In article ,
Bill wrote:

I am looking at a small airplane for recreational "Sunday afternoon
local area" flying and also for the once-a-month weekend 500 NM trip

If you're going to do the 500nm trip that often I think you've got
to optimize for that. The difference in flight time between a 155kt
plane and a 115kt plane is over an hour, and practically speaking it
crosses a threshold where the passengers (and fuel tanks) will need
a pitstop, probably adding another hour to the total time.

That means an old 172 (assuming it can carry your family and bag) gets
you there in about 5.5 hours with one stop. If your passengers can
stand a 4 hour flight (I'm including .3 in all these beyond flight time)
then a 182 can carry enough fuel to get you there in one leg, 1.5 hours
sooner. A Comanche or Mooney could shave another 30 minutes off the
flight time.

So now you have to ask yourself: Would you (and your family) make the
trip once a month if the trip involved 11 hours of flying? What if it
was only 7 or 8?

Cessna 172

Probably not enough payload, unless your kids are small. Range is
weak for your 500nm trip (assuming you can fill the tanks). In your
pricerange. Lots to choose from.

Cessna 182

Very popular, and hold a value disproportionate to the raw numbers
(speed, payload, fuel efficiency). Unless you have a 182 craving,
there are enough people who DO to price you out of the market.

Piper Cherokee
Piper Dakota

I have a Comanche, so of course I'd consider that. You can get an
older one in your budget. If your goal is to teach your wife (and
kids?) to fly you probably want to avoid the high performance
retractable.

I can do a 172 and my wife drive a Tahoe or I can buy a Mooney and we
will use the city bus system. Aren't airplanes great?

Well keep in mind that if you buy a 172 and a Tahoe and sell both in
5 years you'll have less money than you would if you bought a 182 and
a Hyundai. The plane will hold its value, the cars will not.

What is the "typical" budget needed, annually, to operate the above
airplanes in the manner I want to? Insurance? Fuel? Etc?

Roughly $8-10k once you factor in insurance, hangar/tiedown, maintenance,
fuel, oil, engine/avionics/paint reserve (or the equivalent loss in value
at resale).

The important thing is that while the costs of owning may average out
over several years (and after selling the plane), any one year might
cost a lot more if you had to replace an engine or comply with an A/D.

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/