2StgTurbine

My boss asked me to look into starting a 135 operation based off a Meridian. He planned on starting one a year from now with a King Air, but after he found out the low fuel burn of the Meridian and that he could use it for 135 (He thought you needed a twin for 135 IFR operations) he decided to start the charter service early with a smaller plane. He is really focusing on a Meridian, but I want to look at the other options.

The max trip length will probably be in the 500 mile range, but most will probably be 200-300 with some trips to Canada. Our budget is between 1 and 2 million with favor to the lower end. Besides charter, the plane would be primarily used as a personal aircraft for short trips for the boss (he owns a medium size business jet and does not want to use it for short trips). An important consideration is going to be insurance as the charter pilot will have low time (1200-1500).

I would prefer getting a TBM700, but I don’t know how either the Meridian or TBM are to live with. Pros and cons for the Meridian and TBM are welcome as well as any other airframe.

Thanks!

dn_wisconsin

How is the charter pilot going to have less than 1200 Total Time, unless you are doing VFR 135 ops?

2StgTurbine

Good point. I was trying to be generic but I overlooked that important FAR. The pilot has 1200 hours now and depending on when the 135 starts, he may have 1500.

snippercr

Not sure if you know this already, but if he is looking to start a year from now, you probably need to start the paperwork IMMEDIATELY. My understanding is that it takes 1-2 years to finally get your certificate. There are things like finding a chief pilot, director of operations and director of maintenance. I had a friend who was looking into starting a 135 operation off a Caravan and reading through 135 and 119 shows how much has to go into it.

There is a video online that explains the process. It's an old FAA 1980s video but its pretty informative.

clipperskipper

There is enough generic paperwork around for the 135 certificate, and it's fairly easy as I have done this several years back. We used verbiage such "due to the limited size and scope of the operation, the CP and DO positions are combined". We initially got the certificate on a C-172, then added A/C to it later on. The 172 was already on CAMP.

fjetter

You may want to look at a single pilot operator certificate. This makes the certfication process easier because you do not need an operations manual which is always a big process and you won't need a Chief Pilot, Director of Operations, or a Director of Maintenance as a single pilot operator.

2StgTurbine

We were leaning on a single pilot operation, but I like the structure of a traditional 135 carrier. I am writing a manual now with the intention of the operation growing in the future. Casual conversation with the FAA gave us an approval time table of 6 months.

The biggest variable for now is the aircraft. My boss knows a lot about large twins (jet and piston) but he is new to single engine turbines. He has latched on to the Meridian, but I want to make sure we don’t base all of our decisions on a low fuel burn. I know how to compare performance numbers, but they do not tell the entire story. When something breaks, what is the easiest plane to fix? Although the book says it can hold 6, will those 6 be comfortable? If you were given the choice, what plane would you want for 135, a TBM or a Meridian?

dn_wisconsin

If your boss is willing to spend a few million on a new plane, I'd think he would be willing to send someone to check out the planes and do a test flight. The aircraft companies are more than happy to show the planes and take you for a flight if you are a serious buyer.

clipperskipper

Don't worry about the certification process, most of the Inspectors at the FSDO's today are quite helpful. The PC-12 offers a lot of bang for your buck, and superior range. Just one more aircraft to consider.

snippercr

When ever helping people look at planes (light single and twin piston) one of the main things we look at after "MPG", is useful load. Sure it has 6 seats, but can you put 6 people in it and put any amount of fuel? Especially if they want to bring any luggage. So while looking keep an eye out for useful load.

Also ADs. There can be some really expensive ADs for certain serial #s for certain airplanes. So one make and model would be fine, but an earlier (or later) manufactured one may have used a different part and is thus required to conform to the AD. I remember helping someone look at C421s and there was this really expensive AD that had something to do with the wing spar.

edit: I remember about that single pilot certification. I thought there were 3 "Special" ones. Like single pilot, Single PIC (and you could have like 3 FOs), and Limited. Not sure, it was a while ago when I looked.