The piston twin is making a comeback. In the 1980s, under the pressures of high maintenance and high Avgas prices, the demand for piston twins collapsed in the face of Cessna Caravan and Pilatus PC-12 turbines. But now, the value proposition of a 40-year old piston twin is once again hard to beat.
Pics – Garth Calitz and Guy Leitch
Cabin-class piston twins used to be the planes of choice. Cessna was the leading producer of big twins, with more than a dozen models on the sales floors. Arguably the best of Cessnas big twins was the 414A Chancellor.
These big 400 series twins have it all: pressurisation, wide comfortable cabins – and twin engine redundancy.
Critics snidely comment that in a piston twin, if you lose an engine, the remaining engine is only there to take you to the scene of the crash. But in the hands of a well-trained pilot, a piston twin will happily fly on one in all flight regimes – except perhaps that brief minute of two after takeoff with a max all up weight when the gear and flaps are still hanging out. For 99.9% of a flight a piston twin’s second engine will get you home – whereas lose the engine of a single engine turboprop at any time in a flight and you’re going down.
And then there’s the price – a good used Pilatus PC-12 or TBM 700 will set you back R50 million and up. For that price you could have ten really great piston twins. Sure the performance may be 180 knots and not 260 knots – but the lower fuel burn and maintenance more than make up for the slower cruise speed. And the difference in block time on a typical 200 nm sector is surprisingly small.
The Cessna piston twins peaked with the 421 Golden Eagle – which demanded so much of its engines it needed geared Continental turbos to get 375 horses. In response to criticism about the Golden Eagle’s geared engines, Cessna gave the 414 the fuselage, empennage, pressurisation and fuel system of the 421, but with 310 hp Continental TSIO-520 ungeared engines.
Development
The C414 appeared in 1969 as a lower cost variant of the 421. The name ‘Chancellor’ was used for models marketed from 1976. In 1978, after 513 of the original 414s had been built, Cessna combined the airframe developed for the 421 Golden Eagle with the newer TSIO-520-N engines to produce the 414A Chancellor. The result was a plane almost identical to the 421 but with less power. However, it was claimed that the lower power was compensated for in the lightness of the newer engines and lower maintenance.
Major changes on the 414A included an extended nose to give more baggage space and a new bonded 4.5 ft longer wing, which incorporated integral ‘wet wing’ fuel tanks in place of the riveted tip-tanked wing. Earlier 414s are easily recognisable by their ‘tuna’ tip tanks and stubbier nose.
The 414 Chancellor’s fuel capacity with the wet wings was increased to 1236 lbs usable, and the operation of the fuel system was made far simpler with an On/Off/Crossfeed valve for each engine. Previous 414s used the d tip tanks as the mains and with as many as six tanks, it made for nail biting fuel management.
The gross weight and useful load of the 414A were increased by 400 pounds, and that together with improved endurance made it a desirable plane for corporate transport. The 5 psi cabin pressurisation differential was also an improvement (the original 414 had a 4.2 psi pressurisation differential) making the cruise at higher altitudes more comfortable. At 25,000 ft, the cabin altitude is still a comfortable 8,000 ft.
In 1986 the market for new piston twins entered a terminal decline, and after building 1067 414s, Cessna stopped production.
In 1986 the market for new piston twins entered a terminal decline, and after building 1067 414s, Cessna stopped production.
PRE-FLIGHT WALK AROUND
The subject of this test is ZS-FPU, a well-cared for and largely standard C414A. Around seven years ago we reviewed a much-modernised 414AW, ZS-MKJ, which had been upgraded from nose to tail. This review is based on the more original and thus more affordable C414A with minimal upgrades, so it remains pretty much factory standard.
The 414 is a cabin class twin with an airstair door and a real ramp presence. Walking up the three steps on the door, you enter a wide oval cabin which measures 140 cm across, making it one of the roomiest in its class.
The 414’s headroom is 130 cm; big enough to allow a crouched walk-around inside the cabin. There is plenty of shoulder and elbow room available for every seat and a rear baggage bay that is accessible from the cabin, so everyone travels in comfort. 414s are usually configured to accommodate four to six cabin seats – plus the two in the cockpit as well as a belted potty in the back.
The nose baggage and avionics bays of the long-snouted 414A can swallow golf clubs and lots of other ungainly cargo. The wing lockers in the engine nacelles are particularly useful for stowing pore-flight items such as the chocks, fuel-tester, pitot and engine covers.
Using the 421’s cabin with smaller engines makes you wonder whether all this space can be successfully utilised. In real numbers, a typically equipped 414A has a full-fuel payload of about 1,100 lbs. That’s at least a pilot, three friends and luggage. Alternatively, you could fill the cabin with six people and overnight bags and fly for close on three hours or 500 nm with IFR reserves.
To improve load-carrying ability, some operators have opted for the aftermarket RAM engine upgrades, which improve maximum all up weight, but ZS-FPU still has the standard engines.
FLYING THE 414A
The cockpit is easily accessible through the cabin and the multitude of big old round dials and large central power pedestal makes it look complicated and impresses the pax.
Engine start is standard Continental TSIO-520 and is about as simple as it gets: mixture full rich, mags on, master on, prime, start.
With the capacity of the long nose it is tempting to load it to the hilt. But, apart from G of G limitations, the front wheel can be put under a considerable load. Therefore, when taxiing and landing, the pilot must take care not to place too strong a side load on the nose wheel, as it has been known to fail, with extremely expensive damage to the props and engines. Thanks to the nose weight, nosewheel steering is effective and so differential power is rarely necessary for directional control.
Cessna claim a take-off distance of a little less than 800 m over a 50 ft obstacle, and this seems accurate enough. Rotating at around 100 kt, the 414 doesn’t rocket away from the ground, but at typical weights the climb is a more than acceptable 1,300 to 1,500 fpm once the airframe has been cleaned up.
At 15,000 feet, you can expect the rate of climb to settle at 1,000 fpm up to the comfortable cruising altitude of 20,000 ft. With the pressurisation system cranked up to max, there’s not much reason to level off lower than about FL180 to FL200. Single-engine rate of climb at max all up weight at sea level is listed as 290 fpm with the gear and flaps up.
Cruise performance may not be quite what the POH claims (Cessna claims 224 knots at 75-percent power), but most 414 owners are content with their plane’s cross-country speed. To utilise the 414 to its full potential, it needs to be flown high. True airspeeds down low are in some cases worse than many normally aspirated light twins, while fuel flow is higher. Once above 12,000 feet, however, the 414’s turbocharging begins to ratchet up the speed. At 18,000 ft you’re above half the Earth’s atmosphere in terms of air density, and since weather demands moisture and there’s very little of that above 18,000 ft, the 414 can happily cruise in smooth air and sunshine.
Certified ceiling is 30,800ft but you won’t be able to get there without RVSM approval, which will be an uneconomic installation in a piston twin. So effective ceiling is still a very useful FL280.
Owners like to claim their 414 will manage 200 KTAS at FL240. At 65 percent power, True Air Speed (TAS) will average about 185 knots. For fuel burn you can work on 150 lbs of Avgas per engine per hour for the first hour, thereafter 105 lbs per hour per engine. With full fuel of 1236 lbs (206 usable gallons), this translates to around 4.5 hours endurance plus IFR reserves, assuming only one take-off. Range is therefore about 950 nm between fuel and food stops, giving the 414 the range to reach all major destinations from Johannesburg without stopping. So, if you’re lightly loaded, and if ATC allows you to cruise at high altitudes, bladder-busting legs are possible. That’s why there’s a potty.
The 414 won’t be considered a spirited handler by any pilot. Control forces are heavy but solid – good for an IFR aeroplane. Orbiting over Hartbeesport Dam for the air-to-air photoshoot demonstrated that the 414 is remarkably stable – it locks into position once settled in the turn. Couple the whole package to the S-TEC autopilot, and you have a smooth and luxurious mode of travel.
In flight it’s a peaceful environment and one of the quietest cabins you’ll find in a piston twin. Conversations are easily audible, there’s little vibration transmitted through the fuselage and the chairs articulate in all the useful directions. Even in the weather, because of the high wing loading of nearly 30 pounds per square foot, the flight is smooth.
On final approach the 414 is one of the most stable piston twins. Unlike the 421’s geared powerplants, the 414’s engines aren’t unduly sensitive to power reductions.
The approach speed can be flown anywhere from 100 to 130 KIAS, making fitting into traffic an ATC pleasure.
CONCLUSION
Overall, the 414 is flexible and very competent all-rounder. It can fly six people on a short trip in a comfortable pressurised cabin, or it can fly two passengers over 1,000 nm.
The big cabin has a speed penalty compared to the turboprops Aerostars, Dukes, and the 58P Baron, but the 414s pax and pilots enjoy better comfort and space – and lower noise.
Despite the 414’s age, it remains a really attractive personal twin for all the reasons that made sophisticated cabin class twins so popular in their heyday. It is reasonably economical to operate, simple to fly, straightforward to maintain and popular with both pilots and passengers.
It may not have the panache of a King Air 90, but the 414 is comparable in almost every respect – except that it may just be half the cost to operate and maintain.