Silvaire wasn’t this version the Cardinal adaptation, with smaller engines?
Yes, cantilever wings and 4 cylinder engines. It was intended as a Twin Comanche competitor. Apparently there were issues of some sort that resulted from using relatively flexible cantilever wings and the twin boom architecture in combination.
The Duke is very very nice, and there is a turbine conversion which is probably my dream GA plane if money was growing on trees – definitely not within OP budget, that one ☺
To dispel the general horror and doom myth in regards to operating costs for “all twins”, here’s my just finished 2015 annual. Notice the total cost at the bottom.
Adam, yes that is a typical annual cost – but maintaining to high spec requires funding reserves and preventive maintenance.
When you sell your Aerostar you should be able to give us an accurate fully loaded hourly cost, and despatch availability from first purchase to disposal.
Adam, are all your annuals that cheap? It strikes me as a pretty cheap annual. Didn’t you have huge restoration costs when you bought it?
Robert, that would not make much economic sense. I overhauled two engines at great cost, so the cost per hour is astronomical. My loss is someone else’s gain and that’s what you pay for changing planes often in these aviation climates, where engine times carry close to zero resale value. The ownership costs would have to be looked at over a much longer perspective, ideally over one full engine lifetime. The new owner has 1700hrs to do so.
The only way to make economic sense of it all is knowing that you get a similar killer deal on the next plane you buy in this market. And I certainly think I did on my new one. 
JasonC – the first one was $7K. The second one was baked into the engine overhauls, so it’s hard to tell. This is an Aerostar specific shop as well which helps, so they know how to approach maintenance for the type and cut fat. Would probably have been higher at a normal maintenance shop with less experience on the type.
Adam – Thanks for sharing that Annual Invoice.
It is VERY REFRESHING to see such a specialized and highly reputable shop charging such modest prices.
An annual is an inspection and an oil change. Even in a complex twin the annual itself should only be around $5-6k. While I appreciate the romantic attachment to these great feats of engineering, I humbly suggest a longer period of ownership might provide a more scientific assessment of the total cost of keeping a turbo charged, IFR, FD/Autopilot, pressurised, de iced and weather radar vintage twin operating to a high level of specification.
Have worked with and/or owned piston twins coming up on forty years, and over time you appreciate the simplest twins most of all. Safety statistics also give comfort on simple fixed gear singles.
RobertL18C wrote:
I humbly suggest a longer period of ownership might provide a more scientific assessment of the total cost of keeping a turbo charged, IFR, FD/Autopilot, pressurised, de iced and weather radar vintage twin operating to a high level of specification.
+ 1
RobertL18C wrote:
I humbly suggest a longer period of ownership might provide a more scientific assessment of the total cost
From my years of twin ownership, I concur. In addition, and also from a scientific perspective, I might humbly suggest that the great thing about extrapolating from a single datapoint is that you can end up anywhere you choose!
