Page 8 - Twin & Turbine May 2017

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Jet Journal
Legacy vs. Late Model Which option makes sense for you?
by Dianne White
It’s time: you’re ready for your first jet. After flying around in the lower flight levels, you are prepared to attain your first type rating, see the world from FL410 and find out what it’s like to eat time zones for lunch. But where to start?
After clicking on “jets for sale” in Controller, you’re dazzled by the wide range of options. Early model Citation II’s, boasting more than 1,300 nm range, up to seven seats in the cabin and nearly 350 kts cruise speed can be bought for under $1 million. What a bargain for so much capability!
A CitationJet, with its ubiquitous 525 type rating, has better operating economics, excellent performance, and nice ramp presence. They start in the $1 million range and up.
Scroll on and you can find a variety of Citation Mustangs for sale. Featuring Garmin G1000, sexy looks but fewer seats than the 525, the least expensive Mustang models are priced in the mid-$1 million range.
Which represents the best value, fits your budget and will satisfy your mission? Do you go for less acquisition capital but trade-off higher operating expenses or vice versa? How does that equation fit into your budget and tax planning? What will be the residual value value of your investment? Suddenly this project just got a bit more complicated. To provide some insight into the discussion of “legacy” versus “late model,” Twin & Turbine talked to a leading industry expert and delved into the numbers as found in Aircraft Cost Calculator.
Although there are other excellent light jet options available, including the Phenom 100, that are worthy of consideration, for simplicity sake, this discussion
PHOTO BY JESSICA AMBATS
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