Short list wanted - popular 4-seat single engine land

Tuno,

Turbocharging is of interested to you, since the SW US is hot and high.
Do you want to go into dirtstrips, too? Short strips? How much does
speed (and thus travel time) matter? Why only fixed gear?

My ranking would be:

Cirrus SR 22 and SR20.
Socata TB-10 Tobago.
Diamond DA-40.
Grumman Tiger.
Piper PA-28 Archer.
For dirtstrips, the C182(T) is hard to beat, but the others will work
on most, if you know what you are doing.

Have a look at the Aviation Consumer USed Aircraft guide.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

As a glider driver I'm most intrigued by the Cirrus SR22 and Diamond
DA40. Glass slippers are cool.

No interest in dirt strips, but it will probably be necessary at some
point!

-tuno

In a previous article, Tuno said:
As a glider driver I'm most intrigued by the Cirrus SR22 and Diamond
DA40. Glass slippers are cool.

Don't know about the Cirrus, but the DA-40 has a useful load that sucks
compared to a Piper Archer or Dakota.

Again, you need to define your needs, and find a plane to meet it, rather
than saying "that plane looks cool".

--
Paul Tomblin http://blog.xcski.com/
"But you've got to hand it to IBM, they know how to design hardware. The
servers all had handles to pick them up and throw them out of the
window...." --Juergen Nieveler in the Monastery

Don't know about the Cirrus, but the DA-40 has a useful load that sucks
compared to a Piper Archer or Dakota.

EVERYTHING has a crappy useful load compared to a Dakota. Well,
except a Cherokee Six -- same plane with a longer body. (Or a Cessna
206, which does the same thing but with a WAY bigger engine.)

We've got the Pathfinder, Tuno, which is what the Dakota evolved
from. We also have four people in our family, and the Pathfinder is
one of the few planes that can carry an honest four adults, with 150
pounds of luggage AND full fuel.

1460 pounds is a wonderful thing when you're talking useful load.
And 84 gallons means that you don't have to stop for fuel as often.
We've flown ours in the desert Southwest, without difficulties. With
235 horsepower, density altitudes aren't quite as critical.

My suggestion: Go to Oshkosh in the next 7 days. You'll be able to
check out every make and model of GA aircraft that has ever been
made. Talking and reading about them simply can't compare to kicking
the tires and touching the wings.

We leave in 90 minutes....

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Jul 22, 5:45 am, Jay Honeck wrote:

We've got the Pathfinder, Tuno, which is what the Dakota evolved
from. We also have four people in our family, and the Pathfinder is
one of the few planes that can carry an honest four adults, with 150
pounds of luggage AND full fuel.

What does "full fuel" mean? In my plane full fuel is about 7 hours of
flight, is that useful?

-Robert

Jay,

the Pathfinder is
one of the few planes that can carry an honest four adults, with 150
pounds of luggage AND full fuel.


IOW, the tanks are too small.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Thomas Borchert wrote:
Jay,

the Pathfinder is
one of the few planes that can carry an honest four adults, with 150
pounds of luggage AND full fuel.


IOW, the tanks are too small.


As is the fuselage.

Matt

On Jul 25, 12:31 am, Thomas Borchert
wrote:
Jay,

the Pathfinder is
one of the few planes that can carry an honest four adults, with 150
pounds of luggage AND full fuel.

IOW, the tanks are too small.

My friend has a plane that can carry full fuel with luggage and all
seats full of adult men. Its called a Yak and it carries about 2 hours
of fuel.

-Robert

Robert,

it carries about 2 hours
of fuel.


With two hours of fuel in the tanks, most common 4-seaters can carry
four adult men and luggage. Which is what I was trying to get at.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)