gismo said:
I'm afraid you need to supply more criteria to get a good match. First of all, why only two seats?
I worded the criteria wrong - I intended to mean that 2 seats was the minimum required, but no more than 2 would likely ever be occupied. So 4 seats would be OK so long as they didn't come at a premium. Based on your answer and that of others 4 seats is the norm.
As someone else pointed out, "modern" non-LSA certified two seaters are fairly rare because the market is very small except for dedicated trainers. And most "four seaters" are really two person airplanes when loaded with full fuel and some baggage. Finally there's very little penalty, cost wise (purchase and operational) between a two seat plane and one with four seats if they both have about the same payload. There are some "classic" two seat designs that meet most of your stated criteria except for the tricycle gear. Finally there are plenty of 2 seat LSAs out there but since most if not all are of recent manufacture, you aren't likely to find any "inexpensive" ones today.
Ironically I'm somewhat more familiar with what is available in the experimental world (I thought someday of building my own - but eventually concluded would rather fly than build) and as you note (and I hadn't really known,) 2-seaters are more common among homebuilts than among certified.
In the homebuilt world, there are a lot more choices for airplanes with only two seats, almost in complete opposite ratios as the certified choices. The most popular by far are the various RVs, and particularly the RV-7 with side by side seating and a nosewheel. There are some significant cost benefits of going with a homebuilt although IME most of the better built ones command prices similar to the LSAs, e.g. not what I would call "inexpensive". And a low price might mean some build quality issues that you wouldn't want to tangle with.
In the homebuilt arena you'd also have to choose between aluminum and plastic construction. Typically plastic offers both better performance/economy and better opportunities for hidden defects and/or excess weight. Personally, I'd much prefer to purchase a metal homebuilt than a plastic one unless I was intimately familiar with it's construction, but would rather fly a plastic one due to the performance advantages. Homebuilts also give you greater opportunities WRT owner maintenance (more savings) as well as a multitude of affordable choices for avionics that can't be installed in a certified airplane.
Do you have a specific purchase and hourly operating cost in mind?
Purchase price under $35k, if that is possible within my criteria. Given rents in my area, operating costs well under about $80/hr. A wild guess of my own likely flying would be on the order of 80 to 120 hours a year (borderline for a purchase, if I understand correctly. But superior availability over rentals might be key decider. Probably would overnight more often than not.)
Are you dead set against a taildragger?
Long answer to a simple question: I'm still a student pilot with only about 6 hours of power as of this evening (C-152; e.g. I just got done a couple hours ago of practicing stalls) and 13 hours of glider time (SGS 2-33A a couple years back). If I do purchase, it would likely be within the next year or so. Naturally I'm getting ahead of myself by asking now! But I'm already finding myself booking commercial flights of under 1000 nm once or twice a month. (E.g. Central Oregon to SF Bay area.) If it wasn't for the projected travel to business meetings I wouldn't even be considering a purchase. Also, I'd probably opt for getting an IFR rating before a taildragger endorsement - unless there was a compelling reason to reverse that priority.
Speaking of IFR: I suppose I could include IFR equipped as a criteria but I suppose I'd have to up the amount I'd be willing to spend - correct?
Does cabin width and/or height pose any concerns?
I'm 5' 9" and 170 lbs and my wife is even smaller, so I don't think there should be any height (or weight!) issues. (The 340 lbs was being pessimistic - I swear! :wink2
The C-152 seems a bit cozy, so anything wider than that would be preferred.
Would you want to perform as much of the maintenance yourself as possible to save money?
That would be nice, and would be a reason to include homebuilts. But not essential.
What climate will you normally be operating in?
I'm in Oregon, so Pacific northwest/west coast (i.e. northern Washington to southern California, with occasional forays elsewhere in the west to about the Rockies. Be neat to use it to visit relatives in Minnesota and Illinois once or twice a year.)
