Thinking about buying a Skymaster
 

I am starting to shop for an airplane to purchase, and I have been seriously considering a Skymaster. I like that is has two engines and a decent load capacity. I also like having the wing above the fuselage.

I found a website for the Rocoket II which looks like they are remanufactured Skymasters. It is within my price range and seems to offer a good value for all the work they put into these planes.


I am curious if anyone has worked with this company before?? Also any advice you can offer for a new pilot looking for a first plane would be great.

http://www.therocket2.com/specs.htm



Thanks
Norm Walker
River Falls WI

Let me first note two facts: the Rocket web pages date to 2007 and the photo "gallery" has pictures of a single aircraft.

I've owned 2 Skymasters over the past 10 years, participated in many of the Skymaster Fly-Ins, and know the aircraft well. And I have never heard of the Rocket.

I like the specs (although some seem dated in an era where glass avionics are the rage, in large part because of the enhanced situational awareness) but have several comments. First, look very closely at the details, craftsmanship and quality of the work and that unmentioned items (like exhaust, landing gear systems, etc.) have been given comparable attention. Second, dig deeply into the company, its recent business and performance -- specifically, ask how many Rockets have been sold this year and last year, and ask to speak to the buyers. Finally, the price seems high to me; I could be wrong but I would make inquiries with knowledgeable people, starting with Don Nieser at Commodore Aerospace 405-503-4686 or 405-722-4079.

One final point deals with the principals listed on the web page. The Kozub father/son team seem to be in the general aircraft refurbishing business (see April 2010 article at www.the-daily-record.com/news/article/4811004), with no mention of the Rocket. Bill Crews is the boss at Skymaster Center, probably the largest dealer of used Skymasters. If I were to speculate, I would guess the Rocket was conceived around 2007 by these three individuals, marketed with limited success (one or two sales, perhaps) and put on the back-burner.

Ernie

Good Info
 

Thanks for the information Ernie! I am so new to this I am really struggling to decide what I want to do. I thought $250K was a lot of money too, but I like the idea of everything being like new except the stuff that can't be changed out. $250k is within my budget.


Here is my list of wants for an airplane.

• 200 kts cruise
• 1100lb useful load
• lots of glass panels
• I like two engines but don't have my heart set on it
• I can spend up to $350K for the right airplane

There are three really nice p337s for sale on www.aviationenterprises.us.

They perform to your specs and could have G500 and/or Aspen panels installed, along with a new JPI glass twin engine instrument display, still staying within your price range.

You will get a lot of Cessna 337 for that kind of money. Perhaps have a look at the Riley Skyrockets?

what is your typical mission profile ?

It's not glass but the Riley Super Skyrocket panel was really designed nicely. This aircraft has been on the market for quite some time. Not sure the situation but might be worth a call to Bill Crews at the Skymaster Center. It's the same price range as the Rocket II but this has the Riley conversion with TSIO-520 engines. Full de-ice and lots of other nice add-ons.

http://www.skymaster.com/aircraft.asp?control=1

During our recent conference call for the SOAPA group Brian von Herzen joined us on the call. He flies a Super Skyrocket and has made several pond crossings with it. He indicated that at 55% hp running LOP he gets 170-180 kts cruise burning 10 gal per engine (did I get that right Larry?). Anyway I was really surprised with the numbers that Brian was quoting. Seemed very efficient. He did say that it will cruise at 200 kts at FL 200 but using some more fuel.

FWIW