To start off, I fully intend on this being a year or two long process in order to manage my expectations, and if the right one comes along that checks all the boxes, I can jump on it.
Mission: Family of 3 (4 by the time we purchase), I'm 6'4 230, wife is 5'5 and 130, kids are 3 and the other due in November. Expect luggage to vary wildly due to growing kids and what is needed to support (car seats, strollers, etc), but probably around 100-150lbs at any given time.
The most challenging portion is defining the distance/environment of the mission. My wife and I are both active duty, so this would be something that could end up anywhere in the country, and potentially stored for a couple years if we end up moved overseas for any reason.
Our family is all in TX and the furthest corners of the US that we would potentially be stationed are either NC or ID, making for a ~1000NM one way flight. This is on the far end of what a trip would consist of, and would obviously be something broken up into 2 days since even at 140KGS, we're looking at 7+hrs of flight time. Trips like this would also only be once or twice a year depending on what is going on with the family.
I have no mission that includes 4 adults. That is one of the 10% missions I can rent for if it is absolutely necessary. This is meant to be a family hauler.
So I guess the key to this purchase is flexibility, but still trying to avoid mission creep. I'd like to stick to a normally aspirated single, either 4 or 6 place, and ideally staying in the $75-80k range. I'd like to have this for use on long-weekend trips every other month or so, likely no further than 2-3 hours each way. Now where those flights actually go are completely dependent upon where we are stationed. More just exploring the space. Likely places we could go are south TX, FL panhandle, central ID, and eastern NC. Maybe Phoenix sometime down the road.
Things we are looking for in a plane are obviously comfort for a family of 4 and some luggage. I'd love to get use out of this until retirement (12 more years), but if it is something we have to upgrade to a larger plane half-way through due to growing kids, that could be doable. What we don't want is a project plane. I'm not trying to get a high or beyond TBO engine or sketchy maintenance logs. Mediocre interior and paint are just fine. Avionics doesn't need to be anything special either, just something comfortable for IFR flight, WAAS is awesome, as is ADS-B in. 2 axis AP is basically a must. Beyond that, everything is just gravy.
I have a fairly long list of planes I have been browsing and I feel like narrowing it down to one or two options will definitely help. So far we've considered: Beech Debonair (likely a C33/C33A), Piper 235 Pathfinder or Dakota, Cherokee Six 300, Comanche 260, Arrow II or III, Cessna 182N-Q, Cessna 206, or a Mooney M20J (post 1981). We had initially looked at V-tail Bonanzas, but with the limited availability of ruddervator skins, we're going to hold off on them.
As for my experience, I have roughly 600 hours PIC and 1500 total time. Most of my GA time is in C172, 182, A36, Archer, and DA-20/40. The vast majority of my time is from multi-engine jets in the Air Force, however.
Mission: Family of 3 (4 by the time we purchase), I'm 6'4 230, wife is 5'5 and 130, kids are 3 and the other due in November. Expect luggage to vary wildly due to growing kids and what is needed to support (car seats, strollers, etc), but probably around 100-150lbs at any given time.
The most challenging portion is defining the distance/environment of the mission. My wife and I are both active duty, so this would be something that could end up anywhere in the country, and potentially stored for a couple years if we end up moved overseas for any reason.
Our family is all in TX and the furthest corners of the US that we would potentially be stationed are either NC or ID, making for a ~1000NM one way flight. This is on the far end of what a trip would consist of, and would obviously be something broken up into 2 days since even at 140KGS, we're looking at 7+hrs of flight time. Trips like this would also only be once or twice a year depending on what is going on with the family.
I have no mission that includes 4 adults. That is one of the 10% missions I can rent for if it is absolutely necessary. This is meant to be a family hauler.
So I guess the key to this purchase is flexibility, but still trying to avoid mission creep. I'd like to stick to a normally aspirated single, either 4 or 6 place, and ideally staying in the $75-80k range. I'd like to have this for use on long-weekend trips every other month or so, likely no further than 2-3 hours each way. Now where those flights actually go are completely dependent upon where we are stationed. More just exploring the space. Likely places we could go are south TX, FL panhandle, central ID, and eastern NC. Maybe Phoenix sometime down the road.
Things we are looking for in a plane are obviously comfort for a family of 4 and some luggage. I'd love to get use out of this until retirement (12 more years), but if it is something we have to upgrade to a larger plane half-way through due to growing kids, that could be doable. What we don't want is a project plane. I'm not trying to get a high or beyond TBO engine or sketchy maintenance logs. Mediocre interior and paint are just fine. Avionics doesn't need to be anything special either, just something comfortable for IFR flight, WAAS is awesome, as is ADS-B in. 2 axis AP is basically a must. Beyond that, everything is just gravy.
I have a fairly long list of planes I have been browsing and I feel like narrowing it down to one or two options will definitely help. So far we've considered: Beech Debonair (likely a C33/C33A), Piper 235 Pathfinder or Dakota, Cherokee Six 300, Comanche 260, Arrow II or III, Cessna 182N-Q, Cessna 206, or a Mooney M20J (post 1981). We had initially looked at V-tail Bonanzas, but with the limited availability of ruddervator skins, we're going to hold off on them.
As for my experience, I have roughly 600 hours PIC and 1500 total time. Most of my GA time is in C172, 182, A36, Archer, and DA-20/40. The vast majority of my time is from multi-engine jets in the Air Force, however.
