I’m trying to use my aircraft (TB20) for business trips. Mostly within the UK, typically 100-300nm flights. With prop de-ice my despatch rate is maybe 70% but, to become really useful for business I reckon it should be more like 90%. Looking back at comments made on other threads, it looks like only Aeroplus and JasonC were over 90%. However, both have turbo engines good to FL250 and certified FIKI. (OK, so Jason now better still!)
So the question is, would the (fairly significant €40-50k) cost of adding the full TKS system to my TB20 be money well spent? Being N reg, it wouldn’t be certified FIKI, but is it likely to increase the effective despatch rate to around the 90% mark? (I’m not one of those who just takes off and hopes for the best – I need to be confident that the situation is under reasonable control!) I appreciate the weight penalty but as there are normally only 1 or 2 of us in the plane it would not usually be a constraint.
Nothing apart from adding TKS comes to mind for the TB20, so if that approach wouldn’t work, what other options are there? TB21 with TKS (still not certified FIKI, but good to FL250)? Cirrus SR22T? Any other possibilities to think about? (Meridian or JetProp not in the budget!!)
In my view it has nothing to do with speed it is all about:
It sounds like the TB20 can get high enough to avoid most weather - FL200 is essentially fine. But obviously it is a lot of money to add deicing. But it would certainly improve dispatch rates and peace of mind while flying.
In order to have a good dispatch rate you need:
IFR rating
IFR equiped homebase (ILS if possible)
A lot of range and speed to cope with winds and to reach alternates
De-ice
Turbo or Turbine
Radar and or datalink weather
Good maintenance to reduce downtime
If you have passengers you need a pressurized cabin. If you fly on your own you can maybe use oxygen.
I did the calculations for the upgrade of a Beech F33A and in my opinion if you already have a turbo or TKS adding the other one might be a good idea. But if you are missing both you are easily talking about upgrades of 100.000 Euro und you will be better of buying an airplane that alread has these features.
The cheapest real all weather plane is probably a pressurized C210.
Not the standard P210. If you look for a Silver Eagle you will be in business.
TKS is very expensive solution. It is not only installation cost, if you have a full TKS de-ice you use a lot of fluid. The drum is around 1200 quid and you need a place to store it.
Nothing apart from adding TKS comes to mind for the TB20, so if that approach wouldn’t work, what other options are there? TB21 with TKS (still not certified FIKI, but good to FL250)? Cirrus SR22T? Any other possibilities to think about? (Meridian or JetProp not in the budget!!)
It depends on what stops you going.
If it is icing conditions then TKS is the way to go.
But if it is heavy frontal weather than TKS will just enable you to sit in the muck, getting chucked around, while using up a lot of the fluid.
A TB21 with TKS (or some other de-iced turbocharged plane with a ~FL250 ceiling) is therefore a good increment.
If you can avoid bad fronts then TKS alone will do fine.
A Cirrus is no more capable if comparing like for like equipment. In fact some would say less capable due to not being able to carry ice as well as the older types. That's unless your Plan B is to pull the chute 
One rarely finds "organised IMC" above FL150, except with warm fronts which often go to FL200-250. A TB20 takes about half an hour to get to FL160 (standard constant EGT climb). A TB21 should do it in about 15-20 mins, depending on your attitude to CHT management.
DA42. Not for the engines as such but you do have dual electrical power sources, G1000, decent fuel flow and speed, TKS and oxygen if you find the right specimen.
It doesn't sound like a good investment to add expensive gear to an oldish aircraft, unless you are prepared to keep it for long, accept low ROI at sale, or the added despatch rate increases revenue by such an amount that the cost is quickly absorbed.
So, if you increase from 70% to 90%, how much more business will that bring you?
You never get upgrade cost back.
You will get back some of it if it is desirable stuff. For example if you spend 30k on full TKS then the plane might sell for 15k more. Items like TCAS likewise; I guess my 12k TAS605 will add 5k to the resale price.
Avionics generally are money down the drain when you sell.
The good thing about a TB20 is that there is no obvious mission capability upgrade (in terms of buying another plane) unless you are going to spend serious money. If you have a C172 then you have several obvious upgrade steps ahead, but not with a TB20.
From a TB20 you have to look at a turboprop, or possibly a piston PA46, but any of these will lose you the "local flight" capability, because you aren't going to bother doing local flights at what they will cost you.
I suspect TJ will keep his TB for quite a while so full TKS is a good move for dealing with icing conditions. And yes you need a facility for storing a drum of the stuff in the hangar, on a trolley, with a pump of some sort. TKS is an extremely effective anti-ice system, with some TB owners in Sweden reporting that they can fly in practically all icing conditions and it deals with them all.
On an N-reg it is not FIKI (no 2nd alternator, etc) but "FIKI" has IMHO no legal meaning in Europe anyway because our weather services don't usefully map onto whatever the FAA had in mind in terms of preflight weather appraisal.
Since I fly a FIKI (Flight-into-known-icing) approved Cirrus SR22 Turbo, the dispatch rate (last winter e.g.) is almost fully 100%. The FIKI system lets me depart when I otherwise could not. It cannot handle severe icing and you can still of course not fly through thunderstorms, but the FIKI system together with the Garmin Perspective, great autopilot system, synthetic vision, infrared EVS camera and the 315 HP turbo combined allows me to fly about every trip planned.
How do you find the IR camera?
From the promotional photos I have seen, it appears to do both IR (thermal imaging) and visible light amplification (as in the 3rd gen NV goggles) and it seems to superimpose the two images.
It therefore ought to offer some visibility through fog.
You never get upgrade cost back.
No but you are more likely to sell a more capable plane.
From a TB20 you have to look at a turboprop, or possibly a piston PA46, but any of these will lose you the "local flight" capability, because you aren't going to bother doing local flights at what they will cost you.
Peter, I think that is just not true. Fair enough with the TP but a piston PA-46 is fine for local flights.
