I'm looking to upgrade airplanes; discussion and recommendations are
requested:

History:
Private - 1994
inactive 1994-2001
started flying again after 9/11/01
Instrument - 2003
Commercial - 2004

Roughly 450 hours total time. About 100 in Cessnas 150/152/172. About 50
hours in a Cherokee 140 (with 180 HP & CS prop), 50 hours in an Arrow
and about 250 hours in Mooney M20C. Zero multi-engine time.

Ownership Experience:
Current: 1967 Mooney M20C (sole owner)
Current: 1/4 share in C-152 (I'm working on my CFI and want something to
teach in)
Previous: 1/2 share in 1967 P28A

Narrative/Mission:
I fly commercially about 75,000 miles per year and I'm looking to
replace as much of that as is reasonable. Home is Tucson, Arizona and
the majority of my commercial flying is west coast and mountain states.
Trips over 1000 NM are done only a couple of times per year.

When I travel, I must be at my destination on time. I typically leave
(commercially) the morning prior to the date I need to be somewhere.
That means I usually get to my destination in the early afternoon the
day before I need to be there. From TUS, on United (95% of my commercial
flights), I must go through either LAX or DEN, so it is rarely just a
one leg commercial flight, unless my destination is LAX or DEN.

I will fly solo about 95% of the time. The other 5% with one other
individual. This is purely a business entity. Baggage is light, clothes
and a laptop.

With respect to weather:
If I start flying myself more, leaving early the day before I need to be
somewhere, I will have an 'out' due to weather in that I should be able
to land somewhere within a four hour or so drive of my final
destination, I figure. Barring that, I can probably land somewhere and
hop on Southwest Airlines as a last resort. My final destination is
typically larger cities anyway. Returning home, I have more leeway if
weather is an issue. 80% of the time I need to be at a destination for
one day. 15% of the time, two days and 5% of the time more than two days.

Airplane Attributes:
I'm looking for speed above all else. Second and third are fuel burn and
fuel capacity. I haven't decided which is #2 and which #3, however. Of
course reliability, maintenance, purchase price, etc. are important. As
for budget, I absolutely have to stay under $200,000. Ideally under
$150,000. $100,000 to $125,000 would be very comfortable (with the
obligatory 10%-20% reserve available). I have a few airplanes in mind of
course, but what will this illustrious group recommend ? Do you need any
other data ?
---
Ken Reed
http://www.dentalzzz.com