Which plane for 5 small pax?

Adam Aulick wrote:
I have the opposite problem from the usual "four seats doesn't
mean four pax" problem -- I'm looking for an aircraft with typical
four-place load (and price) to carry five small passengers and
minimal baggage. What aircraft are out there on the used market
(including hombuilts!) which can safely, legally, and economically
carry two small adults (150 lbs each) three children (projected
total weight in five years at ages 9,7,5: 170 lbs), 100 lbs
baggage, and reasonable fuel, say 3 hrs? (570 lbs + fuel)

On the certificated side, it looks like a Skyhawk or its ilk would
(barely) carry the load, but I understand there's no legal way
to squeeze three kids in back of the four-place Cessnas and Pipers.
(Why not? Surely it's not that hard to add seatbelts!)

What else is out there in the world that I haven't heard of,
without moving up to a six-place plane?

What're you gonna do next year when those kids are all 10 pounds bigger?

Dave Butler wrote:

What're you gonna do next year when those kids are all 10 pounds bigger?

Adam, pay attention to Dave. When I bought my Maule, my stepson weighed 40 pounds --
now he's 210. I've also put on a few pounds since then. The first year, we all piled
into the plane with a week's worth of luggage and flew to Sanibel for vacation. Two
years later, it wasn't possible to carry more than an overnight case for each of us
anymore. Now, I can't even leave the ground with all three of us in the plane unless
I leave at least 10 gallons of fuel in the truck.

And Pete's still growing. We call him "Kong".

George Patterson
If you want to know God's opinion of money, just look at the people
he gives it to.

Many Beech Sierras and some Musketeers/Sundowners were built with a
child seat in the baggage area, and were certificated to carry six
people. I own a C24R Sierra (with 4 seats) and have also flown an A24R
with pax in the "way back", as my son used to call it.

The Sierra generally has about 1000 lbs useful, minus 60 gallons of fuel
leaves 640 lbs payload---plenty for two adults and three small kids. If
you stick with two 150lb adults, that leaves 340lbs for kids, dogs, and
bags, and that's only if you insist on full tanks. I should note that
the Sundowner gross is a bit less, but still plenty for your stated mission.

Additionally, these models have a huge baggage door to enable access to
the back, and the Sundowners and Sierras have a pilot's side door as
well as passenger side.

Economically? Yes, very. I get better mileage than most SUVs---my C24
cruises at 135 knots on 10.5gph, but if I throttle back just a little I
can get 131 knots on 9.5gph, close to 14nm/gal. Price-wise you can
probably locate a decent Musketeer Super III (model B23) or Sundowner
(C23) for under US$45k, or a Sierra for US$55-70k.

Fast? Not for a retract, but it's not a race. With a seat that comfy
and a view that nice, I am in no hurry. The fixed-gear Musketeers are
quite a bit slower than that, BTW, but the same logic applies.

Note that many Sierras were built with only 4 seats, and installing the
back seat retroactively is a very difficult thing.

Here is a good place to visit:

http://www.beechaeroclub.org

hope this helps