Beech Premier

I don't know much about the Premier series, but I assume from a financial standpoint it would be a very difficult airplane to get out of when the time comes.

I believe your company has been looking for sometime now, right? What is your mission and budget?
 
Not many have been produced and the recent purchase of Beach by Cessna has the future of support in question. This has been seen the drop in price of all Hawker and Beachjet prices.
 
MikeOH58 said:
I don't know much about the Premier series, but I assume from a financial standpoint it would be a very difficult airplane to get out of when the time comes.

I believe your company has been looking for sometime now, right? What is your mission and budget?
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Yeah we seem to be going from plane to plane.

We're looking at a small jet, 4-6 passengers, 1000nm range, preferably under 2 million.
 
SFLAX said:
Not many have been produced and the recent purchase of Beach by Cessna has the future of support in question. This has been seen the drop in price of all Hawker and Beachjet prices.
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I wondered why they were becoming cheaper....good to know.
 
MikeOH58 said:
I hope he can support it long term because that just screams to me "I can't afford to be in a jet." I think you would be better off in a King Air 200, or spending a little more money and getting into a Citation Jet.
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long term isn't the issue. owner just doesn't need the aircraft new. he is looking for speed, has a baron 58p now so a king air 200 isn't the speed he's wanting. for 2 million there are a lot of great jets out there, it's just finding which one will be easiest to get parts.
 
Flew one charter for a little, here are some of my thoughts on the airplane. I apologize in advance this will probably read like a bunch of rambling, I'll just type things as I remember them from my time on the airplane.

-The 1,600mi range that they advertise is a joke
-You will rarely top the tanks off on the premier. With full fuel we had 17 pounds of payload (2 pilots).
-Full fuel will let you fly for about 3:30-3:45mins, generally cruise at .78 and getting up to F410 was never an issue (You'll spend a lot of time up there to squeak every mile of range out of the airplane) For every pax and bag you add, will need to take fuel out
-Need an IFR alternate? There goes ~800lbs..... Essentially 2 Passengers and their bags cant go on the trip anymore
-Passengers loved the airplane for the large cabin in it's class. When compared to the CJ2 or CJ3 it's pretty nice back there... Then you'd have to make 2 fuel stops to get across the country and they were over it.
-The baggage compartment was huge. You can fit a small truck back there
-6 Full size adults and you will be right up against max zero fuel weight, if not over depending on the size of the people.
-Flight safety has a monopoly on that type rating with only a few simulators in existence. Expect to pay $27,000+ for the type
-A couple of pax flying 1.5-2 hours legs is the sweet spot for this airplane

The airplane is incredibly weight sensitive. I'd say 8/10 departures we did were right up against max gross, but I suppose that really depends on your typical mission. There is a really great network of Premier mechanics and they all work closely together to help you out (Beech factory, Flight Saftey, Ect..) I would however do some homework to find out what the support network will be 5-10 yrs down the line. They don't make the airplane anymore and it can be difficult to find parts. The lack of slats and thrust reversers make for long TO/LDG distances. Things go down hill fast when hot/high. I still have all the performance data/flight safety checklist somewhere. If you have a typical mission in mind I can run the numbers to see how it'd work out for you guys. Fltplan.com has a great profile on the airplane. The fuel burn and flight times are nearly spot on.
 
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If the tired old saw about airplanes flying as good as they look is even remotely true, run don't walk from the premier.
 
Citation II would meet the price point.... Citation V would meet your weight/distance requirements.... endless support from Cessna and type ratings can be earned at a minimal cost.
 
If you like the mustang, just get a straight CJ or CJ1 and be done with it. I can get you any kind of money number you want on it.
 
Its worth noting that Textron does not have an avionics path for ADSB mandate for CJ, CJ1, Citation II, or Premier 1.

Also, if CJ and CJ1 are half as crappy as CJ1+ I wouldnt waste your money. CJ2 and beyond are the only CJ airframes id consider.

What is your anticipated annual budget?
 
MikeOH58 said:
Its worth noting that Textron does not have an avionics path for ADSB mandate for CJ, CJ1, Citation II, or Premier 1.

Also, if CJ and CJ1 are half as crappy as CJ1+ I wouldnt waste your money. CJ2 and beyond are the only CJ airframes id consider.

What is your anticipated annual budget?
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Most CJ's or CJ1's that I've seen have Garmin transponders and I believe they are working an upgrade option.

I agree the CJ2 is a better airplane but I don't think the CJ1 is crappy at all. That's what I thought it would be when we got it but I've been pleasantly surprised.
 
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