Rodolfo Paiz
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Upload & Sell: On
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I first bought a 1977 Seneca II in pretty decent condition, and then started improving it. I love the Seneca, but soon realized that I had made a poor investment since I still had lots of other things I wanted or needed, but my bird already had a cost higher than fair market value. Need/want much better aircraft, cannot afford it yet. Must do something, right?
Right. So I did two things:
First, I bought a pretty horrible imitation of a mockery of a 1987 Seneca III, whose only redeeming features were both STC'd fuel mods (64 additional gallons), clean paperwork and an apparent lack of damage. I'm now partway through a full rebuild: new remans and Hartzell Scimitars, new paint and interior (obviously), Garmin G600, TCAS, radar, LoPresti, Merlyn, the works. It should be a gorgeous airplane, and cost about $280,000 when finished (but I'll have a "new" airplane to my precise tastes rather than a 10-year-old Seneca IV). Performance-wise, I burn about 19 GPH to get 172 KTAS which means 1,400-nm range (8.25 hours) with full NBAA IFR reserves and a 100-mile alternate. And the nice comfortable cabin, of course, with Oregon Aero memory-foam seats.
The second thing I did was to buy a hangar, write myself a business plan, and convert my fledgling fleet into the first aircraft fractional-ownership company in Guatemala. I am almost ready to begin sales, so I cannot yet report on whether the venture will be a success or not. But in the first stage of my dream, I'd like to see "ProCielos" (meaning "Pro Skies") flying two Senecas, two Navajos, and two Adam A700 VLJ's. That way customers have a choice of aircraft for different missions.
And I get to fly all three, but without having to pay for them. We shall see what happens! It is a most enjoyable adventure, and I hope that it ends up being profitable rather than expensive.
My wife, oddly, was the one to veto A/C in the Seneca since she'd rather have the payload for luggage. And as for my next personal airplane, hmm... the rebuilt Seneca III could do the job for a long time, I'm sure. But I also have occasional dreams of a Lancair PropJet... pressurization, Jet-A, and 330 KTAS, even with only four seats and less luggage space. Or a Pilatus PC-12, far in the future, to really get the entire family somewhere! Rest assured, I suffer from no lack of bigger dreams! :-D
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