"Grasshopper" wrote in message ...
Craig - First off, thank you for the informative and AWESOME note back!
Actually, that is *exactly* why I am interested in twin engine. Safety
when I have my family with me. With regard to lbs. - I am about 6'6"
and 270, wife is about 175, and the kids range from age 10 to 16 so I
figure I should count on 150 for each kid even though they are not there
yet. Add in 400 lbs of luggage and I get a total of 1,595.

I think that at this point you can pretty much rule out the Seneca
series of aircraft. Usefull on the 1's and 2's is about 1400 pounds,
including fuel.



I am a complete neophyte. I fly every week for work, and do so on Delta
exclusively. My enjoyment of flying each week is what motivates me to get
my own. I have found a local flight school, and my wife is also going to
take the classes. I used to be an aircraft and avionics tech in the ANG,
and I have flown an F4E flight simulator a few times. I enjoyed it each
time. I am stuck on the price though - I am selling my extra car, and
will use that money to get financing for a plane. Since my car payment was
$845, I figure $800 times 10 year financing should allow me to buy about an
$70K to $90K plane. Give or take.

Having to stay within that $ figure limits you pretty much. Some of
the Commanders can be had in that range, but will probably have older
avionics and will be needing paint and/or interiors fairly soon. One
other possibility, if you don't mind your operating fuel costs to be a
bit higher, would be to look at a Beech 18/C-45 series aircraft. The
fuel burn will be about double that of a Seneca, but you will get a
usefull load in excess of 2000#s for sure.



Can you help me with links to where planes are offered on the internet so I
can get familiar with the cost of some of these aircraft? I have found the
following so far:
www.aviatorsale.com
www.globalair.com/classifieds
www.aso.com
www.globalplanesearch.com
www.controller.com

Get yourself the cheap subscription to Trade-a-Plane and hit their
website very often and browse the ads


Having never flown a Seneca, Aero Twin Commander, or any other aircraft;
and I going to be able to compare them, or am I just going to be
overwhelmed by how much fun they all are? With regard to distance, I am
close to Atlanta, and feel I would like to be able to go about 700 NM.
This gets me to the Bahamas, Bermuda, Grand Cayman, and up the coast to
Nova Scotia (with 1 stop). It also gets me all over USA on about 2 or 3
stops.
First hurdle is just to get your ticket and make sure that it is
something that you really want to do. Also, it give you time to set
aside bucks and get your financial house in order to take on the new
expenses.




I can fly there via Delta if you think that is worth the trip. What do I
do once I get to KC?

Pop over to www.aerocommander.com and see about getting a registration
form from the club. It will also have a schedule of events. Even if
you don't get the chance to come over, visit with the member of the
type club of whatever aircraft you end up selecting. It will give tons
of insight and help you to skip over mistakes that could be costly or
fatal.

BTW, The Piper Aztek is probably too small also, but if you have any
questions about it, Kyler is the resident expert.

Craig C.