Cherokee 235 vs Trinidad vs Comanche

Douglas Paterson wrote:
I doubt I have "all" the facts--will I ever? But, I did rule out the
Bonanza for essentially three reasons:

1) The throw-over yoke. That's just downright weird--and, especially my
first time out, I'm deliberately avoiding weird. "Baby steps."

Eh? Thats downright cool. Front seat pax has a lot more room and it
makes it easier to get in and out of the plane (second door would be
nicer, but would probably make things heavier). There is never any
question about who is flying the plane.

However, there are a fair amount of people who see it your way and feel
the need for two yokes. There are both factory and aftermarket dual yoke
systems that can replace the single yoke with about a half hours worth of
work.

2) The reversed controls. Weird again.

Am not sure what you mean here. Maybe the gear switch being on the right
side of the panel and the flaps on the left? Its never been a problem for
me as I don't ever fly anything else. I suspect I might be an gear-up
accident waiting to happen if I went and got in some other retract.

3) Cost. Based on your post, I guess you'd disagree with this one. Seems
like everything I read, though, indicated that the Bos are pricey to buy and
pricey to maintain.

I think Newps already addressed this well enough. The fact that i can
even get NEW parts for my 57 year old plane says enough, IMO.


--
Frank Stutzman
Bonanza N494B "Hula Girl"
Hood River, OR (soon to be Boise, ID)

Douglas Paterson wrote:


I doubt I have "all" the facts--will I ever? But, I did rule out the
Bonanza for essentially three reasons:

1) The throw-over yoke. That's just downright weird--and, especially my
first time out, I'm deliberately avoiding weird. "Baby steps."
\


Weird? Not hardly. Leaves lots of room for the wife and if you just
gotta have dual controls you can get one on ebay. They take a minute to
swap out.



2) The reversed controls. Weird again.


Uh, what? I turn left and go left.




3) Cost. Based on your post, I guess you'd disagree with this one. Seems
like everything I read, though, indicated that the Bos are pricey to buy and
pricey to maintain.

Nope. First off a Bonanza doesn't break. Not like the tin cans your
looking at. That's the first thing I noticed, however that makes the
plane a little heavier. I really hate weight but that's the trade off.
To compare to the 182 I had doing the same test the Bo with two seats
in, myself and 40 gallons only needs an extra 100 feet of runway, 550
feet vs 450. Lands and gets stopped in same distance. The real beauty
is once you're in the air it will far outclimb your 182/Cherokee, which
is really what you're looking for, right, being there in Colorado?

"Doug" wrote in message
ups.com...

Husky's outperform Supercubs in speed,

That's a given.


comfort,

Subjective.


instruments and on
floats.

Who cares about that in something your flinging around the dirt strips?
All you really need is a tach, a radio and a transponder. The rest is
just weight.


The Supercub will come down steeper and can be lighter. Both
land short.


The Cubs land and takeoff shorter.

Douglas Paterson wrote:



The further I get in this process, the more I'm leaning away from the
Comanche and toward the Trinidad

You said the Bonanza was not the right plane for you but the Trinidad
is? Holy Cow.

Douglas Paterson wrote:



OK, that's a good data point. Truckee/Tahoe are around 8,000', yes? What's
the elevations in the pass(es) you go through to get there? Summer
time/fully loaded, or do you have to leave some gas or your buddy behind?
Do you mention that ground effect trick for short/soft fields, or is it an
issue of you can't get going fast enough with the wheels rolling on pavement
at high-elevation fields?

Any 182 or Cherokee 235 will get thru 12,000 foot passes near gross
weight. You don't try to takeoff in either one at gross off a short
field at a high density altitude. Period.

B A R R Y wrote:

Newps wrote:

The problem you're going to have with the Trinidad is parts. Nobody
has them in stock, everything always has to be ordered. That takes
time and expense. Plus they aren't very fast for what you're going to
pay.



But they look cool!



Might as well look cool and go fast.

Newps,

You said the Bonanza was not the right plane for you but the Trinidad
is? Holy Cow.


Two words:

- Doors!
- Visibility!

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Newps,

The problem you're going to have with the Trinidad is parts.


Not so. Most of the systems stuff is standard, brakes, engine,
avionics. The rest is easily obtained through Socata.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Thomas Borchert wrote:
Newps,


You said the Bonanza was not the right plane for you but the Trinidad
is? Holy Cow.



Two words:

- Doors!
- Visibility!

I'll grant you the extra door, wish I had it, especially a gull wing
door, that's cool. Visibility? Nope, I don't think so. They'd be
equal in the respect, plus the overriding downside to the Trinidad is a
complete and total lack of parts without having to order them in. Plus,
doing upgrades or getting an STC for something cool. I learned from the
Cardinal I owned. It's like owning an Apple computer. All the new and
great programs come out for the PC and maybe they come out for the
Apple. Maybe.

Thomas Borchert wrote:

Newps,


The problem you're going to have with the Trinidad is parts.



Not so. Most of the systems stuff is standard, brakes, engine,
avionics. The rest is easily obtained through Socata.

Everybody can get parts but nobody has ever seen a Trinidad, nobody
knows how to operate on them. It's just going to cost more all around.