A planespotter might point out that there are a couple of Mooney M22 pressurized Mustangs still operational on the N reg, but keeping them flying must be a Herculean labour of love.
Some of the legacy SEP pressurised types might make operating a nice Cessna 340 a walk in the park!
RobertL18C wrote:
A planespotter might point out that there are a couple of Mooney M22 pressurized Mustangs still operational on the N reg, but keeping them flying must be a Herculean labour of love.
Few years ago this one was visiting between Paris and Fairoaks, I must admit one has to be a real rich lover to afford it’s company 
I’m surprised @Mooneydriver has not come out with hearts-in-eyes smileys 
The M22 was a nice idea, but a failure as a commercial project, not unlike the 400, but at least the latter has a large cabin and you can still talk to Extra and Continental about it!
Maybe we should put it on the list, if only so I do not have to feel bad for saying the 400 ranks worst in the “drop-at-shop-pay-and-pick-up” pressurized SEP ranking!
So we have
Platinum VACANT (go buy a car)
Gold M350/PA46
Silver P210
Bronze EA400
Runner-up M22
…any other contenders?
@Antonio I do not know if the E400 would fall under ELA2, but willing to dig, can you point me to the regulation?
The FAA rule I believe is crucial is the provision for so called “owner produced “ parts.
Any such rule under ELA 1 or 2?
@ denopa – how does your average maintenance budget (excluding engine and prop allowance) compare to my 25 AMU?
I heard that some PA46 issues can get quite expensive?
@Peter – wise man…
And one big thread drift attempt: what if Pipistrel made a pressurized-deiced turbo Panthera ?
For the price of a SR22T?
Since the EA400 has a MTOW lower than 2730 kg you can use all the good stuff from Part-ML. However, it is probably wise to keep it N-reg as long as you can.
I do not think you can do the owner produced parts based on Part-ML.
I’m averaging quite a lot less than that, around 15 AMUs
Your openness much appreciated denopa.
it allow prospective owners to ballpark the real world costs. 15 K is a reasonable budget for such a capable and complex plane as the PA46 and another 10K for the privilege of owning an exotic Extra 400.
Other Extra400 owners reported spending 15 to 20 AMU but were flying less hours.
I do (try to) 150 Hobbs hours per year.
Also, I do not wait for parts to break – rather replace them at the first sign of weakness. My philosophy is that in-flight failures and unscheduled downtime must be minimised.
I also spend money on safety related improvements: a good example is the Inconel exhaust which made up a significant chunk of last years’ total budget. Before that I had additional probes for CDT and IAT installed etc…
I must also disclose that I have not included the (horrendous) cost of buying rare spare parts to make sure they are available whenever needed. 😂 That’s another 50 AMU on a shelf!
PS Just flew back from Sicily to Geneva nonstop FL210, through icing, turbulence, heavy winds. Cabin altitude 7000ft and 200 KTAS…
Preventive maintenance is key, you are completely right; for example I’ve changed my turbos last year at 800h, they were working fine, but you have a non zero chance they’ll start having trouble as you get closer to 1000h. Same thing for alternators and vac pump despite the fact I’ve got two of each. I don’t change them at the same time either because of infant mortality.
Just flew back from Sicily to Geneva nonstop FL210, through icing, turbulence, heavy winds. Cabin altitude 7000ft and 200 KTAS…
a trip report would be great…
denopa wrote:
I’m averaging quite a lot less than that, around 15 AMUs
I’ve only done two annuals but averaged less than that , more like 10, but then I perform a big part of the labour myself under A&P supervision. It would easily be closer to 15 without that. I also hope (wishful thinking?) that future annuals will be cheaper as the aircraft progressively gets closer and closer to our standard
