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prior to purchasing the twin, he was the frequent recipient of advice from pilots with experience on the model.
“Before buying the plane, I heard nothing but things like, ‘The 421 is so difficult to fly,” or, ‘You have to be so careful and baby the engines’ – which I did with my twin-turbo Columbia anyway. So that wasn’t hard. But I will say that when we flew to Michigan, where I bought it, I hadn’t seen it in person until the day I picked it up. When I crawled into the cockpit for the first time, I was definitely intimidated. It was much bigger, with much more going on than my previous plane. I was a little psyched out. By the time I got home, though, I was completely comfortable in it.”
At the time of Pasmore’s trek back to Arizona, he had 25 hours of logged multi-engine time. Since his purchase in September of 2021, he has flown the white and red-striped bird to various destinations, mainly in the western United States.
“Typically, I burn right at 42 gallons an hour. It’s anywhere between 40 and 42. If I run it at 21 gallons per side, it runs a little cooler, so I often run it at that. I fly around 16,000 to 20,000 feet – in that range. For true speed, I see anywhere from 210 to 220 knots.”
“It’s probably low for many peo- ple, but I would like to fly around a hundred hours a year, which is a lot for me. To be honest, I haven’t flown it as much as I thought I would. The reason is probably the same as what everybody else is dealing with. The high cost of fuel has put me on the ground more than I’ve wanted to be in my first year flying the 421. But I try to at least take it up once a week. Even if it’s just to Sedona to circle the red rocks and come home just to stay comfortable in it. Aside from the Ozarks, I fly to California often, over to Newport Beach and places like that. Also, Las Vegas, Rocky Point, Palm Springs, and around other parts of Arizona.”
“To this day, people say to me, ‘Oh, jets are so much easier to fly.’ But I think the Cessna 421 is a fairly easy plane to fly. It flies beautifully, is very smooth, fairly quiet for the passengers, and is a lot of fun. It’s amazing that these planes can be so old, yet with a few improvements, can still be safe and fun all these years later. And with the 262 gallons on board, I can get to any destination I need within reason.”
Even so, a goal of Pasmore’s is to continue ascending into more capable aircraft models.
“I do want to get into a single-pilot jet at some point. So, I really hope prices go down, both with planes and fuel. Everything is so crazy right now. I am thinking maybe an older Citation 1/SP or a Citation II. Maybe even a Citation Mustang. In fact, I’m already thinking maybe within the year to do something like that. But a jet is probably out of reach if insurance and fuel prices don’t come down. That’s my goal, though, to get a little higher, faster and further.”
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February 2023 / TWIN & TURBINE • 29