If you can afford to take the plunge, a lot of used light twins are available in various states of condition. If you have a big job to do, one requiring extra cabin space and performance, a light twin may still be the answer. And if you want the ultimate in redundancy, a second engine […]
When it comes to getting the most bang for the buck in terms of operational and ownership costs, the logic meter swings toward a high-performance single-engine airplane, so long as you’re only carrying a couple or a small family. The realities of living during the recessionary economic cycles we saw in the latter decades of […]
The most prima facie obvious justification for having two engines is to negate the single’s inherent hazard of failure in its one and only powerplant. The theory being, the twin will be able to successfully continue flight on a single engine so that it can wind up on an airport instead of in a field. […]
For the majority of the light twin models, I have always divided them into one of two categories: those designed from the outset to be twin-engine airplanes and those developed from single-engine predecessors. It follows that those in the first classification will have somewhat better cockpit layouts and (if properly designed) more big-plane handling. Those […]
As a generalization, “light twins” are more or less defined by their 6,000-pound maximum takeoff weight. Different certification standards apply if the airplane weighs more than 6,000 pounds or has a landing-configuration stall speed in excess of 61 knots. In that case, it must produce a single-engine climb rate at 5,000 feet MSL equivalent to […]
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