Danny Hughes with his 1956 Aero Commander 560
Danny Hughes is a Merlin IIIB owner from New Orleans, Louisiana. He has been flying for over 48 years, and his family introduced him to aviation long before he ever took the yoke himself.
“I don’t remember a time in my youth when our family did not have an airplane. Our business was oil field contracting in South Louisiana, often in remote or environmentally sensitive areas, including marshes and swamps. I remember as a kid in grade school jumping in the plane and getting to fly in the right seat,” Hughes recalled.
“When I graduated from high school, my uncle Harold said he was giving me a pilot’s license for graduation. ‘If I gave you money, you would just go buy beer or a stereo system’ he told me. So, I got my pilot’s license that summer and then joined a flying club when I went to college in Austin.”
The long-term value of Uncle Harold’s gift has been immense. Hughes explained that the decision-making skills gained in the air become an integral element of your day-to-day life. He believes that a lot of his success and enjoyment in life is directly attributable to aviation, and he has relied upon general aviation throughout the entirety of his career.
“At the time [early in his days flying for business purposes], we had a Cessna 182, which I mostly flew, and then our superintendent flew a Cessna 185 on floats. There was a depth finder on the bottom of that plane, which would allow us to see how deep the water was at a job site. This would let us know if we could use a 900-horsepower tug, two 600-horsepower tugs, or something else. That’s how we would bid our jobs,” he said.
“If you didn’t have a plane, you’d get up at three or four in the morning, drive an hour to the crew boat, and take a few hour [long] boat ride to the job site, before turning around. But with the airplane, we’d get there in thirty minutes, taxi around, get the water depths and lay of the land, and be back before lunch time. It’s just that fast.”
In nearly five decades of flying, Hughes has owned and flown 13 aircraft, from a Cessna 182 and 185 Amphibian to a Navajo Chieftain and a Lear 24.
Hughes has cycled to new aircraft based on his needs at the time. One of the things he has enjoyed most about flying new aircraft is exploring the nuances of that particular model, as he believes every plane exudes its own special personality.
“I have an agreement with my Merlin. I’ll stay proficient and she’ll behave herself. It’s as simple as that.”
Hughes nicknames his aircraft as a reflection of their personalities. The case was a little different for the Chieftain he owned for 22 years, which had the tail number N16WC. “The Chieftain got the nickname ‘Wild Child’ not so much for its flying characteristics, because it’s a docile aircraft,” pointed out Hughes. “When an air traffic controller familiar with my usual routes found out I flew it to Havana in 2016, he started referring to my tail number as ‘16 Wild Child’. The name stuck.”
Typically, Hughes varied business demands dictate which aircraft Hughes has settled on. Today, he splits time between Southern Louisiana, Key West, Florida, the Caribbean, and the northeast.
“We have a couple of businesses up in New Hampshire, and it took two fuel stops to get there in the Chieftain. I was looking for something with versatility, that could go far, carry a lot of stuff, and land on a 3,000-foot-long runway without a problem, because we also had a house down in Little Cayman [in the Cayman Islands]. That’s where the Merlin came in,” Hughes explained, recalling what other aircraft he was considering at the time. He had flown many other models previously, both jets and turboprops, so had a good baseline of where he would go next.
“I have time in King Air 90s, 200s, and wasn’t afraid of Commanders – but the Merlin checked all the boxes,” he said. “I find that if you fly the Merlin the way it was designed to be flown, it’s an excellent aircraft. For me to get into a King Air 200, I’d spend 50% to 75% more money and then it burns more fuel,” he said.
“And passenger comfort is really high on my list, which the Merlin also excels at. It has a high wing load and is stable in rough air. The cabin is bigger [than some models of King Airs] and the windows are huge. The other great thing about it is that the Merlin has a seven PSI cabin pressure differential, meaning that I can hold a sea level cabin at 16,800 feet.”
A frequent mission for Hughes is the 550 nautical mile trip between Lakefront Airport (KNEW) and Key West International Airport (KEYW). This is just one of the real-world scenarios where ‘Magic Merlin’, as Hughes has affectionately nicknamed his plane of almost five years, demonstrates some of its tricks.
“I plan to burn 95 gallons an hour and it takes me, depending on the winds aloft, anywhere from two hours and ten minutes to two hours and twenty-five minutes to fly the KNEW to KEYW route. And the Merlin holds 642 gallons of fuel, so I tanker when coming from New Orleans because I can get fuel there cheaper than in Key West,” he explained.
Whether it’s staying in the upper-teens burning only 85 to 90 gallons an hour while going 290 knots or getting up to 27,000 feet and going far – the Merlin can seemingly do it all. Its versatility has been beneficial in meeting Hughes’ varied mission.
“A great example of the versatility of the Merlin happened in early November when flying between New Orleans and Key West. The upper-level weather was terrible, including severe turbulence. In a Merlin, you can jump down to 12,0000 to 15,000 feet and burn only 90 to 100 gallons per hour. The other aircraft had to stay in the 30’s for fuel consumption and got beaten up [by the poor weather].”
Range is another example of the Merlin’s versatility, he pointed out. “The trip from Key West to New Hampshire is a little over 1,600 nautical miles and it’s nonstop now. It takes a little over five hours, with my wife, my safe second [pilot], and our luggage. We have also flown it non-stop from Sedona, Arizona to Key West. And we could fly from Key West to Bermuda in only three hours and forty-five minutes.”
Hughes used the King Air 200 once again as a comparison for what makes the Merlin special, noting that its landing gear is on inspection (versus at a set interval). Maintenance costs have risen for all aircraft in the past few years, but he stated that the cost to work on Garrett engines have gone up slower than Pratts. Parts and service providers are also easy to come by for the Merlins, meaning that the almost fifty-year-old airframe is well supported.
Cabin comfort, tankering ability, economical operating costs, and long range are attributes that Merlin owners tout. Another thing that keeps their caretakers enamored, and turns heads on the ramp, is the aircraft’s distinct visual appeal.
“Merlins are downright sexy,” Hughes proudly stated. “I have gotten numerous compliments about ‘Magic Merlin’. One ground controller at KNEW even brought his son out on the weekend to see the aircraft. It really has a ramp presence.”
Of course, though, every plane has its downsides or nuances that potential owners should be aware of. For instance, in the Lear 24F if you get into a Dutch Roll, you better have your seatbelt on because it’s going to be a wild ride. Hughes mentions a handful of key points to be mindful of with the Merlin IIIB.
“The Merlins have four main problems. Number one is the batteries,” he said. “Because you’re turning a six-foot-long shaft, everything from 80-inch propellers, gearbox, turbine compressor – all the blood, guts, and feathers – to get it going. I carry a 40-pound lithium battery pack, which helps. There is actually an STC out to put a couple of tractor batteries up in the front, which also helps with the weight and balance.”
The second issue? The size of the brakes in comparison to the airframe. Reverse pitch is very beneficial when landing and the Merlin in full reverse puts out more thrust than a standard King Air 200 in takeoff. Hughes notes that he has landed with ease in less than 2,400 feet of runway. “Plus, with the Garrett engines, there is no hesitation going into reverse as with the Pratts.”
“The third problem is the cabin door, as it does not have a frame in the fuselage. So, do not tow a Merlin with the cabin door open. And there are several bayonets [to keep the door shut] and they actually teach you that if the ‘open door’ alert comes on in flight to ignore it because there are so many latches. Not only that, but there is also only one person who can fix a Merlin door and they charge about $70,000,” Hughes explained.
“The last issue, which is why a lot of Merlins end up in snowbanks, is the nose wheel steering. They basically have electrical steering in the front, which is only activated if you have the switch “on”, when you’re at low RPM, and the squat switch is activated, such as after touchdown or during taxi. So, imagine a crosswind landing with winds coming from the left; you have left wing down with right rudder. If that switch is “on”, once you land and go to low RPM, wherever your rudders are pointed is where the nose wheel will go. This means in this case you are going to make a quick right turn. So, my after-takeoff checklist consists of five things: brakes, gear, nose wheel steering “off”, flaps, and yaw dampener.”
This same mechanism allows the aircraft to make a 60 degree turn on demand while parking, where the inside main gear wheel ends up only 25 inches laterally from where it started.
Hughes has become accustomed to the various nuances of the airframe during his more than 600 hours flying it, out of a total of 4,000 hours in the sky. When asked whether he could see himself trading it for another plane in the future, he thought for a second before reiterating how versatile the plane is.
“The Merlin is an incredibly versatile aircraft. It is reasonable to acquire, reasonable to maintain, and very stingy on fuel burn. Passenger comfort is exemplary. And it’s built like a tank. All that said, a pilot must fly the Merlin ‘Chock to Chock’ and fly it the way it was designed to be flown,” he said. “I have an agreement with my Merlin. I’ll stay proficient and she’ll behave herself. It’s as simple as that.”
