Page 12 - June24

One of Daniel Herr’s first upgrades after purchasing FL-136 in 2017 was to Garmin G1000 NXi avionics optimized by Stevens Aviation. (Credit: MeLinda Schnyder)
of it is tedious administrative work, but I do it because I love my clients and I like the overall package.”
Of the 100 to 150 hours he flies the King Air each year, Herr said fewer than 15% are business hours. “But the business impact of those hours is outsized. Being an airplane owner and pilot provides many soft benefits, from credibility in the industry to insider knowledge. I was chatting with the line guys at Telluride one day. They mentioned which operators pay attention to the 10-knot tail wind limit and which don’t. I use that intelligence when advising my clients on which fractional programs to use and which to avoid,” he said. Herr’s typical business trips are to Kansas City to meet with appraisers, to NBAA seminars, to OEMs to look at new airplane models headed into the fractional fleets and to fractional programs themselves. “When meeting with companies based at an airport, it is invaluable to show up by airplane.”
A complicated upgrade from the Cessna 421C
The upgrade itch began in 2016, 10 years into Herr’s ownership of the Cessna 421C. His two children were 10 and eight years old, and the expanding radius of family trips called for more performance. “I wanted turbine reliability, increased engine-out performance and the ability to fly higher and farther,” he said. The upgrade dream switched into high gear when Herr received an unsolicited offer, relayed by his maintenance shop, to
10 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
purchase his Cessna 421C. The offer was too high to pass up, so he sold it despite not having a replacement. A dry lease of a Pilatus PC-12 NG based at Herr’s home airport filled the gap during his airplane search.
Initially, King Airs were not on Herr’s list of prospects. One of his first experiences flying the famous line of turboprops was as a charter pilot in the mid-1990s. He regularly transported a family from New Jersey to Florida in the charter company’s B200. With full fuel and two pilots (per charter policy), there was just 400 pounds of useful load left. Herr perceived the B200 as a wonderful airplane for 500-mile corporate legs, but not well suited for long legs hauling his family and luggage.
While he came to love the build quality and reliability of the Pilatus during the dry lease period, the PC-12 did not make Herr’s short list. With his low utilization, the PC-12’s savings in fuel did not come close to offsetting the high capital cost. In addition, Herr and his wife disliked how the Pilatus rides in turbulence. “With its engine mass located inline with the fuselage, the Pilatus has a low rolling moment of inertia.”
In the lower capital cost category, Herr considered the Cessna 441, Twin Commander 1000, Fairchild Merlin IIIC and Fairchild Merlin 300 – making multiple offers on the latter two but never landing a deal.
“During the depths of my Merlin funk, I had a fortuitous encounter with a corporate pilot who had flown both Merlins IIICs and another SFAR 41 aircraft, King Air 300s. He told me to investigate King Air 300s.
JUNE 2024