Favorite and least favorite jets

groundguy

New Member
There was a similar topic 4 years ago about worst planes to fuel.. I've got kind of an open ended question like that - what's your favorite and least favorite planes that come on your ramp and why?

To start, visually my favorite is a Falcon 50, can't beat that tri-engine look with the sleek, skinny fuselage. But I despise servicing them

My favorite to work with is the Challenger 300.. Hands down very simple to service from the fuel, lav, and to tow. Tied with the Excel, those are just too easy to service, even the oil haha

Least favorite goes to Challenger 600s and Lears..
 
There was a similar topic 4 years ago about worst planes to fuel.. I've got kind of an open ended question like that - what's your favorite and least favorite planes that come on your ramp and why?

To start, visually my favorite is a Falcon 50, can't beat that tri-engine look with the sleek, skinny fuselage. But I despise servicing them

My favorite to work with is the Challenger 300.. Hands down very simple to service from the fuel, lav, and to tow. Tied with the Excel, those are just too easy to service, even the oil haha

Least favorite goes to Challenger 600s and Lears..
Yup, love doing excels/ sovereigns. We just got a brand new sovereign based with us and the thing actually has a light in the lav service compartment.
Challenger 300s are pretty painless although the 600s are easier to hook up to if you're using a tow bar. The 300s also look better in my opinion, especially the cockpit window. We have one based with us, owner-piloted too.
Hawker 4000s are also super easy with everything, especially the nose gear pin.

Love Gulfstreams except for loading bags can get kinda annoying if the pax didn't pack light because of the baggage door height. Same with the Global Express

Ahh the Falcon 50 lav, all the way on the very bottom of the fuselage... Yup I hate em too. Thankfully they fixed that on the 900s/ 2000s and beyond. We have two based with us and I was training a new guy on servicing the lav and the clowns at their previous destination must've pulled the chain after they put the cap back on; he unscrews the cap and it dumps everywhere. The trainee didn't show up the next day and we never saw him again.

Least favorite:
Not even gonna start talking about beechjets and what a pain in the neck they are. Except for the guys I worked tonight who had an old school Diamond and transferred the fuel into the trunk as I topped the wing off... You da real MVP :cool:

Turbo commanders are also a pain as far as fueling but we have one based with us so it's like second nature to me now. Same thing with MU-2s especially when that guy who absolutely has to do a GPU start shows up and you fear for your life when it's time to pull the plug.

A-star helicopters are only annoying when I get a top-off fuel order and you never know when it's full till it's too late.

Up until a week ago, we had a HondaJet based with us and after the new airplane excitement wore off, we started to hate it. Fueling it is the same as the trunk on the beechjet, only there's no recess into the fuselage and you're left with the cap just dangling there and risking a paint scratch. What a dumb design. :bang: Gotta pump even slower than the beechjet too.
 
Yup, love doing excels/ sovereigns. We just got a brand new sovereign based with us and the thing actually has a light in the lav service compartment.
Challenger 300s are pretty painless although the 600s are easier to hook up to if you're using a tow bar. The 300s also look better in my opinion, especially the cockpit window. We have one based with us, owner-piloted too.
Hawker 4000s are also super easy with everything, especially the nose gear pin.

Love Gulfstreams except for loading bags can get kinda annoying if the pax didn't pack light because of the baggage door height. Same with the Global Express

Ahh the Falcon 50 lav, all the way on the very bottom of the fuselage... Yup I hate em too. Thankfully they fixed that on the 900s/ 2000s and beyond. We have two based with us and I was training a new guy on servicing the lav and the clowns at their previous destination must've pulled the chain after they put the cap back on; he unscrews the cap and it dumps everywhere. The trainee didn't show up the next day and we never saw him again.

Least favorite:
Not even gonna start talking about beechjets and what a pain in the neck they are. Except for the guys I worked tonight who had an old school Diamond and transferred the fuel into the trunk as I topped the wing off... You da real MVP :cool:

Turbo commanders are also a pain as far as fueling but we have one based with us so it's like second nature to me now. Same thing with MU-2s especially when that guy who absolutely has to do a GPU start shows up and you fear for your life when it's time to pull the plug.

A-star helicopters are only annoying when I get a top-off fuel order and you never know when it's full till it's too late.

Up until a week ago, we had a HondaJet based with us and after the new airplane excitement wore off, we started to hate it. Fueling it is the same as the trunk on the beechjet, only there's no recess into the fuselage and you're left with the cap just dangling there and risking a paint scratch. What a dumb design. :bang: Gotta pump even slower than the beechjet too.

Forgot that you only use towbar. In that case, you probably like Falcons since its just two hooks, not pins you gotta jimmy in. Most of our tow heads are horribly rusty from rain so I despise jimmying any tow head in.

Ditto the baggage on Gulfstreams.. The hard case luggage that's popular is horrible to grip to lift that high too.. Lol sigh, at least we're not the ones stacking them. Unloading them can be just as bad, I had a pilot drop without notice a bag on my head from up above.. Haha

In an odd sense, I like fueling beechjets. I've spilled out of the trunk many times and I still enjoy being up there. Turbo commanders are okay as long as you have a coin, which I usually dont. The center tank is hard to squeeze a ladder next to the prop though. and no helicopter is as bad as the Eurocopter IMO, that gooseneck fuel port is so unpredictable even when you fuel slow!

There's a few sketchy planes for GPUs, but never encountered a Mu-2. Is it close to the engine? I recall the Piaggio being a dumb GPU connection just behind the prop.

I'm surprised the hondajet doesn't simply have pressure fueling!
 
Same thing with MU-2s especially when that guy who absolutely has to do a GPU start shows up and you fear for your life when it's time to pull the plug.

Why's that? At least on the long bodies the plug is behind the cabin door at least 10 feet from the prop. There shouldn't be any prop wash either since they're still on the locks.

Garretts are a lot happier on external power and if you were dropping $4-6k every year or two on batteries you'd be asking for a GPU when able too :)
 
Why's that? At least on the long bodies the plug is behind the cabin door at least 10 feet from the prop. There shouldn't be any prop wash either since they're still on the locks.

Garretts are a lot happier on external power and if you were dropping $4-6k every year or two on batteries you'd be asking for a GPU when able too :)
Yeah, I know battery starts on engines like that are really hard on the batteries. Why are the engines happier starting up on ground power?
I've only done the short body before. It's just not super comfortable being that close. Having to do GPU starts on merlins is way worse since the plug is actually in front of the engine... whose bright idea was that?!

recall the Piaggio being a dumb GPU connection just behind the prop.

I'm surprised the hondajet doesn't simply have pressure fueling!
The cabin on it is decent room-wise but the fit and finish isn't that great, compared to the Cessna CJ we have. It's also been repainted 3 times and had a windshield replacement from defects. The range with full payload is pretty weak too. I guess it just got RSVM approved so that should improve it. The owners aren't super happy with it.

We had a Piaggio land the other day and was pretty disappointed that they went to the FBO next door, really wanted to see it up close and personal. It sounded like a speedboat when it took off.
 
Yeah, I know battery starts on engines like that are really hard on the batteries. Why are the engines happier starting up on ground power?
A good GPU puts out a pretty steady 26-28 volts and 900+ amps. The batteries are at best 24 volts and usually less so the risk of a hot start is higher and the rotation time is longer which equals more wear and tear on the engine while it cranks that 8 foot prop up to speed. You could do a series start but that's really hard on the starter/gen. The mits isn't approved for cross gen starts since they only have 200 amp generators. Stupid imo. Faster and cooler starts mean longer engine life and cheaper hot sections.

A GPU also means I get to power up the avionics before engine start equalling less time on the ramp blasting ear drums making happier people all around.
 
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A good GPU puts out a pretty steady 26-28 volts and 900+ amps. The batteries are at best 24 volts and usually less so the risk of a hot start is higher and the rotation time is longer which equals more wear and tear on the engine while it cranks that 8 foot prop up to speed. You could do a series start but that's really hard on the starter/gen. The mits isn't approved for cross gen starts since they only have 200 amp generators. Stupid imo. Faster and cooler starts mean longer engine life and cheaper hot sections.

A GPU also means I get to power up the avionics before engine start equalling less time on the ramp blasting ear drums making happier people all around.

Agree with you here. That's why it bugs me that every FBO ive worked at only has at most only 2 GPUs which makes it impossible on a busy morning to be of service to everyone.
 
Agree with you here. That's why it bugs me that every FBO ive worked at only has at most only 2 GPUs which makes it impossible on a busy morning to be of service to everyone.
Got 4 where I work but i've never had more than two going at once, we just seem to get more airplane with APUs. We've got 2 on the main ramp and 2 on the west ramp plus an airstart. 3 of them are diesel and 1 is gas powered. The gas one is an ancient Hobart but we still end up choosing it first. It's got a hemi v8 and sounds like a hot rod.
 
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