Buying questions - which plane?

Ok,

First time plane buyer, I've been looking for some time now.

I've narrowed it down to a few, looking for some big picture comments
pro/con on these:

Commanche 250 or 260
Commander 114
Mooney M20J
Socata TB20 Trinidad

Dont' care about purchase price right now, avionics, etc. Looking for
performance/maintenance/operating costs/issues people know of.

We will normally be loaded with myself, wife and son (400lbs) Plus weekend
bags (100lbs max).

My wife wants speed, speed, speed. I'm not as concerned about speed as I am
performance. I need short field performace as one of our primary fields is
a 2500' grass strip at 2000' DA. I'd also like to climb up into the teens
if needed to get over minor w/x.

Any advice would be appreciated.

tks.

If you want speed you better get the Mooney... 155 kts @ 10gph

Jon Kraus
'79 Mooney 201
4443H @ TYQ

John Doe wrote:
Ok,

First time plane buyer, I've been looking for some time now.

I've narrowed it down to a few, looking for some big picture comments
pro/con on these:

Commanche 250 or 260
Commander 114
Mooney M20J
Socata TB20 Trinidad

Dont' care about purchase price right now, avionics, etc. Looking for
performance/maintenance/operating costs/issues people know of.

We will normally be loaded with myself, wife and son (400lbs) Plus weekend
bags (100lbs max).

My wife wants speed, speed, speed. I'm not as concerned about speed as I am
performance. I need short field performace as one of our primary fields is
a 2500' grass strip at 2000' DA. I'd also like to climb up into the teens
if needed to get over minor w/x.

Any advice would be appreciated.

tks.

Comanche 260B, very hard to beat all round especially for the price.

Great payload, I take full fuel 90 gals, 165 knots, bags, golf clubs etc,
nonstop NYC to Fort Lauderdale if I want to.

Worth a look.

Ray

On Wed, 20 Jul 2005 22:33:33 GMT, John Doe wrote:

Ok,

First time plane buyer, I've been looking for some time now.

I've narrowed it down to a few, looking for some big picture comments
pro/con on these:

Commanche 250 or 260
Commander 114
Mooney M20J
Socata TB20 Trinidad

Dont' care about purchase price right now, avionics, etc. Looking for
performance/maintenance/operating costs/issues people know of.

We will normally be loaded with myself, wife and son (400lbs) Plus
weekend
bags (100lbs max).

My wife wants speed, speed, speed. I'm not as concerned about speed as
I am
performance. I need short field performace as one of our primary fields
is
a 2500' grass strip at 2000' DA. I'd also like to climb up into the
teens
if needed to get over minor w/x.

Any advice would be appreciated.

tks.






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"John Doe" wrote in message
nk.net...
Ok,

First time plane buyer, I've been looking for some time now.

I've narrowed it down to a few, looking for some big picture comments
pro/con on these:

Commanche 250 or 260
Commander 114
Mooney M20J
Socata TB20 Trinidad

Dont' care about purchase price right now, avionics, etc. Looking for
performance/maintenance/operating costs/issues people know of.

We will normally be loaded with myself, wife and son (400lbs) Plus weekend
bags (100lbs max).

My wife wants speed, speed, speed. I'm not as concerned about speed as I
am performance. I need short field performace as one of our primary
fields is a 2500' grass strip at 2000' DA. I'd also like to climb up into
the teens if needed to get over minor w/x.

Any advice would be appreciated.

tks.

How good are the approaches into the grass field? Unless they are pretty
good, it won't be comfortable going into or out of that field in the
Commanche, Commander, or Mooney unless you're fairly light. Even then,
you'll need to be on your game, particularly on landing. I don't know about
the Trinidad.

If I was looking at your mission, I'd be thinking C-182, C-182 RG, or C-206,
if only for the short field performance with a decent load...

KB

In article et,
"John Doe" wrote:

Ok,

First time plane buyer, I've been looking for some time now.

I've narrowed it down to a few, looking for some big picture comments
pro/con on these:

Commanche 250 or 260

A couple of things to consider wrt the Commanche

1) Will you be comfortable with (iirc) one fuel gauge that you
need to switch to each of the four tanks to read?

2) Not a lot of room behind the instrument panel for avionics
(at least that's what my avionics shop told me a number of years
ago)

Don't get me wrong, I almost bought a really sweet 260C but
then 9/11 happened - kind of changed my perspective on
the viability of putting that much money into an airplane.

--
Bob Noel
no one likes an educated mule

John,

Dont' care about purchase price right now, avionics, etc.


Well, in that case: Cirrus? Lancair?

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

John Doe wrote:


My wife wants speed, speed, speed. I'm not as concerned about speed as I am
performance. I need short field performace as one of our primary fields is
a 2500' grass strip at 2000' DA. I'd also like to climb up into the teens
if needed to get over minor w/x.

I'm a M20J owner and big fan of the model, and it will meet your speed
requirements, but for flying off grass, the field had better be smooth. The gear
doors hang down so low that you're going to munch one the first time you drop
one of the main gear into a small hole.

Dave

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Thomas Borchert wrote:

Well, in that case: Cirrus? Lancair?

Certified Lancair is now called "Columbia", Lancair is now the name of
the kitplane line...

Seems like the 2500' grass is a major gating factor in this one.

Perhaps add a 'Bo to the consideration and definitely the big Cessnas.

The really difficult is to making accurate assessment of your needs and
the priorities. For example, my mission profile has changed
considerably over 8 years as my "primary fields" have too. In
retrospect, the only part of my mission that hasn't changed has been my
home field. Everything else can change and compromises made given the
a/c I have.

John Doe wrote:
Ok,

First time plane buyer, I've been looking for some time now.

I've narrowed it down to a few, looking for some big picture comments
pro/con on these:

Commanche 250 or 260
Commander 114
Mooney M20J
Socata TB20 Trinidad

Dont' care about purchase price right now, avionics, etc. Looking for
performance/maintenance/operating costs/issues people know of.

We will normally be loaded with myself, wife and son (400lbs) Plus weekend
bags (100lbs max).

My wife wants speed, speed, speed. I'm not as concerned about speed as I am
performance. I need short field performace as one of our primary fields is
a 2500' grass strip at 2000' DA. I'd also like to climb up into the teens
if needed to get over minor w/x.

Any advice would be appreciated.

tks.

You seem to want a low wing. Bonanza's do pretty good on rough and
short fields. Mooney's don't. Another piece of advice. Get it equipped
with the avionics you will be happy with. IFR GPS and autopilot.
Upgrading avionics is expensive and you don't get the money back at
sale.

For high wing a Cessna 182 is hard to beat. The RG's do ok on grass.
Gear is an anethema, but if you want to go fast, you need it.

If you are going to go up high, you are going to have to have oxygen
for everyone. Kind of a hassle. Pressurized is the way to go, but it's
BIG bucks. But a pressurized Bonanza would do everything you specify,
if you have the money.