Dan,
Oops...sorry I didnt know it was a king air..

And yeah Cessna is going thru some changes.....

Ive been there 15 years this may, Im the lead man in dept 151 electrical/avionics tooling...I test all electrical and avionics wire bundles, J-boxes, cb panels, pc boards, etc. for all models except single engine since its built in Indy.

there are only four operators total that cover all model lines..525, 525a, 525b, 550, 560, 560xl, 680, 750.

 

Congrats everyone. It's good to see the familiar names together again.

 

Mitch,
I machine the front and rear engine mounts for the Citation 10.
There are 4 total mounts on each engine ....2 large for the front and 2 small for the rear. The 4 munts on each engine total about $25,000.

 

Have you had the chance to go up in the Citation 10 Shawn? The most extreme Cessa I've been in was a Silver Eagle Centurion, nicely fitted with sheepskin and a 450 horse turbine.

Has anyone joined Cessna's flight club?

 

Ive always wanted to learn how to fly the real ones, I build and fly Radio control planes and have an excellent working knowledge of aircraft.

Since I work for Cessna they offer several incentives that brings the cost down, but its still $3k+ maybe one of these days Ill give it a shot.

Several years ago I took the ground school and passed the FAA, and even took a couple of lessons, but our second child was born so I had to let it go.

I havent had the chance to fly in a 10, but Ive heard it will definetly break the sound barrier....talked to the test pilots that "supposedly" accomplished the feat...on accident of course!
they said the plane had more in it!

I did get to fly in a Citation (model 560) from Wichita to California and back, we had a fuel stop somewhere in Arizona, and the runway wasnt very long, the pilot held the brakes, then spooled the engines up to max, then released the brakes......Zoooooom, off we went!

then on the trip back, we were at very high altitude maybe im wrong on this since it was a long time ago, but I think it was right at 50,00 feet anyways all the interior screws frosted over, then when we descended into Wichita everything started dripping in the cabin like it was raining! it was a fun trip and very fast!!

 

Cool ... Is this turning into a plane talk? Cause I build and fly RC. I have one that was clocked at 130 and another on that does probably 150+! I've flown the real thing a few times when my brother in-law was an instructor but now he flies mail or something like that so he can't take me up

 

Tony...Cool!

Sounds like you have some Quickee racers?

Those are a blast to fly...just point and shoot!

You coming to the WRCC auction tomorrow/Sunday? wish I could go, plenty of deals to be had.

 

No, Can't make the auction. I've been to the Newton auctions a few times. Haven't been as active as I would like in RC. The kids have been racing motocross the past few summers.

The plane is a Diamond Dust. Delta wing. The faster one has a rear exuast Jett Fire .40 on it with a racing sleeve. It's a handful!

 

Dan,
I havent flown in any business jets at all...... allthough I would like to get in a 10. It would get kinda scary knowing that there is parts in that plane that I have machined....hehe
I have only out to Cessna a few times but that was to take a couple of my friends tool boxes there after they got hired. I work at Thayer Aerospace. We do machining and assymblies for Boeing,Cessna,Lockheed,GKN and other aerospace companies.

Dang Mitch. Is there anything that your not into? I never got into RC planes even though I do like the jet fighters they have out now. But I did get into buggies and stadium trucks. I've got a Kyosho turbo inferno 1/8 scale 4wd buggy with a Paris modified OS .21 engine and a Team Associated RC10GT with a OS .12.

 

Shawn,

Well...I got a lot of hobbies, what can I say? BTW before planes (probably 15 yrs ago) I did R/C cars, I raced mainly indoors with a RC10 electric, modified of course running 7 cells, I used to work for Finleys Hobby shop part time, and was able to buy all the cool carbon fiber stuff, and little widgets to make it go fast, the motors I was running were about $75 ea at the time, the car would fly, and for about a year and a half NOBODY could beat me!

I also collect Mark McGwire ball cards, I currently have over 1000 different!

I think is should be MANDATORY that all employees and vendors have to take a ride in whatever plane they work on or supply parts for! It aint like a car when if it breaks down you ca just pull over..lol its gotta be right!!

 

LOL, that's good Mitch. 50K in the Citation? Wow, that is high.

That's cool to know the X will go supersonic. I see the Gulfstream is touting itself as the fastest. The selling point should be more on fuel burn and payload. At those altitudes, a few knots an hour more is almost pointless IMHO.

Before I got my license I looked around at what other people were doing. Some bought Harleys, others a boat, and some do R/C. (This is not a slam on R/C or those who do it, I'm explaining my thought process). In fact one of the guys here does R/C planes and competes with them. I was talking to him and I asked how much he had invested in his equipment. He winced and said over $4K. I have always wanted to do R/C and I knew that I could really drop some coin on it. Like anything else, if you want to do it, you're going to spend some money, golf would be another good example.

I knew then that I needed to get my license. If I bought a Harley, I couldn't take the family anyplace. With a license, I could provide a benefit to my family and that's how I sold it to my wife who agreed with me. Sold my streetbike (but kept the KLR 600) and focused myself on the license. Took me a year, could've gone faster but now I'm glad it went the way it did.

 

Dan, Are you for hire by any chance?

Let me know!
Mark

 

No, I do not have a commercial license .....yet. Although sharing of expenses is allowed. I have flown down to Lawrence though. I landed at Vinland Valley. Picked up a Savage 25-06 at the time.

 

Well the reason I asked is because the co. I work for likes to visit growers and see how they are handling the crops.

They would definitely pay the expenses. Have you ever been to the Lawrence airport?
Mark