How much longer?

I'm not so sure, however, that even you aren't part of the phenomenon -
no offense meant or implied, just making a non-judgmental observation.
After all, how many of those 235 horses your Dakota (?) has do you
really need? Wouldn't an Archer do 99 percent of your missions? And
with a much lower fuel bill?

None taken. You are absolutely correct.

Which is why we're looking at entering a six-way partnership (flying club,
actually) on a 1946 Ercoupe. 85 horses, 2 seats, 4 gph. The Pathfinder
(immediate predecessor to the Dakota) is an awesome plane for hauling a
family in style -- and we'll certainly keep it -- but Atlas burns 25 gph at
takeoff, which makes buzzing down to a pancake breakfast something you tend
to think twice about nowadays.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"