1966 Turbo Commander 680V w. Century engine upgrade for sale.

[Adam Frisch]

It is with great sadness I have to face the reality that my financial commitments this year and next makes it impossible to keep or finish my sweet 1966 Turbo Commander 680V (with the Century -1 engine conversion) to the level she needs. It's heartbreaking that that's the case, but life isn't always easy. I've spent a lot of time and money on her, as you know, to get her to this point over the last 4 years and she has a brand new panel with new avionics and new radar. She flies great and is reliable technically, but has a few things that still need to be completed (which I'll specify below).

Aircraft is at AeroAir Inc in Hillsboro, OR. She's just completed her phase there, but will need about $50-70K spent on her to comply with the full discrepancy or upgrade list (included below). Many of them you could ignore if you are so inclined, but should probably be done (boots, prop inspection, etc). You can either complete with AeroAir, or ferry her to somewhere else to complete. I flew her up myself just before Xmas and like I said, she's mechanically solid and flies great.

This is probably the most economical twin turboprop you could own:

1. No recurring spar inspections.
2. No mandatory gear overhauls.
3. No calendar items - you just phase inspect (annual) her every 100hr and fly. If you only fly 25hrs per year, you do a phase inspection every 4th year. Very few aircraft have maintenance intervals this easy.
4. Economical Lexan windscreens and picture windows - all the later models had heated glass windscreens and they cost 10x as much to replace.
5. Plenty of spare parts.
6. Economical and fuel efficient upgraded Century engines.

1966 Turbo Commander 680V
N171AT
Price: $189,000 USD

Contact:
Mr. Adam Frisch
Polyscope Films Inc
Phone: PM me or email on lectrajet-at-gmail-dot-com

All times are approx due to books being at service center:

Airframe:
6870 TT
Engine:   4350 SOH, 1400 TSHI, 5400hr TBO – Garret TPE331-1-151K
Propeller: 100hrs -ish since new, Hartzell Q-tip via STC (can't recall exact hours since install, but less than 200, can confirm with service center upon request).

Max Gross Takeoff Weight: 9400 lbs
Basic Empty Weight: 6300-ish lbs (need to do new W&B after avionics upgrade)
Useful Load: 3000 lbs
Usable Fuel Capacity: 337 gallons (aux LR tanks)

Avionics:
Avidyne IFD540 w. radar option and SVS
New RDR-2000 (controlled from IFD)
Garmin GNC255 Nav/Com
Avidyne AXP322 S-Mode remote TXP controlled from IFD540
L3 ESI 500 Genesis
Collins FD-108
Collins GS
Bendix Radar Altimeter
Avidyne AMX240 Audio Panel
H-14 Autopilot (recently serviced, works perfectly)
Apple Ipad Mini panel mount w. power
USB chargers panel mounted
Digital Clock
Digital Temp

Miscellaneous Maintenance:
New engine mount/yoke right engine (or was it left? I'll have to check)
New winglets with STC
New rear gear door removal mod via STC (reduces complexity and speeds up retraction)
New trim cables
New Gill batteries 2016
Newly polished windows
Newly resealed windows
Leak proofed floor
New steering column and pedal boots
New panel
Newly upholstered pilot and co-pilot seat
New radar
New ELT battery
New gear bungees
New cabin door frame alignment
New wing root seals
New pilot window (removal of vent window)
New compass
New aileron and flap hardware
New LED landing lights (4x)
New light covers
Newly overhauled starter/generators
Newly spray tested nozzles (not in logbook, unfortunately)
New exhaust and inlet covers from Bruce's Custom
New UMA-panel lighting

Exterior:
Paint oxidized, 6/10, but not flaking.
White with maroon stripes

Interior:
Partial new interior 2017

Performance:
Speed: 240-250kts
Fuel burn: 64gal/hr mid teens, under 60gal/hr in the twenties.
Fuel capacity: 337gal
Max ceiling: 25000ft
Max differential: 4.2psi
Max range: 1200nm

What needs to be done (you can see the estimate list below from AeroAir). Here are the big items:

1. Main wing boots need replacing. $12210
2. LE 3rd wheel cycled out. Estimated at $15K at Hancock Enterprises with a used wheel with 2400 cycles.
3. Prop IRAN. Estimated at $8500. Not mandatory part 91, but prob a good idea. Props are almost new and have very little time on them. Q-tips.
4. Right outboard bladder leaking. Hard to say the cost, if it can be repaired it's pretty cheap, if it needs replacing it's about $2K per bladder. There are multiple bladders in there, but unlikely that all leak - it's probably just one or two.
5. MLG tires slightly cracked but not unairworthy.
6. Cabin still leaks a little and needs to be troubleshot and resealed. Diff only manages about 2.5psi. Pedal boots, wing roots and windows eliminated. Floor sealed. It's either door, or somewhere in cabin somewhere. Prob where the outer panel plates meet, guess it just needs sealant.
7. Except for pilot and co-pilot seat, interior is out and at an upholstery shop in Corona, CA. It is half paid for already ($6000 remaining). In case new owner does not want to use that shop (they do good work, but are not good communicators), I will collect interior and have it delivered as part of sale.

I prefer to use an established aviation escrow service to protect both parties.

Sorry, for mostly having exterior pics, but there are a few video clips where you can see the panel and front chairs on my channel.

[donv]

It's been a helluva journey! Hopefully someone steps up and finishes her up-- she would be one of the best 680 series Commanders in the world when completed.

[Bruce Byerly]

I flew in a 680V last summer.  It was really quite fun and made me think I wanted one. But instead another 500S model project has taken over.  Best of luck Adam.  I hope the plane is cleaned up and enjoyed for years to come. A nice 680/681 can certainly be a practical plane.  But it has to make sense for you and be fun.

[Adam Frisch]

It really is an ideal turboprop for the owner/operator at the entry level. I'm trying to think if there is any other twin TP that could be run for less and can't come up with anything. MU-2's seem pretty close, but they have onerous 7500hr inspections etc which this doesn't have. Plus the yearly SFAR training. Old King Air's suffer from much less performance and more expensive engines. An old Metro? Perhaps. But I'm sure they have calendar items, too. This is almost unique in not having any calendar items.

[Steve binnette]

Adam,  is putting it on hold an option?  Two years goes by fast.   

You don’t want to live with any regrets.

[donv]

The problem with your economics argument is not inspections, but rather 50+ year old parts (hey, I'm not that far behind you!) that fail due to age.

As for the shop in Tennessee-- didn't you learn from Glenn's experience in Tennessee? Seriously, do it right or don't do it. Maybe Steve has a good idea-- ferry it back down to El Monte, put it in your hangar, and wait... of course, it will cost more if you do it that way, but that might be okay.

[Adam Frisch]

Yeah, I might just freeze time and pickle her for now. It would be better to do that at some maintenance facility, rather than bring her back to my hangar. If something goes wrong there, it becomes a problem to get her out of there and costly. Then again, sitting on some ramp somewhere is not good either.  AeroAir can cover her up in shrink-wrap over some critical areas and she can just stay where she is, but it's pretty rainy in Oregon. I'm pursuing a few leads, Bruce has helped me with a few.

[Adam Frisch]

Think we have a solution at hand. AeroAir will complete the most pressing airworthiness repairs, including bladder and pressurization. After that I'll ferry her back to my hangar where she can sit nice and dry until we can afford to do engines, boots props. Think it's a good solution for now.

Plane no longer for sale. 

[donv]

I like it! That's a great solution.

[SKYFLYER]

At least when you get stressed down the road, you can go out to the hangar and find some comfort waiting for you knowing the Commander is there.

[donv]

Are the engines not airworthy due to cycles or something? Or do you just have very few cycles remaining?

[Adam Frisch]

Are the engines not airworthy due to cycles or something? Or do you just have very few cycles remaining?

One engine has a cycled out 3rd stage wheel. My papers showed it had 130 cycles left, but that was not what they found when they dug deeper. I found a replacement wheel at an engine shop for not that much money, but the whole thing would be about $15K to get replaced with the work. Not a cost I had anticipated right now, but it's not the end of the world either.

[donv]

One of the problems, I imagine, is that when you take it apart to replace the wheel, who knows what else they'll find?

Just curious-- how much is a mid-time (or even fairly high time) -1 entire engine? Is that an option? Then you'd have a source of parts as well...

[Adam Frisch]

That is entirely up to the understanding you have with shop and why it's so important to find the right one. What the regulations ask for is to change the 3rd wheel - nothing else. Obviously, if something else sticks out as an obvious airworthiness item, you need to address that problem. But a wheel replacement is not supposed to be anywhere near a hot section inspection in scope or depth. It's a cursory glance, not a full on inspection. It's not a HSI.

[EricDapp]

You could rent space from me in CVO if you want it inside in a nice dry hangar. But I would probably wear out the pilot seat sitting in it making plane noises and banking hard on the yoke.