy Groom to recount some of his personal with all manufacturers since the Wright Brothers). experiences and observations after selling turboprops (in addition 1990s to pistons and jets) for 30-plus years. Below he paints a picture of One by one the twin-turboprop competition started to fade the product changes and industry trends seen in the turboprop away in the mid-80s with Cessna discontinuing the Conquests, market since the beginning of his career. Mitsubishi stopping MU-2 production and Fairchild halting the Merlins, with Commander calling it quits as well. Piper or nearly 40 years, turboprops were the bread and butter hung on until the early 90s with their Cheyennes, albeit at of my professional career. They provided for my family, low production levels. So, for a little while, Beech got to enjoy allowed me to live in some very nice places (yes, includ- being the turboprop king and only having to worry about the Fing Wichita), sent my kids to college and allowed me to travel pesky Citations and used King Airs. the world. So, when Rebecca asked if I would provide a little Of course, no Beechcraft history is complete without men- personal history and perspective on turboprops, I said sure. tioning the Starship. The model 2000 Starship was conceived 1980s in the early 80s and ultimately was certified in 1989 with the 1980 started to show signs of major turbulence in the industry goal of replacing the venerable King Air. Unfortunately, the although, at the time, Beech was still in full throttle produc- aircraft was slower, noisier and less reliable than the King Air tion of King Airs. I vividly remember the company proudly 300 of the time. The cabin was bigger and more comfortable, announcing that they hit a production peak of 50 King Airs and the airplane certainly had a commanding ramp presence. a month and dealers were fighting over their allocation. The But by any measure, the Starship was the biggest failure in company at that time was building seven different models of the history of General Aviation up to that time, and was only the King Air including the C90, E90, F90, A100, B100, Super King more recently eclipsed. Air 200 (both standard door and cargo door versions) and the In the midst of struggling with the Starship, another group military C12 version of the Super King Air 200. The company of turboprop competition started to creep into the picture that also built one more turboprop at the time, the single-engine Beech never took seriously. Socata certified and introduced T34C Mentor military trainer. their TBM 700 model in 1990 and Pilatus rolled out the PC-12 Beech also seriously explored a whole new concept – a pres- in 1994. Later, Piper introduced their Meridian turboprop. surized single-engine turboprop named the Lightning. Two Beech never thought that a single-engine turboprop could find proof of concepts prototypes were built, one with a Garrett its way into being a mainstream corporate aircraft. It was a engine and one with a PT6. Personally, I thought they were major miscalculation. breathtakingly beautiful airplanes. But when the production Today and finance leaders crunched the numbers, it was thought that Today, I have had the opportunity to fly, experience and the airplane would price out in excess of $1 million dollars and appreciate virtually all the turboprops being produced, both the program was canceled. One can only speculate what the singles and twins. In my consulting work, I have also had the single-engine turboprop landscape would look like today if the privilege to work with Piper, Pilatus, TBM and Kodiak dealers Lightning had been given the go-ahead. giving me an even greater appreciation for those products and Back in those days, the King Airs had a dizzying level of how they have expanded the market reach to a whole new set competition from other twin turboprops. This included the of customers. It will be fascinating to watch as new turboprop Cessna model 425 Corsair and the Cessna Conquest. Piper had engine technology brings forth the potential to significantly its Cheyenne I, II and III models. Aero Commander had their improve efficiency and operating costs. high-wing 690, Mitsubishi had a short and long-cabin version of the MU-2 Series, and Fairchild had its Merlin series. Randy Groom is president of his consulting And if that wasn’t already enough competition, custom- business Groom Aviation. He has held senior ers had the option to buy a Cessna Citation I or II model jet leadership positions with Piedmont Hawthorne for roughly the same price as a King Air 200. That decision Aviation, Piper Aircraft and Beechcraft where he process was complicated with the emotion of buying a jet served as president. He has 11,000 hours of flight clashing with some of the mission and economic sensibilities experience and is a proud owner of a Beech- of buying a turboprop. We won some and lost some when it craft Bonanza and Aviat Husky. Randy can be came to competing with the Citations. But by far, the biggest contacted at [email protected]. competitor to selling a new King Air was a used King Air – a 2 • TWIN & TURBINE / September 2019 Avidyne Corporation September 2019 / TWIN & TURBINE • 3 Position Report by Dianne White What Makes a Turboprop Safer? wo engines or one? If your aircraft is equipped with the highly reliable Pratt & Whitney Canada TPT-6 turboprop engine, are you really safer in a twin rather than a single? This perennial debate gets resurrected every time there is a high-profile crash.