It's 1969 and I'm running a fleet of used Heron2. It is working out great as I'm based at a small airport and they cover a good range, 17pax and 740NM is the perfect combination right now.
Before venturing in actually buying new ones (current ones are very old) I would like to know from the more experienced players what comparable birds will be available in the next 5/10 years which will represent an improvement in terms of speed and fuel economy while still being small and covering a 'long' range.
Thank you for your help!
Fokker 27 500/600 looks like a reasonable replacement. It offers more seats, much faster speed and while it burns 2.5 times as much fuel as the Heron, it is still very economical.
Thank you, seems reasonable, even though on some routes I won't be able to use them as there is a 12/15 demand which I can satisfy with the Heron...
But I guess I will start using them fokkers from a future second base with more demand.
Otherwise any other suggestion?
EMB-110 and all later variants seem like a good route to take. Also from what I remember later versions of Fairchild Metro (not yet available) offer similar range to Heron and are much faster.
Run Herons until Metros arrive. Metro II carries 19 pax 250 NM, or 16 pax 600 NM. Metro III arrives around 1981 or so, and carries 19 pax 900+ NM.
Metro 3s is the answer, thank you. Also gives me the time to adapt to potential increases in demand during the '70s... Now...would you reccomand to lease new herons for ~10years or sticking to the used market, considering that there should be a bunch of less used planes coming on the second hand market in the upcoming years? I just do not want to fly >10yo planes unless I really have to (maintenance).