I realized the other day that I don't think I have ever seen a Piper Seminole in Europe!? I would have thought with two four-bangers that they would be fairly popular as an economical twin for the European market?
And for that matter, what about the Cessna Cardinal? I would have thought that it would make an economical touring airplane for the European market? I think I have only ever seen one Cardinal for sale (in the UK)?
-Jason
And for that matter, what about the Cessna Cardinal?
There's one at my homebase. But since it's mostly in the hangar, you don't have much chance to see it 8-)
The Seminole is rare because it's not very capable and it has the troublesome Lycoming IO-360-A1 engines. It targets the FTO market but there the Seneca is more common. For private purpose, the older Twin Comanche is more economical and still very popular (used market prices!).
The Cardinal is a great bird, too bad it wasn't able to replace the 172. It has more cabin width than the 182 and looks just great. The original version was very much underpowered which might be one reason for its failure in the market.
Yes - there are a fair number of Twin Comanches here in the UK. Good looking planes.
I realized the other day that I don't think I have ever seen a Piper Seminole in Europe!?
The FTO where I instruct has two and the one where Achim got his training from has one. All on the same airfield. And then there are two more that are privately owned. Many years ago, I co-owned one myself... They are quite popular as training aircraft, the only problem is the lack of anti-ice facilities that you really need here for everyday operation.
There is a seminole at my base. But while you can learn to fly on it, and get your ME rating, you cant hire it (presumably an insurance issue!), so its of little use. But I see a few fly in every now and then - in fact I saw one on Saturday taking off from the grass strip, roaring away with everyone looking upwards to the sky.
I think one FTO at Bournemouth EGHH operates some Seminoles.
They are probably the absolute cheapest way to do an ME PPL / CPL / IR, or to revalidate one. They are slow but that's good if you want to pass the test.
The Tecnam 2006 costs a fortune to buy, in comparison.
I'm aware of at least two Seminoles in Croatia, both FTO owned.
Not seen a Navion in Europe. I think there are one or two around.
In gliding, there is exactly one Blanik L33 on the G-register (there were two, but the other ended up in a tree).
Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a Skymaster in Europe although I'm sure there's plenty around.
I'm not into spamcans, but I've always loved the Skymaster. If you could stick 2 x SMA230 diesels and a G1000 in there, I'd pick one up in a second...
