Piston V.S Turbo Prop

"Vigo" wrote in message ...
Any one have any sales advice on piston twins v.s turbo prop twins. I'm
currently in the process of aquiring a charter buisness that operates 2
navajo aircraft. I've heard some people say that the days of the piston twin
in commercial charter work may be coming to an end.

When the microjets hit the markets in large numbers over the next 5-10
years, the piston twins - especially new ones - will suddenly become
less desireable due to the price differences.

Several entrepreneurs have already placed large orders (100+) for some
of these small jets (Eclipse, Saffire, etc.) in full anticipation of
offering air taxi services from small airports that are not served by
airlines.

Marketed right, this could completely change public perception of
private flying. It may be in reach for more of the masses if priced
right. Forget the big airports. Just call your airtaxi and share a
flight with a few others to Florida, Vegas, New York, etc. The cost
per person and time flexibility just might make it worth it.

Dave,

I agree with some of your post, and disagree with a little.

The larger piston twins will definitely be hit hard. But the smaller ones
may do okay. They are already cheap when used, and the new ones are only
being built to supply a small market - training planes and step up planes.

If the Centurion engine lives up to its claims, and has product support,
then the Diamond Twin Star could reshape the equation being useful for
training, personal transport, and short range Air Taxi.

They could easily sell 5000 of these planes over the next ten years if it
works well. Unfortunately, I hear Diamond may be hedging their bets due to
the lack of support from Thielert/Centurion. They don't want to see a
replay of the Rotax problems they had on the katanas.



"Dave" wrote in message
om...
"Vigo" wrote in message
...
Any one have any sales advice on piston twins v.s turbo prop twins. I'm
currently in the process of aquiring a charter buisness that operates 2
navajo aircraft. I've heard some people say that the days of the piston
twin
in commercial charter work may be coming to an end.

When the microjets hit the markets in large numbers over the next 5-10
years, the piston twins - especially new ones - will suddenly become
less desireable due to the price differences.

Several entrepreneurs have already placed large orders (100+) for some
of these small jets (Eclipse, Saffire, etc.) in full anticipation of
offering air taxi services from small airports that are not served by
airlines.

Marketed right, this could completely change public perception of
private flying. It may be in reach for more of the masses if priced
right. Forget the big airports. Just call your airtaxi and share a
flight with a few others to Florida, Vegas, New York, etc. The cost
per person and time flexibility just might make it worth it.

"Dude" wrote in message ...
The larger piston twins will definitely be hit hard. But the smaller ones
may do okay. They are already cheap when used, and the new ones are only
being built to supply a small market - training planes and step up planes.

If the Centurion engine lives up to its claims, and has product support,
then the Diamond Twin Star could reshape the equation being useful for
training, personal transport, and short range Air Taxi.

My bigger point is that, regardless of the reliability and quality of
the Centurion and other pistons, public perception(i.e. non-aviators)
will lean towards a minijet for the "cool" factor, as long as they
don't have problems that get overblown by the media in the early
years. If the first 5 years are successful and relatively accident
free with good PR, then the prop generation of planes could see a
decline in value and use by the deeper pocket organizations.

If you are looking at the corporate market, you may find that over the medium
term both the piston and turbine products are on their way out. The silk suits
only want to fly jets. Even the general public has developed a deep seated
suspicion of anything with a propellor on it, and most regional operators are
in the process of replacing their turboprops with jets.

The flying public does not understand that a propellor is an inherently
efficient propulsion device, particularly at low density altitudes, and as
such well suited to short haul operations. Thisd misunderstanding may do much
harm to general aviation, because the advent of jets at airports currently
served by turboprops will increase noise complaints from neighbors.

I know one company operating KingAirs and Falcons, and they say the KingAirs
are logging very little time these days, despite the higher price for the
jets.

Unless you have some sort of captive market - an existing freight operation or
something with some sort of protection from competition built in, I don't
think you'd do well tio invest in a fleet of Navajos or twin Cessnas (unless
they're Citations!).

G Faris