May as well stay in the family and get a Bonanza. You can get a Bo that
meets all your needs with the S35 and newer. The S35's will run less
than $100K. I have the S35 and you will get 175 kts cruise on 14 gph.
Just farting around the local area? Then 8 gph for 130 kts. You want
150 knots then all you'll need is 10 gph. No aircraft you'll look at
short of the new glass planes like Cirrus and Lancair are as efficient,
but with those you'll get murdered with insurance. The S35 and newer
are 6 seaters but teriffic as four seaters. I have 1260 lbs useful with
four seats in. The main reason I got it was the cabin is huge compared
to the 182 I had. I wanted space, especially for camping. With just
two seats in I don't really need to pack, just pitch the crap in there
and go. I had a 182 for 7 years prior to getting the Bo 2 1/2 years
ago. Here's my costs. Annuals. The 182 was always around $1000 if
nothing big was wrong. The Bo is about $1500-1800. Insurance: The 182
settled right in at $1000 a year for a $70K hull. The Bo is $2300 and
dropping for a $90K hull. I expect it to be in the mid to high teens
after another year or two. Where I save money is gas. Because the 182
would only indicate 135-140 mph at top of the green I always ran there
burning 12.5 gph. At the same speed the Bo burns 7 gph. In the local
area I normally run around at 45% power burning 8 gph. On a trip from
here in Montana to the Twin Cities I shave an hour off the trip and burn
5 less gallons then the 182. I never would have considered a Mooney.
Main reason is they are pavement only planes. I got to be able to go
off road. The Bo has more prop clearance than my 182 had and I had an
oversize nosewheel. Also I did not like the Mooney interior. Way too
small and I really didn't like sitting with my legs straight out. Plus
the windows are like pillbox slits compared to the Bo.
B A R R Y wrote:
Kingfish wrote:
Try this: http://www.ipilot.com/aircraft
Will do!
What did you have in mind? You fly out of HFD right?
That was temporary. Now we're back at Windham (IJD).
We're (two of us) looking at the 150+ knot range, 4-5 seats, IFR &
autopilot, ~$100-125k. As we're very early in the process, I'm still
looking into speed / payload / fuel burn trade-offs, cabin size, gear
options.
We'd rather not get smaller up front than the Sundowner, as I'm 6'1"
225, and my co-owner is 6'6", 185. We'd like to go faster and higher
(who doesn't? G) and possibly gain some load.
I'm looking for a resource to fit aircraft to the mission, where I can
start getting price and insurance ideas from Trade-a-Plane, etc...