Turbines are not more difficult to maintain. In fact the maintenance is much
lower on a turbine (on a per-hour basis). The cost of the overhaul is quite
different though! However, the TBO is much better for a turbine. Overhaul on
my turbine is about US$235,000 but I get 3000 hours out of it. It's quite a
bit more expensive than other turbines, but you still are in the US$100,000
zone for an overhaul of a 600hp+ engine.

How much would a 600hp piston engine cost to overhaul?

"John Clear" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Byron J. Covey wrote:
Just in case that I am right:
I know that a turboprop airplane can easily cost twice as much as a
piston plane of the same size. But this fact could only explain a
relative rareness of turboprop airplanes among aerobatic planes. What
it cannot explain is their (next to?) absence, since experience shows
that if there is a will there is a way, and some or another team of
people should always be able to adquire one of these planes.


Just a SWAG, but I would think that the Turbo Raven cost about 6 times
what
a good Edge 540 would cost. Sponsorship before construction would be
important.

Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, and owner of many big boy toys, is
also a fan of aviation. The story goes that he was talking with
Wayne Handley and Sean Tucker after some airshow, and they hatched
the idea of the Turbo Raven. Cost isn't much of an issue for Larry
Ellison, since he is way up there on the various 'richest people'
lists.

Another post mentioned the difference between aerobatics and
competition aerobatics. The T-6A and various other trainers are
aerobatic turboprops, but they don't have to worry about staying
in the competition aerobatic box, which is quite tiny. The cost of
a turboprop, and the size of the box are probably the main reasons
they aren't used on competition planes. The maintenance requirements
on the turboprop would probably also be an issue.

The Turbo Raven was just a show plane, in the same category as the
jet powered Waco. Fun to watch, but totally ridiculous.

John
--
John Clear - http://www.panix.com/~jac