AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - 55

At a glance:
Turbo Seminole
Since their debut in 1979, Piper's
Seminoles have become the lighttwin
trainer of choice, with more
than 1,000 sales. Many of these
were fleet sales to training schools
such as ATP Flight School and the
University of North Dakota. Their
handling, equipage, and safety have
been their strong points, with recent
models having Garmin G1000
panels. Their counter-rotating
propellers and one knot's difference
between stall and VMC
speeds
make for docile demonstrations of
engine-out behavior.
first flight as a reborn airplane. Coleman
did a two-hour preflight inspection and
runup, then took off, climbed to 11,000
feet over the Kenosha airport, checked
all the airplane's vital signs, and recorded
only a few minor glitches.
Even so, the airplane was destined
for more work. Leveraging his position
at Duncan-one of the nation's largest
maintenance, repair, and overhaul organizations-Coleman
had the Turbo Seminole's
ratty interior restyled, fitted with new seats,
sidewalls, and headliner. Duncan also gave
it a new paint job. These completions didn't
occur in one unbroken stretch of time. They
occurred in fits and starts as gaps in the
workflow permitted Coleman's airplane to
be sandwiched in between Duncan's regular
customers.
Fortunately, Duncan had been
experimenting with a new paint from
Sherwin-Williams Aerospace Coatings
called SKYscapes Next Gen, which uses a
new type of basecoat/topcoat combination.
When some was left over from paint jobs
Duncan had been doing on behemoths like
Gulfstreams, Globals, or Falcons, Coleman
was able to wangle enough to apply to his
airplane-when there was enough time.
Leafing through a Sherwin-Williams
catalog, Coleman came across an unusualsounding
paint under the " Defense
Coatings " category. Seems the U.S. Navy
had commissioned Defense Holdings,
Inc. (DHI) to come up with a photoluminescent
paint. DHI partnered with
Sherwin-Williams to develop the paint,
dubbed AfterGlow that could be applied
to propeller tips. The Navy wanted it for
use on aircraft carriers, where it would
illuminate prop tips and give the visibility
needed to prevent personnel from inadvertently
walking into a moving prop. Although
it was meant as a safety measure for loud,
crowded carrier decks, Coleman thought
the paint's greenish glow was cool. So, he
got a sample and had it applied to the Turbo
Seminole's new three-blade Hartzell props.
Turns out, FedEx also uses AfterGlow on
its Cessna Caravan propellers.
It's a real attention-getter, that's
for sure-especially at night, when the
Turbo Seminoles, with a mere
87 sales, were less popular. The
idea was to take the normally
aspirated Seminole design and
turn it into a more of a cruising
airplane by adding turbochargers.
But by the early 1980s the era of
the light twin was winding down.
The Turbo Seminole wasn't as
fast as competing used light
twins such as Beech Barons,
Piper Twin Comanches, and Aero
Commanders. Gas prices were
rising, too, as well as concerns over
high product liability settlements.
Of the 87 airplanes sold, 22 were
delivered to European customers.
But only 38 remain on the FAA
registry, which makes them rare
birds indeed. -TAH
AOPA PILOT / October 2021
55
AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021

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