Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:

Bonehenge wrote:

There's always next year. -=8^(

And I liked the Six so much more than the Commander.



Me too. I've never flown a Commander but I've got a bunch of time flying a Six
to some very nice places. Never a 260 though... always a 300. I understand the
260 actually has more useful load... which is already kind of scary. I used to
carry 6 adults, baggage, and diving gear (except for tanks and weight belts)
from North Carolina to various spots in the Bahamas (with staging in and out of
the Vero Beach/ St. Lucie County area). One hell of a load... one hell of a
bird.

What did the guy who won the AOPA bird fly? C-130's? He's never gonna be
satisfied with a Six. Schmuck.





I fly a -260 with 7 seats. Mine's got a 1556 lb useful load, and I do
fly it at max gross. When heavy it is no short field machine,
especially when hot and high, but it will in fact lift a lot of people,
gas, and stuff. There's simply nothing else out there like it. Fact
is, it is pretty much an if it fits through the door you can fly it
machine. Unlike the -300, it is virtually impossible to get the CG
forward of the forward limit. You really have to work to get it aft of
the aft limit (two big guys in the back seat and nobody else but the 180
lb pilot will do it). Had I won the AOPA one, it would have been a hard
choice on which to keep. Mine's got a bigger useful load and has the 7
seats I need, plus it is a relatively low time airframe with about 3500
hours. Theirs has some nice goodies in the panel and has been nicely
refurbished all over, and is supposedly several knots faster than the
135kts true I get out of mine at 6000'. Guess that's why they put my
name back in the hat when they drew it.