Turboprop Value

Why do turborops seem to periodically enjoy better times than the jet and piston aircraft market segments? Perhaps it has something to do with owner-flying. The top-selling turboprops tend to be aircraft that are continually popular among pilots who fly for their own businesses.

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Jack Olcott | 1st December 2012

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Jack Olcott

Possibly the world’s most recognized advocate, if not expert on the value of Business Aviation,...
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Turbo Deliveries: Flat- but encouraging.

Why do turborops seem to periodically enjoy better times than the jet and piston aircraft market segments? Perhaps it has something to do with owner-flying. The top-selling turboprops tend to be aircraft that are continually popular among pilots who fly for their own businesses. hile exceptions exist anywhere- generally turboprop airplanes offer a common set of attractive attributes. The engines are responsible for most. For example- Turboprop engines benefit today from propeller designs far more sophisticated than only a decade ago. The results are lower maintenance costs- longer overhaul cycles- improved climb and cruise performance- and in turn this contributes to reduced noise levels in the cabin.

In addition- specific fuel consumption numbers continue to improve- with the practical effect of allowing the use of higher power levels without suffering a proportionate increase in fuel consumption/ costs. That- in turn- contributes to improvements in take-off- climb and cruise speed.

Another advantage is the single-pilot operational simplicity engineered into even the multi-engine turboprops. The only exceptions to the sum total of these benefits exist among the unpressurized models that are available- and form a small- important and dynamic segment of the turboprop market.

Today’s turboprops offer a broad range of turbine performance- propeller cost-effectiveness (some with at- or near Light jet cruise performance capabilities) with cabin and cockpit accoutrements that rival the best of the fanjet strata.

Looking at just the traditional turboprop manufacturers delivering business aircraft- we see a flat market with 222 deliveries in the first nine months of the year compared with 223 a year ago. On a quarterly basis the news is more encouraging- however. Deliveries are up about 6.5 percent- with 85 deliveries compared with 80 at this time a year ago.

TURBOPROP PRICE GUIDE
The following turboprop Retail Price Guide represents current average values published in the Aircraft Bluebook. The study spans model years from 1993 through Fall 2012 (20 year period). Values reported are in USD millions- with each reporting point representing the current average retail value published in the Aircraft Bluebook- by its corresponding calendar year.

For example- the Piaggio Avanti P180 reported in the Fall 2012 edition of the Bluebook shows $3.3 million for a 2003 model- $3.5 million for a 2004 model and so forth. Aircraft are listed alphabetically. Aircraft specifications for these models can be found in the Specifications and Performance section of this issue.

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