Turbine Pilot: Keep 'em Flying

Shakedown flight

A newly completed Nextant 400XTi, on a low-altitude flight, plies the sky east of Nextant’s headquarters at the Cuyahoga County Airport.

Where: Ashtabula, Ohio

Photographer: Chris Rose

This month’s article on the Nextant 400XTi shows just how much you can do with an older turbine airplane. All it takes is new engines, some aerodynamic mods, a new cockpit, and there you have it: more utility, better performance, fresh warranties and inspections—and increased resale value.

At some point turboprops and business jets reach the end of their economic lives. One broker said he considered any turbine airplane built before 1980 “junk.” You can buy an airplane of that vintage for a rock-bottom price, but in so doing you’d sooner or later face some daunting issues. Perhaps some major maintenance items have been deferred, or maybe the engines are past midlife and not on a maintenance plan. Or there’s a damage history.

Then there’s the issue of manufacturer support. Or lack of it. Yes, aftermarket suppliers and talented, specialized overhaul shops can keep ’em flying. But time marches on, and as it does, the value of the airplane slowly heads downhill.

Conklin and de Decker said, “The value of a 20- to 30-year-old business jet is likely very close to the cost of its airworthy components. Doing a second or third overhaul on an airplane this old doesn’t make sense when there are newer airplanes on the market with several years’ worth of time remaining on the engines. It can be more effective to park the airplane and use it for spares and buy another of the same aircraft with some time left on the engines than to overhaul the run-out engines.”

There are those who do exemplary work keeping older airplanes alive and kicking. Nextant is one standout. Blackhawk Modifications is a huge player in the engine upgrade business. Sierra Industries holds some 500 STCs for many types of older airplanes. Twin Commander Aircraft LLC has its Grand Renaissance program for making the old better than new. Turbine Aircraft Services is well-known for the good work it does with MU–2s. All is not lost if you want to upgrade your beloved, trusty old steed. Just don’t throw good money after bad.