Twin Comanche's

We have a couple at the flight school. Something specific you're looking for? I could probably talk to the owner/mech and put you in touch.
 
killbilly said:
We have a couple at the flight school. Something specific you're looking for? I could probably talk to the owner/mech and put you in touch.
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Just some gouge on things that a particular to the fleet that you should keep your eye out for. Any deal breaker items that are out there to be wary of? I'm early on in the education phase but it seems to fit into what I'm looking for but the market is pretty damn wide from 50k-500k..
 
I would start with every AD that could be applicable. Make a list of them and figure out what they are, some notes as to what exactly they apply to and then costs on the major ones in case you run into that.
Any logbook worth a crap will more or less already have a list and date of compliance that you can see before you spend a dollar to go look at anything.
 
There is a super active owner group/type club. Have a buddy that worked on them for a long time just a few miles from the factory where they were built.
 
Some things I know off the top of my head (don’t ask why, I spend too much time reading airplane stuff). Landing gear flex cables, stabilator has an AD for cracking IIRC, and landing gear trunnion cracks. Some might have old enough props to have Hartzell hub ADs.
 
Roger Roger said:
Hrm? Had there been a new AD since I got out of the game? None of the Hartzells I ever worked on had the AD.
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No. It's just that hartzell comes out with an AD every time they need some more cash or there's a full moon.
Though to be fair I recently tore down a hartzell and a McCauley hub and the hartzell is far easier to work on.
 
So ... what about twin comanches gets your browser going? There’s better looking and performing twins out there ...
 
Some of them only have brake pedals on the pilot side. If you intend to use one to instruct I’d recommend getting one with brake pedals on both sides or be ready to spend money to install the second set yourself.

Some come with an aftermarket mod, forgot the name of it, but it’s basically a leading edge device that improved low speed flight and I believe lowered the Vmc speed or changed one of the other V speeds in a positive way. Forget what it was exactly but it was a favored mod after some problems with the design were discovered after accidents way back when.
 
Great birds...have over 300 hours in one and counting. The 1000 hr gear AD is one of the ones to look out for. It's expensive if nothing is wrong, more so if you have to start replacing parts. Try to get a pre-buy at a shop familiar with comanches. The type group can help- Delphi Forums Login
Very few recurring AD's; the fuel selectors come to mind. There is one for the heater as well depending on the model. Happy to answer any questions. PM me your info if you want to talk offline.

Cheers
 
Roger Roger said:
Aztruck is great if you want to carry twice as much and burn 3 times as much gas for less speed (somewhat hyperbole)
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(But also pretty much accurate.)

As for the 310s, I think the 310R and later is a superior airplane but they’re a lot more expensive. The older 310s from the late 50s/early 60s are supposedly pretty crappy (though the only ones I’ve seen in person weren’t terribly good examples). Ditto with most Aztecs.

I think the Twin Comanche fills an interesting niche in affordability vs niceness for a piston twin. With the dual IO-320s you pay a performance penalty, but if you can make it work it’s a really nice airplane.
 
Interesting discussion @mikecweb but I have two words for you: Twin Beech

As in Beech 18. I doubt your family would outgrow it, and you are making big enough dough to feed twin Pratt R-985's. Just a thought.
 
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