"Luke Skywalker" wrote in message
oups.com...
On May 16, 5:21 pm, "mbremer216" wrote:
I am looking for suggestions from the peanut gallery on my step-up
aircraft.
I am IFR certified with about 500 hours PIC.

I currently own a 1968 Cherokee 180D. Good, sturdy bird and has served
me
well. It's great for sightseeing and taking folks for rides, but
slogging
along through extended cross-countries can really take it's toll. The
Mrs.
tolerates flying as long as we are going somewhere.

What I am thinking about is something with more speed (who doesn't!) but
still has reasonable maintenance costs. The typical trip for us is
around
600 NM, usually just me, the wife and a small dog. She likes to sit in
the
back seat (1st row of the First Class section) and spread out her comfort
items. I like her to sit in the back so I can spread out my pilot junk.

I'm not afraid of moving to a complex aircraft, but I'm also not made of
money.

Any suggestions???

Thanks

Mike

a 260 Comanche if you like Pipers...

Arn't Comanche's getting a bit long in the tooth to be inexpensive on the
maintenance front? I seem to remember that certain parts (no idea which
ones) are becoming rare, plus the airplane was built back in the day when
labor was cheap, so the airplanes were built without a tremendous amount of
attention to part count or maintainability.

An RV-6A, 7A, or (especially) 9A seems a good fit if the OP only needs 2
seats and if he and his wife can stand sitting next to each other. The
RV-8A would be a good choice too (more elbow room, since the seating is
tandem), but there wouldn't be a good place for the dog...

With time and money, an RV-10 project could result in a 200 mph 4 seater
with low maintenance costs, but most of the ones finished so far have ended
up at $125k or more, because the builders fell into the temptation of "It'll
be a $100k airplane, I can't bring myself to put a used engine in it, and I
might as well have a top notch panel while I'm at it, and leather is nice on
the seats, and..." That's an easy way to turn a $100,000 project into a
$150k project.

If the mission requirement is 4 seats, a little more speed than a Cherodee,
and low maintenance, the Grumman Tigers and fixed gear Cessna Cardinals
might be worth looking at.

Decisions, decisions.

KB


Great bird. I like the Turbo Twin myself but the 260 is a joy to fly.

Robert