Scooter74

I was looking to get information on costs, inspections, performance etc for the Westwind I and II.

Any opinions would be appreciated as would any insight on the difficulty of optaining the type rating.

TIA

-S

BoilerUP

Don't know much about them other than 1. they are ugly, 2. they have range far beyond the comfort of the cabin, and 3. you can get a IA-JET type rating at Simcom.

sabreflyr

Been a long time but I remember we did several 4.5 hr legs and even 5 hrs a couple times. Never had any complaints from the passengers. Cruise speed was M74, typically flew FL350 and stepped up as we burnt off fuel.

Inspections were (and I think this has changed) 200 hour intervals A,B,C types. I think the C now has a calendar limit and there were some X-rays also but I don't recall the intervals for them.

It's going to leak fuel and you just learn to budget for it at every inspection. The wings take a beating from that stiff gear and the leaks are result of this.

The first one I flew was a 6000hr + airframe that I put into an 800 hr C check on my second day of employment, spent $150,000 on it and we flew it the next 1000 hours with little to no problems, sold it and I still see it every now and then.
We did all our maintenance at Trimec in FTW, don't know if they're still in business or not, but all they worked at the time were 1124's.

If it still has an NCS31 I would budget from the start to replace that pos boat anchor with a pair of Garmins.

Fly's like a loaded Mac truck and most have a forward cg especially so if the tail weight has been removed. We always left 100lbs of ballast in the aft storage area and it flew decent.
The enclosed lav was nice, but on a long trip with beer and wine involved expect the toilet to be almost overflowing.

I did my type a Simuflite who has since sold the sim to Simcom. I don't remember it being any different than any other type I have done.

NowCorporate

I flew I's and II's....

What was once 2-3 million is now probably BEST OFFER.

They leak fuel, fuel migrates, and never trust the gauges. I have had to dump fuel from the tips on 2 different II's. We had all our work done at Duncan Battle Creek and they were good. The plane never lost trips, they were just old and always in need of MX...this was approx 10 years ago. Do some research on the oxygen fires streaming across the cockpit - that one always got my attention, lol.

Its simple to fly, is a runway hog, but has a lot of distance for the $$$. This is the reason people buy them, and also never had a pax complain. The cabin is spacious compared to a similar priced ratty older lear or citation. Spacious being relative here, of course.

Its very slow. I recall I's being about .74 airplane and IIs .79 at very best?

Type Rating difficulty? - not sure what you mean here but I have gone through 7 of them and have never found a single one to be difficult - not even a challenge really. Of course all these courses are designed to the lowest denominator, overcharge you, and drag out what could take a week into 2-4 weeks depending on the airplane. FSI Westwind type (if still offered?) was a 2 week deal if I recall...You may even get an instructor named Dick Washer (no kidding)

And I agree w Boiler - they are ugly! - a trait that was carried right over to the Astra and the Galaxy (er, G200)

Good Luck in your choice.

topprospect16

I want this type now just so I can meet him

bcrosier

I only flew a II for about a year, but I'll second pretty much everything that has already been said here. It's a lot of airplane (range and baggage space wise) for the money, is a runway hog and flies like a truck.

I did my type at FSI in Wilmington DE, that was back around 1996 give or take. No complaints about the training - a typical FSI program, nice level C or D sim.

Climbto450

Everything hea sounds right on the money. If you can find a plane that still has the tail tank. The airplane gets better range and flys better with the further aft CG. The westwind II with tail tank should make it from TEB to VNY or SBA - PHOG in the summer. I emphasize the should. For the price nothing will beat it. It should be less the 1.8 for a nice Westwind II and less then 1.2 for a I. It is a runway hog but it makes up for it in range 4500 ft at sea level or better to keep you safe.

Good Luck

Scooter74

Thanks for all the replies, please keep it coming.

Average hourly cost?

Keith Stone

Dick did my Astra type at FSI (you'll NEVER forget THAT name).
Good guy, very knowlegable and easy to work with. He was a joy to work with.
According to him, he was one of the first guys to get the 1124 type with the FAA guys in Israel, back in the day (according to him).

TwinTurboPilot

Spot on info, Ive got about 500hours in 1s and 2s solid airplane, I enjoyed flying it. You cant beat it for the money. .74is optimistic i remember hanging
around .72 and not getting much more. Trimec is still around, they do good work.