Would you be willing to share the prices, or rather they remain secret? I pay £500 (wet) per hour for a T303. A comparable Seneca I goes for £350 (wet) at the same airfield. The Crusader is better equipped and in better cosmetic shape.
Approximately 1300 CHF vs 450 CHF. I should add about 50 CHF to the Seneca for overhaul though, it’s not included and if I decide to stay with it 10 years, I will need it. That is by the way when flying 40 hours per year with the T303 vs 20 hours with the Seneca. If I were to fly 20 hours with the T303, it would probably be at least 200 on top because of fix costs.
Had a quick look at the Seneca I in question today on the way out and it is a nice example, as nice as I ever saw one, certainly much better than the one I used to fly. (That one had Rajay’s though).
Just to give an idea: Engines, props are very recently overhauled to full TBO capability. It’s got quite good avionics too, a Sandel HSI, WAAS GNS, recent AP and weather radar, as well as even radio altitude and, from what I see, it had been taken care of lovingly. From the equipment, it should be LPV capable. And it is maintained by one of the best maintenance organisations I know in this country.
I honestly have to say for the conditions Vladimir shows here, it’s hard to beat if you want to fly a twin. And even a Seneca I will outdo any SEP with one engine out, provided it happens either high enough or over terrain lower than 5000 ft.
What I still recommend is that Vladimir should absolutely go fly with it. He is used to the Seneca II and it will be worth looking at the performance difference of the I. But if he is happy with it, my recommendation under his mission profile would be to go for it.
