[Username Protected]

Hello everyone!

I'm the newest pilot that is typed in the Phenom 100. At least for the next few hours!

I just passed my check ride at CAE. Wow, what a thorough, tough but fun, experience. I signed up for a type rating without an aircraft — and that fact definitely puzzled a few of the instructions at CAE. I'm coming out of the Cirrus world, where I've had an SR22 for the past 11 years. I've been thinking about getting a straight 100 that is past the 120 hour inspection (an aircraft down the depreciation curve).

While at CAE, I was introduced to Casey Amis from Summit Aviation, whom a couple of instructors had mentioned (Casey is an instructor alum of CAE). Over the weekend, he called me about a 2010 P100 whose delivery had just fallen through. It has about 1400 hours. So now I'm looking at a specific plane, and I'd love any advice on any aspect. I signed an acquisition agreement with Summit specific to this plane, and I'm planning to have Chris Grinell from Aerostar do the pre-buy inspection (actually, it's a second pre-buy inspection since the original deal fell through).

Any words of wisdom for me? About the acquisition process, the pre-buy, insurance, taxes, whether I'm getting the wrong plane, whatever? And I'm happy to share anything about this opportunity.

Thank you, and I'm looking forward to joining the Phenom family!

(Username Protected)

[Username Protected]

Welcome from the Cirrus world.

I bought a similar vintage airplane with 1900 hours about 3 months ago. One thing to be aware of is you will have annual low utilization inspections because the engines have such low hours on them. PWC just launched a new ESP Platinum product that includes these.

I think you are on the right track with the pre-buy. It's worth another look. I haven't met Chris yet, but he helped us bail out another shop who did our pre-buy. Our pre-buy missed a TON of stuff, so thank god we were on EEC, because we made 3 separate trips to Mesa to get squawks fixed over the past 3 months.

We finally have a squawk-free airplane and I am very happy.

Don't let this part scare you off -- none of our issues were major safety issues. I think the previous owners in our case had just deferred/ignored a lot of issues and once fixed, they appear to be fixed for good.

Contrast this with my Eclipse ownership where I felt like I was constantly having failures that represented actual safety issues, such as actuators failing, crazy cascading CAS messages, signs of FADEC problems, etc. It has been nothing like that. I have had to pull out the Eclipse QRH several times "in anger" whereas I have never had to do that in the Phenom.

[Username Protected]

(Username Protected),

Welcome and congrats on the type rating! I think you’re looking at the right bird.

I came from a Cirrus and then to Eclipse for 6 years and finally landed on the Phenom 100. I am thrilled with the plane and wish I had done so earlier. Mine is a 2010 that I bought in 2017. I’ve now been through the gear overhaul and 10 year service and all is going well.

I can answer my experience to all of your questions but every situation is different. North Carolina has property tax where many others do not. There was a small conveyance tax of $2500 when I bought but no sales tax.

Insurance - this is a mixed bag. Your hours may be an issue but it really depends on a variety of issues and different companies provide different benefits/drawbacks. For instance the amount of smooth coverage you are seeking along with hull value and experience come into play. Some insurance companies will require you to fly with a mentor for x number of hours. I have heard some people, faced with that, have gone to insurance and stated they had a professional pilot which helped minimize their rates for the first year or so. Depends on what your plan is.

I haven’t used Chris Grinnell for service but I’ve spoken to him and he is a true gentleman. He helped walk me through a couple of early issues on the phone without any expectation of future business.

If you would like to chat, feel free to call me. I believe my number is in the member list.

Best of luck!

[Username Protected]

(Username Protected), congratulations on the type rating!
I worked mentoring a pilot similar to your case a few years ago.
He was a private pilot with 300 hours of Cirrus time and purchased a 100 and got the type.
He had a pretty smooth transition and was sharp with the avionics. His insurance was prohibitively expensive. He did not care and bit the bullet. He flys over 400 hours a year now single pilot. You insurance will be relatively speaking “expensive”.
The insurance underwriters will require you to have a mentor pilot for a certain number of hours. If I can help out please reach out to me. I would rather talk over the phone than type...843-478-6809 :-)

[Username Protected]

(Username Protected), congratulations on your type rating! My $0.02 is to get your ownership structure and tax strategy in place (particularly for CA!) before you go under contract on your Phenom. This will impact what you need to include in the contract, your financing, as well as your insurance needs. Many folks just form an LLC and start flying but it's not that straightforward.

[Username Protected]

(Username Protected), congratulations on the type. Adam told me about you from ground school. I hope to help you out with mentoring if you would like to use my services. I have a couple hundred of the most recent hours in 218. You have a good bird there. I know Casey and Chris very well. Feel free to call me anytime with any questions you might have. Just remember, good mentoring doesn’t come cheap. 8179038152 Have fun!

[Username Protected]

Good afternoon, (Username Protected).

I am not sure if this post is still timely, but I am happy to share my experience.

Like many of the prior posters, I found my way to the Phenom 100 by way of the Piper Meridian for seven years and the Eclipse 500 for seven years. I loved the Eclipse because it was ideal for my flying and is absolutely the most efficient airplane out there. However, I had many of the same frustrations that (Username Protected) described above and the safety concerns along with the cost unscheduled maintenance just got to the point where I thought it made sense to change.

I closed on my airplane in February and now have about 80 hours in the Phenom and it is wonderful to have an airplane that does what it is supposed to do every time.

I don’t know if you have specific features that you are looking for, but each airplane is equipped a bit different and it is important to get into the details. I had a few airplanes that I was interested in and had another one under contract, but that quickly blew up. I am thrilled it did because I got a much better airplane for less money!

I also spoke with Chris Grinnel and found him to be very nice and extremely helpful. He is a truly great guy and I would trust him to do work on my plane anytime.

I have found that getting all of the programs set up is extremely time consuming. Embraer builds an amazing airplane, but their customer service leaves much to be desired. However, things are starting to move along.

The bottom line is that it is a more expensive airplane to operate, but it is a real pleasure for the people in the back and for me. I am very happy with the decision and look forward to many years of enjoyment in this beautiful airplane!

If you want to talk, I am happy to share more of my experiences. Call me at (305) 915-4545.

(Username Protected)
N685AS