Page 14 - Volume 15 Number 12

Bill Dunbar with his Siai Marchetti SM 1019continue waiting for the airplane’s arrival, keeping it for his personal use; it has flown 440 hours in three years, strictly for non-business purposes. His Conquest II is leased out, but he sometimes alternates it with the CJ for his non-stop commutes to Bend.Often based at the Bend property, Dunbar’s most unusual turbine airplane is a rare Italian-built Siai Marchetti SM 1019 version of the Cessna Bird Dog, powered by an Allison 250B15G 317 shp turboprop. It takes off in 400 feet and cruises at 120 knots, burning 18 gph at sea level, or 10 gph at 12,000 feet. The total of four fuel tanks are automatically sequenced to feed into the left-main supply tank. However, Dunbar won’t give up his Alaska- based Super Cubs, because he still offers his hunting and fishing guide services to a few select individuals.eventually moved up to a Cessna 441 Conquest II, which he feels is a superior airplane to a King Air for his missions. His oil field work was in the Prudhoe Bay area, out on the North Slope, in support of which he flew regular weekly trips from Anchorage, accumulating 1,200 hours in the Conquest II.12 • TWIN & TURBINEIt was, he feels, essential to his business, so much so that when an operator bought his first 441, he immediately replaced it with another one.The CJ3 was ordered in 2006, when there was still a three-year wait for delivery. After he sold his business in 2007, he decided toDECEMBER 2011