For decades the ultimate airplane pilots dreamed of and strived to own was a piston twin—often either a Beech Baron or Cessna 310. Beech, Cessna and Piper worked to develop brand loyalty and provided incentives for owners of their piston singles to step up progressively through the ranks of higher performance singles until they could buy one of the company’s twins.
Owning a twin was a sign that an owner-pilot had made it—had reached the level of controlling that power and performance and could confidently fly in virtually any weather. Plus, a lot of pilots—and their families—felt much more comfortable flying at night, in IFR and over large bodies of water when there were two engines keeping their tiny world in the sky aloft.