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Owner’s
Corner
A section dedicated to the writings and ownership stories of T&T readers.
Mustang to Mustang
by Bryan Currier, Owner-Pilot
G1000). Too poor for a Pilatus, I started losing sleep looking at “Controller” and pouring over a spreadsheet comparing aircraft.
A wise friend then told me, “For the money you’re spending on a TBM or a King Air, you can fly a light jet.” I seriously laughed at him. “Dude, did you miss the part about being too poor for the Pilatus? Now you’re talking about a jet? Get real.” He gently encouraged me to add two columns to my spreadsheet – one for a Citation Mustang and another for the Phenom 100.
I spent the next few weeks entering data from my logbook, recreating flights in ForeFlight and modeling them for each aircraft. He was right. The total cost of ownership on the four were very close. I took the family to look at a TBM and then a Mustang. The difference in cabin comfort is huge. Replaced headset jacks with cupholders? Yup, a green light from wifey. No need to look at the turboprops any further. If the jet will do the mission, nothing else will do.
A three-month process working with Mark Rogers and his team at Lone Mountain Aircraft led me to an off-market Mustang, 510-0328. And on November 11, 2017, I stood outside Cessna headquarters in Wichita and took delivery of N328CL. There are a few days in life you’ll always remember: getting married, the birth of kids, first house. This day is up there on the list.
Mission Profiles
From Nashville, my typical mission profile is 500 to 1,000 nm. Ninety percent of the time, it is just me, or me and one to two passengers. A special
In 2001, I had a first officer offer letter in hand and engaged to the most beautiful girl in the world. We
were set to get married in September, and I’d start my new job as an F.O. in November.
Of course, on September 11, the whole world changed – especially aviation. I found myself four days away from being married, with no clue what the aviation career track would be for me. I decided to abandon a professional f lying career and focus on building my computer consulting company and integrating aviation into my business. The company grew, my travel requirements grew, and general aviation met the need wonderfully.
Our first “company plane” was a Grumman AA1 Yankee. I flew to appointments all over Michigan. Then we started to add people and
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clients in Chicago, Wisconsin and Indianapolis, so we upgraded to a Rockwell Commander 112. Over the next 15 years, we moved to a Rockwell 114, a Mooney 231, Cirrus SR20, Cirrus SR22, Saratoga, Bonanza, Malibu Mirage, and the Meridian. Each one was special, and each purchase was exciting. The first time I started the PT6 on that Meridian, I was in heaven. But with four growing kids and an ever-growing mission profile, we had reached the limits of the Meridian within 18 months.
Cost of Ownership
My first thought when it came time for another upgrade – TBM 850. It fit every profile with room to spare. Additional option – older King Air. A second engine may be nice, and you can fill them full of bricks and they fly (although I would really miss the