Originally Posted by GauleyPilot

I flew a 421 C, a 1980 model with the trailing link landing gear.

HITS:
Passengers: Passengers loved it. The props turned at a quiet 1800 RPM in cruise. Combined with the pressurized cabin, it was very quiet. Cessna's "wide oval cabin" design made for a lot of room in the club seating.
The long nose baggage area was spacious.

Pilots: The 421 is a great "fingertip" airplane that is a joy to hand fly. I did part 135 checkrides in the airplane, and manuvers such as steep turns were a snap. The trailing link gear is great. The big rudder is great in a crosswind. The cockpit is wide and comfortable, the panel well laid out. The airplane I flew even had factory lumbar supports in the seats. Good instrument airplane.

Performance: The 421 is pretty quick. TAS ranged from 200 kts at 10,000 to 220 in the high teens. I planned a fuel burn of 50 GPH using 75 degrees rich of peak.

CONCERNS:

Payload: The 421 can be CG sensitive. I sometimes carried a 50 pound bag of sand in the nose if I was flying single pilot with two people in the back and no baggage. While the 421 has 6 seats in the back, many people have removed the most rear forward facing one. Even if you load that many people in the airplane and keep it in CG, you are not going far. It also gets crowded back there. I think the 4 seat club filled with adults is enough. Passengers may try to fill up the cabin, but you cant let them most of the time. A lot of 421s have gained weight since new also. The book's performance numbers start at 5600lbs gross. My airplane weighed 5400 empty.

Maintenance: I once saw a tv show about a zoo, where the comment was made that the Golden Eagle cost more to keep than any other bird they had. I laughed at the the well suited name Cessna had given the 421. The airplane does cost a lot to maintain.

Don't skip any maintenance. It is pay now or pay later--pay a lot later. The airplane is known for the engines.


Operating: Take care of those engines. We kept them warm (no shock cool), and had relatively good luck. We took a set of GTISOs to TBO and only replaced two cylinders along the way. Plan a descent into the trip. On a 200NM trip (one hour), I seldom went above 10000 MSL here in the east.
While the 421 has 375 hp per side. It is not a rocket ship on one engine at all. Always keep that in mind if you need climb performance out of an airport.

I never had to go to sim training for the 421, but a lot of people are required to. SimCom in Orlando has a 421 program that I hear is good. I also heard that Flight Safety Cessna in Wichita has a good 400 series school.

The airplane flys great, and makes a good impression to passengers. It is not a load hauling beast, and OEI performance is critical. It can be a very expensive airplane to maintain.