High Performance Single Engine Choices

Well, Sami, I've got ya covered on everything except the 160 knots. Our
Cherokee 235 Pathfinder has:

1. Fast: 160 kts

We'll do 140 knots all day long, with fixed gear. (Read: Cheaper annual
inspections.)

2. Price range: $75K-$120K

We bought ours for $74K, and put in a new engine. With the new interior,
new engine, and a raft of other stuff, it's in the $100K range now. (But
it's not for sale... ;-)

3. Four Seater

Yep. Four REAL, 200+ pound, 6 foot tall people.

4. Range: 800nm

Try 1100+ nm. Farther, if you throttle back, and your bladder can stand
it.

5. Useful Payload (with full fuel); 650lbs

1460 pounds total. 956 pounds useful, with 84 gallons of fuel on board.

6. Retains its value well over time

Late model Cherokee 235s sell themselves.

7. Reliable: Engine TBO of 2000 hrs, good saftey record

Low compression Lycoming O-540, carbureted. Burns car gas. Almost
bulletproof.

8. Insurable for a pilot with only 350 hrs PIC experience (no HP/complex
time)

Yep.

I'd say if you can bend your mission parameters on the speed required, you
won't find a better aircraft than the post-1972 Cherokee 235 (known
variously as the "Charger", "Pathfinder", and "Dakota", depending on the
year.) That's the year they stretched the fuselage 5 inches, making all
that horsepower usable.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"