Cubdriver

AOPA- New Single Engine Mustang

I have been grounded with an injury the last few weeks, but a prototype model of this airplane has made an appearance around Wichita in the last month. It is probably housed at Benton for those who are here, at Jack's personal hangar. It was probably built at Cessna's light experimental shop at Pawnee on the east side. I heard about it maybe 6 months ago but I thought it was an empty rumor since the company is still laying off people. None of my Cessna pals knew about it either.

Sounds like a good idea to me. The airplane would have low R&D costs being a derivative model, it would have simple systems that are easy to learn, it would have an adaptable mission profile including possible light military uses, it would have some usefulness as a transition aircraft from pistons to to jets, and as a single engine airplane it would have excellent safety and short field performance. I would opt for a composite fuselage but if the body is derivative which I think it is, then it probably is based on the Mustang which is aluminum. Cessna has been known to make protos that were later scrapped so this airplane is by no means a sure thing, but it sounds like one of the better plans. Some recent protos that were scrapped were the NGP and the 510 light jet.

Cubdriver

Here's a picture of it from Avweb. Somebody sent them this picture, not sure where it was taken. The registration says it has a 500 shaft hp engine, which would seem to indicate a de-rated PT6-A. Seems a bit underpowered for a 9,000 pound airplane, but maybe it is all they had around at the time.

Ewfflyer

3blade prop threw me off. Would think they need 900hp or better for that weight, tbm850's weigh in at 7394mgtow

Cubdriver

I am more curious about the market strategy this airplane supposedly fits into. Are they trying to beat a competitor out for a niche in the S/E turboprop market like TBM, S/E King Air, Meridian, or maybe the PC-12? Or fill a gap in the Cessna product line as they say, or just make an airplane that will sell during the down economy? Most of the small airplane makers are looking at light turboprops now because of the drop in jet sales.

Ewfflyer

I think the whole "efficiency" aspect is appealing. People are becoming more and more comfortable with single-engine aircraft, and add in the efficiency, simplicity, and initial costs compared to any twin, there is a market.

Right now, I feel the Meridian market is/has been dead for the last year+, but the TBM's are doing well. I'm not sure how the PC12's are holding up. It seems if you have $1mil or less, those planes are selling for us, or if you have $3mil+ those are selling well. The $1-2mil market(including used TBM's) has been silent.

mshunter

The reason for the Piper product not selling is because the airplane has a poor useful load. If you fill it with people, it isn't going very far. Or if you want to go far, you can't take much. And although the typical mission of someone who purchases an airplane like that usually doesn't involve a full airplane for long trips, I still think it's a deterrent in sales.

Cubdriver

I would think if the Meridian is used primarily as a personal airplane, that is the reason it is not selling well. Financing is hard to get right now unless you could just about loan them the money yourself, especially for high-end personal aircraft like the Meridian. This is why Cessna is not selling many jets- the loan pool dried up. In the case of commercial aircraft in this category, they are more appealing because the operating expenses are usually lower than similar sized jets, and for cost-conscious charter and corporate buyers they simply look better than jets right now.

Ewfflyer

Cubdriver has it hit on the head exactly. Meridians do have a 500+lbs useful with full fuel. It is more of a owner/pilot than business flown by professionals, but does get a lot of mixed use. Right now though, that market is soft for a multitude of reasons. People that can afford the TBM's, haven't been "hurt" as much so to speak by comparison

There are always trade-off's, but if you find the right person with the right mission profile, this plane will pay off in it's efficiency. Most people want this, that, and the other, but they never use it, and just pay extra for those options. Someone wise will get what fits 90-95% of their mission profiles, and make the occasional sacrifice(like a fuel stop) for the once or twice a year trip that would require that, and you'd save $1mil over the next priced airframe(new of course)

The irony of this whole thing, is I just found out 15 minutes ago we sold one, and we do have a current meridian owner looking to upgrade to a newer one also. So goes to show you things can turn quickly.