Aircraft model
SMITH AEROSTAR 601
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Aerostar is Ted Smith's design and it flies like nothing else in the category: a mid-wing twin with a very small wing, very high wing loading, and control harmony that pilots who have flown one talk about for years afterwards. The 601 is the turbocharged unpressurized model, sitting between the normally aspirated 600 and the pressurized 601P, and it is the fastest thing of its size on 580 total horsepower.
The small wing is also the whole of the caution. Approach speeds are high, the aeroplane is unforgiving of being slow, and single-engine work needs to be flown precisely rather than approximately. Parts support has been through several owners of the type certificate and is workable rather than easy; the type club is where the knowledge lives. Two turbocharged Lycoming TIO-540s set the running cost, and on an airframe of this age the exhaust and induction systems deserve as much attention at pre-purchase as the cylinders.
Compare with…
Put SMITH AEROSTAR 601 side by side with up to two other models.
- SMITH AEROSTAR 601
What it is
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 2 |
| Engine | Lycoming TIO-540-S1A5 (turbocharged) |
| Horsepower | 290 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | FAR23 |
| Production start | 1973 |
| Production end | 1978 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance;multi-engine |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 236 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 1,174 nm |
| Service ceiling | 30,100 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,700 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 69 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 2,200 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,625 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,950 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 906 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 5,700 lb |
| Empty weight | 3,750 lb |
| Usable fuel | 174 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 33.6 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $150,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $300,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $62,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $88,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 102 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 29 |
| Median year built | 1970.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 4 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 137.93 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 137.93 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 10 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 34.48 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 3 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 29 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 29 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 29 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing multi-engine, piston, 2 engines, 5-6 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 7.4 of 103 |
| Support | 2.2 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 9.7 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 22.1 · 57 models in class.
- Severity: class median 25.
- Access: class median 2,924.5.
- Support: class median 57.
- Liquidity: class median 21.42.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.