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My opinion is perhaps middle of the road. I think the Skymaster is about an "average" twin in maintenance costs.
The reason some claim it to be higher is, again in my opinion:
1 - The plane wasn't as popular as Cessna hoped it would be, and some early takeoff incidents made its numbers no better than other twins (I believe that if only the recent decade or two were taken into account it might be better than average but that's just a guess).
2 - The prices went down as a result. So a number of people were able to buy a "cheap" twin.
3 - But buying isn't the same as flying and maintaining. Thus many buyers who got in cheap weren't up to the financial demands of paying for full "middle of the road" maintenance. So many models got neglected.
4 - So many buyers ended up getting a cheap airplane but then spending a bundle on getting it flyable and up to snuff. As a result the model got a bad, if unfairly deserved, reputation as a maintenance hog.
If you get one that has been maintained overall, then you wont have to spend more than any "average" twin to keep it in shape. But twin budgets are higher than singles on average, so one must be prepared or he'll turn into one of those owners who ends up selling cheap (cause that's all he can get for it) and then the new owner has to spend a bundle getting the aircraft into shape.
For my money, nothing anywhere close to the price range will equal the capability of the model I have, and of course I'm prejudiced:
1 - Ceiling to 33K feet (although that's now limited practically by the recent RVSM regulations); I get this because mine is a turbo model.
2 - Factory O2 so that I can go high whenever I need or desire without concern over oxygen safety requirements (I also have a backup portable system on the passenger seat back).
3 - Two engines, that will maintain 16K feet on either engine in single-engine mode.
4 - No asymmetrical thrust problems (not that this removes the need to keep sharp on engine-out responses).
5 - Great IFR capability (more a function of avionics and pilot training but the model is a great IFR platform).
6 - Great load capacity and lots of options.
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