Matt Whiting wrote in
news
BDS wrote:
"Jay Honeck" wrote

Sadly, light twins have nearly become economically unfeasible for
anything but multi-engine training. Between acquisition, fuel, and
maintenance expenses, they've been driven to near extinction.

If you stay current there is the arguable added advantage of the
extra engine, and the duplicate vacuum and electrical systems, and
the big plus of easy loading of heavy items. I brought a snowblower
home from across the country in the back of ours a few years ago -
try fitting one of those in the back of any single - and have
transported lots of equipment over the years. We went to a trade
show a few years back and had so much gear in the back it would
barely all fit into the rental car.

The added safety truly is arguable. I've seen comparisons over the
years that don't show any real advantage for twins. The added safety
provided for an engine failure in cruise is offset by the added risk
of an engine failure during takeoff and initial climb.

Depends on proficiency, mostly.


And the fuselage of most light twins is based on a single so the cargo
space isn't much different other than having baggage storage in the
nose, but you won't fit a snow blower in the nose on most light twins.


The extra engine and duplicate systems have also come in handy. Over
the years we have owned this particular aircraft I have had one
complete engine failure (sheared oil pump shaft) and two vacuum pump
failures. When your engine takes a hike over the mountains of WV
it's nice to have another completely good one still making noise.

Yes, redundant systems are nice, but you can get similar redundancy
(other than the engine itself obviously) on a single.

mmm, not really. Where you gonna put a second generator?


However, it definitely is getting too expensive to keep and operate
since the hauling type trips are getting more and more rare. We need
to find a fast single that is easy to put a 100-lb piece of ungainly
demo equipment into, and easy to get it back out.

Yes, it is probably almost as cheap to operate a single turbine engine
as it is two piston engines.


Depends on the pistons 1

Bertie