AirTalk.org Aviation discussions newsgroups   Archives   FAQ   Search   Memberlist   Usergroups   Register   Profile   Log in to check your private messages   Log in  Looking for Next Plane          AirTalk.org Forum Index -> Owning Airplanes View previous topic :: View next topic   Author Message mbremer216 Guest Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 3:21 am    Post subject: Looking for Next Plane I am looking for suggestions from the peanut gallery on my step-up aircraft. I am IFR certified with about 500 hours PIC. I currently own a 1968 Cherokee 180D. Good, sturdy bird and has served me well. It's great for sightseeing and taking folks for rides, but slogging along through extended cross-countries can really take it's toll. The Mrs. tolerates flying as long as we are going somewhere. What I am thinking about is something with more speed (who doesn't!) but still has reasonable maintenance costs. The typical trip for us is around 600 NM, usually just me, the wife and a small dog. She likes to sit in the back seat (1st row of the First Class section) and spread out her comfort items. I like her to sit in the back so I can spread out my pilot junk. I'm not afraid of moving to a complex aircraft, but I'm also not made of money. Any suggestions??? Thanks Mike Back to top Paul Tomblin Guest Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 3:21 am    Post subject: Re: Looking for Next Plane In a previous article, "mbremer216" <mbremer216 (AT) comcast (DOT) net> said: Quote: What I am thinking about is something with more speed (who doesn't!) but still has reasonable maintenance costs. The typical trip for us is around 600 NM, usually just me, the wife and a small dog. She likes to sit in the back seat (1st row of the First Class section) and spread out her comfort items. I like her to sit in the back so I can spread out my pilot junk. I just wish Piper made a plane that was as wide and comfortable as a PA32, but in a 4 seater. My wife and I both love that extra width compared to the PA28 family. -- Paul Tomblin <ptomblin (AT) xcski (DOT) com> http://blog.xcski.com/ "The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home." - James Madison Back to top kontiki Guest Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 4:23 am    Post subject: Re: Looking for Next Plane mbremer216 wrote: Quote: I'm not afraid of moving to a complex aircraft, but I'm also not made of money. Any suggestions??? There is no substitute for speed in terms of convenience and efficiency. You are not made of money so that rules out the two viable fixed gear airplanes (AFAIK) that will give you speed (SR22 or Columbia) so you are going to have to go with a retract. Second thing you need to decide is what in your opinion is "fast"? If fast is 140Kts then a 1970's model Piper Arrow is an option. If 160Kts is more your idea of fast then take a look at Piper Commanche, Mooney or maybe a Beech Bonanza. The later the model year of these airplanes the more they will cost. Back to top Matt Whiting Guest Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 5:46 am    Post subject: Re: Looking for Next Plane mbremer216 wrote: Quote: I am looking for suggestions from the peanut gallery on my step-up aircraft. I am IFR certified with about 500 hours PIC. I currently own a 1968 Cherokee 180D. Good, sturdy bird and has served me well. It's great for sightseeing and taking folks for rides, but slogging along through extended cross-countries can really take it's toll. The Mrs. tolerates flying as long as we are going somewhere. What I am thinking about is something with more speed (who doesn't!) but still has reasonable maintenance costs. The typical trip for us is around 600 NM, usually just me, the wife and a small dog. She likes to sit in the back seat (1st row of the First Class section) and spread out her comfort items. I like her to sit in the back so I can spread out my pilot junk. I'm not afraid of moving to a complex aircraft, but I'm also not made of money. Any suggestions??? Thanks Mike Do you like low-wings better than high-wings? Low maintenance and insurance costs pretty much rules out a retractable. Something like a 206, Cherokee 235, etc., might be your best bet. However, it is hard to turn a 600 nm trip into less than a 4 hours trip with a fixed gear, normally aspirated airplane - at least not one that costs less than $200K. Matt Back to top Jim Carter Guest Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 6:12 am    Post subject: Re: Looking for Next Plane ....and with a pilot's port side door. -- Jim Carter Rogers, Arkansas "Paul Tomblin" <ptomblin+netnews (AT) xcski (DOT) com> wrote in message news:f2g4ua$r1j$1 (AT) allhats (DOT) xcski.com... Quote: In a previous article, "mbremer216" <mbremer216 (AT) comcast (DOT) net> said: What I am thinking about is something with more speed (who doesn't!) but still has reasonable maintenance costs. The typical trip for us is around 600 NM, usually just me, the wife and a small dog. She likes to sit in the back seat (1st row of the First Class section) and spread out her comfort items. I like her to sit in the back so I can spread out my pilot junk. I just wish Piper made a plane that was as wide and comfortable as a PA32, but in a 4 seater. My wife and I both love that extra width compared to the PA28 family. -- Paul Tomblin <ptomblin (AT) xcski (DOT) com> http://blog.xcski.com/ "The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home." - James Madison Back to top Robert M. Gary Guest Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 12:55 am    Post subject: Re: Looking for Next Plane On May 16, 3:21 pm, "mbremer216" <mbremer...@comcast.net> wrote: Quote: I am looking for suggestions from the peanut gallery on my step-up aircraft. I am IFR certified with about 500 hours PIC. I currently own a 1968 Cherokee 180D. Good, sturdy bird and has served me well. It's great for sightseeing and taking folks for rides, but slogging along through extended cross-countries can really take it's toll. The Mrs. tolerates flying as long as we are going somewhere. What I am thinking about is something with more speed (who doesn't!) but still has reasonable maintenance costs. The typical trip for us is around 600 NM, usually just me, the wife and a small dog. She likes to sit in the back seat (1st row of the First Class section) and spread out her comfort items. I like her to sit in the back so I can spread out my pilot junk. I'm not afraid of moving to a complex aircraft, but I'm also not made of money. Any suggestions??? Thanks Mike Mooney Back to top Robert M. Gary Guest Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 12:56 am    Post subject: Re: Looking for Next Plane On May 16, 5:46 pm, Matt Whiting <whit...@epix.net> wrote: Quote: mbremer216 wrote: I am looking for suggestions from the peanut gallery on my step-up aircraft. I am IFR certified with about 500 hours PIC. I currently own a 1968 Cherokee 180D. Good, sturdy bird and has served me well. It's great for sightseeing and taking folks for rides, but slogging along through extended cross-countries can really take it's toll. The Mrs. tolerates flying as long as we are going somewhere. What I am thinking about is something with more speed (who doesn't!) but still has reasonable maintenance costs. The typical trip for us is around 600 NM, usually just me, the wife and a small dog. She likes to sit in the back seat (1st row of the First Class section) and spread out her comfort items. I like her to sit in the back so I can spread out my pilot junk. I'm not afraid of moving to a complex aircraft, but I'm also not made of money. Any suggestions??? Thanks Mike Do you like low-wings better than high-wings? Low maintenance and insurance costs pretty much rules out a retractable. Something like a 206, Cherokee 235, etc., might be your best bet. However, it is hard to turn a 600 nm trip into less than a 4 hours trip with a fixed gear, normally aspirated airplane - at least not one that costs less than $200K. Of course depending on how much you fly the high fuel burn/low cruise speed of the 206 and 235 will cost you as much as the insurance difference would in a retract. -Robert Back to top Matt Whiting Guest Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 3:03 am    Post subject: Re: Looking for Next Plane Robert M. Gary wrote: Quote: On May 16, 5:46 pm, Matt Whiting <whit...@epix.net> wrote: mbremer216 wrote: I am looking for suggestions from the peanut gallery on my step-up aircraft. I am IFR certified with about 500 hours PIC. I currently own a 1968 Cherokee 180D. Good, sturdy bird and has served me well. It's great for sightseeing and taking folks for rides, but slogging along through extended cross-countries can really take it's toll. The Mrs. tolerates flying as long as we are going somewhere. What I am thinking about is something with more speed (who doesn't!) but still has reasonable maintenance costs. The typical trip for us is around 600 NM, usually just me, the wife and a small dog. She likes to sit in the back seat (1st row of the First Class section) and spread out her comfort items. I like her to sit in the back so I can spread out my pilot junk. I'm not afraid of moving to a complex aircraft, but I'm also not made of money. Any suggestions??? Thanks Mike Do you like low-wings better than high-wings? Low maintenance and insurance costs pretty much rules out a retractable. Something like a 206, Cherokee 235, etc., might be your best bet. However, it is hard to turn a 600 nm trip into less than a 4 hours trip with a fixed gear, normally aspirated airplane - at least not one that costs less than $200K. Of course depending on how much you fly the high fuel burn/low cruise speed of the 206 and 235 will cost you as much as the insurance difference would in a retract. That's true. I only wish I could fly enough to make this the case! Matt Back to top Mike Noel Guest Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 3:40 am    Post subject: Re: Looking for Next Plane Fast, 2 people and relatively low maintenance sounds like a mission for a fixed gear experimental. You might be able to pick an RV6A up for around 65, 70K? -- Best Regards, Mike http://photoshow.comcast.net/mikenoel It is not work that kills men; it is worry. Worry is rust upon the blade. Back to top Luke Skywalker Guest Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 6:12 am    Post subject: Re: Looking for Next Plane On May 16, 5:21 pm, "mbremer216" <mbremer...@comcast.net> wrote: Quote: I am looking for suggestions from the peanut gallery on my step-up aircraft. I am IFR certified with about 500 hours PIC. I currently own a 1968 Cherokee 180D. Good, sturdy bird and has served me well. It's great for sightseeing and taking folks for rides, but slogging along through extended cross-countries can really take it's toll. The Mrs. tolerates flying as long as we are going somewhere. What I am thinking about is something with more speed (who doesn't!) but still has reasonable maintenance costs. The typical trip for us is around 600 NM, usually just me, the wife and a small dog. She likes to sit in the back seat (1st row of the First Class section) and spread out her comfort items. I like her to sit in the back so I can spread out my pilot junk. I'm not afraid of moving to a complex aircraft, but I'm also not made of money. Any suggestions??? Thanks Mike a 260 Comanche if you like Pipers... Great bird. I like the Turbo Twin myself but the 260 is a joy to fly. Robert Back to top Kyle Boatright Guest Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 1:22 am    Post subject: Re: Looking for Next Plane "Luke Skywalker" <uc78bomber (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote in message news:1179548467.919787.161900 (AT) l77g2000hsb (DOT) googlegroups.com... Quote: On May 16, 5:21 pm, "mbremer216" <mbremer...@comcast.net> wrote: I am looking for suggestions from the peanut gallery on my step-up aircraft. I am IFR certified with about 500 hours PIC. I currently own a 1968 Cherokee 180D. Good, sturdy bird and has served me well. It's great for sightseeing and taking folks for rides, but slogging along through extended cross-countries can really take it's toll. The Mrs. tolerates flying as long as we are going somewhere. What I am thinking about is something with more speed (who doesn't!) but still has reasonable maintenance costs. The typical trip for us is around 600 NM, usually just me, the wife and a small dog. She likes to sit in the back seat (1st row of the First Class section) and spread out her comfort items. I like her to sit in the back so I can spread out my pilot junk. I'm not afraid of moving to a complex aircraft, but I'm also not made of money. Any suggestions??? Thanks Mike a 260 Comanche if you like Pipers... Arn't Comanche's getting a bit long in the tooth to be inexpensive on the maintenance front? I seem to remember that certain parts (no idea which ones) are becoming rare, plus the airplane was built back in the day when labor was cheap, so the airplanes were built without a tremendous amount of attention to part count or maintainability. An RV-6A, 7A, or (especially) 9A seems a good fit if the OP only needs 2 seats and if he and his wife can stand sitting next to each other. The RV-8A would be a good choice too (more elbow room, since the seating is tandem), but there wouldn't be a good place for the dog... With time and money, an RV-10 project could result in a 200 mph 4 seater with low maintenance costs, but most of the ones finished so far have ended up at $125k or more, because the builders fell into the temptation of "It'll be a $100k airplane, I can't bring myself to put a used engine in it, and I might as well have a top notch panel while I'm at it, and leather is nice on the seats, and..." That's an easy way to turn a $100,000 project into a $150k project. If the mission requirement is 4 seats, a little more speed than a Cherodee, and low maintenance, the Grumman Tigers and fixed gear Cessna Cardinals might be worth looking at. Decisions, decisions. KB Quote: Great bird. I like the Turbo Twin myself but the 260 is a joy to fly. 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