Kent Titcomb recently upgraded from a Cessna 414A to a Twin Commander 840. A few months into ownership of the Commander, we asked him how it’s going. He answered with the following.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Persig’s iconic 1974 book, was a philosophical examination of the marriage of the technical and the emotional.
The Commander is a beautiful example of that Zen. A blend of exceptional speed, exceptional fuel burn, reasonable purchase price, reasonable maintenance costs, cabin size, and payload/range flexibility. What machine can do more for less? Did I mention excellent short-field performance? Did I mention how good the aircraft flies? Ramp presence?
Another aspect that attracted me to the Commander was Twin Commander Aircraft LLC. They want to see Commanders in the air. They support the fleet with reasonably priced parts and service center support. We tapped Bruce Byerly for assistance with finding and buying our 840, and we were thrilled with the service and support that we received from Byerly Aviation.
We are a fourth-generation family business operating manufactured-home communities. It has been fun doing business with another long-time family business. We were Piper dealers in Carlsbad, California, when I was in grade school, but that is another story.
Leyvi and Kent Titcomb on their first flight in the Commander, N97WT.
We typically want to go 1200 nm against headwinds—Florida to Minnesota. With 1700-nm range, the 840 does the trick nonstop, even with strong headwinds. In our Cessna 414A we could do the trip in 6 to 7 hours, plus a fuel stop, and we were ready to get out of the plane.
The Commander will do the same trip nonstop in 4 to 4.5 hours. The kicker is that the Commander will make the trip for less money spent on fuel. Jet A is typically cheaper per gallon than avgas, and the Commander is just that much more efficient with much quicker time-to-climb and cruise speed and at higher cruise altitudes. It comes down to bang for the buck.
I was looking at an all-in purchase price of under $1million for an aircraft, and an annual budget of about $110,000 per year the way we fly—about 100 to 150 hours per year. We figured that the 414 was costing us about $75,000 to $85,000 per year for similar hours. I know, I know, we are covering more ground with the Commander now that we are going faster, but we are having more fun and want to fly more!
I wanted a good machine to build on and nice avionics to fly behind. The first thing we did was install a GTN750 and GTN650 and upgraded the transponders to ADS-B In and Out.
Our annual budget includes engines, paint, interiors, avionics upgrades, fuel, insurance, etc.—everything you need to maintain the aircraft for the long term, about 20-plus years. Many aircraft owners try to fly between the rain drops, buying and selling before the big-ticket items come due. Some people can do that, but I wanted to be more conservative and predictable with the finances.
Our fuel cost to Minnesota and back to Florida is about the same as two first-class tickets from Orlando to Minneapolis. I know there are other costs to owning our own aircraft, but there also are other benefits. We can go door-to-door in 6.5 hours on our own. We need to budget about nine hours for the airlines. In our aircraft, we can go on our schedule, we get to leave from closer to home, and land closer to our destination. Oh, we also can carry two to four more people than in the 414 if we want to.
We considered King Airs. Wonderful airplanes and a large fleet from which to choose, but not exceptional at any one thing. Also, the calendar maintenance program can hurt the budget.
Cessna Conquests are nice too, but Cessna doesn’t like those airplanes flying, hence ownership costs are high for the turbine models. I guess Textron wants people to buy new.
In the jet world, unless you can afford the big stuff, you can’t go 1200 miles non-stop. That means the Commander will get there quicker than a Mustang or an Eclipse.
Single-engine turbines are great on cost to operate, but they are big on money to buy upfront with any engine times left. Also, if I lose an engine in the Commander, the glide ratio is way better than the glide ratio of a Pilatus if it loses an engine.
Ted Smith was fresh from designing World War II bombers when he started engineering the first Aero Commander. The engine mount forgings, flight control system designs, rudder sizing, overall metal work and flight dynamics are “big airplane” thinking, as my initial training instructor, Bill Leff, mentioned. Cessna, Piper, and Beech took small aircraft designs and hung turbines on the wings. Ted did it the other way. He designed for the larger engines from the beginning.
I am having more fun with an airplane than I have ever had. I have never owned a Lamborghini or a Maserati, but I feel like I am flying a “super car” airplane. It handles so well, goes so fast, and does everything smoothly, and at price we can afford. My Dad used to say, “We were in business to support the airplane.” I think we are finally using the airplane to support the business.
Life is Good
My Uncle Henry Smiley was a mechanic in the air force before World War II who flew a Travel Air, a 1920s-era biplane. He got my Dad and my Uncle Vernon Titcomb interested in airplanes, and when World War II started my Uncle Vernon became a Link Trainer instructor. Later, my father learned to fly as a civilian.
Brainard Field, KHFD, East Hartford, Connecticut, where Amicorp, Inc. began
Three generations of Titcombs at their Piper dealership, Southcoast Aircraft Sales, in Carlsbad, California, Palomar Airport, KCRQ in the 1950s. Kent’s father Ellwood is third from left.
After the war my family operated an FBO at Brainard Field in East Hartford, Connecticut. At the same time the family was operating a war-time trailer camp for factory workers at Pratt & Whitney. Every local business name had something to do with aircraft—Aircraft Barber Shop, Aircraft Hardware, Aircraft Trailer Park, etc. That is where we got our original name: Aircraft Trailer Park, Inc. In the 1960s we updated the name to Aircraft Mobilehomes, Inc., and in the 1980s we morphed into Amicorp, Inc., which is the name we use now.
Everyone in the family flew, and I tell people I have been flying since before I was born—literally, in my mother’s womb!
In the late 1950s the family decided “California is the place we outa be,” so a large passel of our family moved to North San Diego County. It was there we operated a Piper dealership for many years.
Of the two business models, the manufactured home business has worked out better for us, but we still love flying. We try to combine the two as much as is reasonable.
Mobile home built by Vernon Titcomb Sr, Kent’s grandfather, and his father, Ellwood Titcomb, that started the manufactured home business that is still family run.
My son, Brenton, has the 414 in Minnesota for now, and Brenton’s brother, Isaac, landed a dream job flying for the Volusia County Sheriff’s office.
Brenton Titcomb, left, Kent’s eldest son, flies the family Cessna 414A while managing the two family businesses in Minnesota. Brenton is multi engine, instrument rated and has the initial training on the Commander.
We hope to start construction of a new hangar for the Commander just a stone’s throw away from Isaac’s helicopter job. As they say, life is good.
Kent Titcomb, left, and his son Isaac who flies an Army Kiowa helicopter and is the helicopter pilot for Volusia County, Florida Sheriff’s Department. He is also rated for fixed wing, multi engine with instrument and is an instructor.
