Learned more today - what to buy?

Flew today, as did my wife. The owner of the school was also very helpful.
My mistake was looking for a specific plane, instead of methodically
deciding what my requirements were. Also, some of the kids said they did
not want to fly with us on weekends, which lowered the requirements a bit.

New requirements:

1) Human total can be as low as 4 or 5 seats. Human weight is 850 lbs.
2) Luggage is 200 lbs.
3) We would like to be able to go about 600 nm; which should get us to
Grand Cayman, Bahamas, and most of the southeastern USA.
4) If we burn about 15 gph, then I suppose we need about 75 gallons
capacity, for a total of 450 lbs.
5) Adding up humans, luggage, and fuel; I come up with about 1,500 lbs.
6) We want the cost of an aircraft loan to be about $800/month. Tiedown
is $100/month and hangar is $300/month at our local airport.

We prefer if the wing is a high wing like the Cessna; for ease of entry.
The Cessna 182 was wide enough, but the 172 was a bit cramped in the width.

Any thoughts on good aircraft choices would be *GREATLY* appreciated.


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____________________________
Ah, Young Grasshopper.
Sometimes it is eyes that blind a man.

How about a 206? And if you're going to go over water alot,
get an amphibian. Pull out 1 or 2 of the seats to save on
insurance, it'll also give you lots of baggage space. The
U models have the big back doors, the P doesnt. There isnt
nearly as many 206's, especially U's, out in the market as
C182's though. 182's vary from 120-200lbs for luggage,
but our problem hasnt been the weight limitation, but the
space available. If you want to stay in that price range
you can get a pretty good 182, or an older 206. Not all
182's have that amount of fuel on board though, but they
drink less than 15gph also.
For reference, www.aso.com has a 1966 U206A with
factory float kit B, for $126,900, although the pictures
dont show floats.

Good luck, Chris

"Grasshopper" wrote in message
. ..
Flew today, as did my wife. The owner of the school was also very
helpful.
My mistake was looking for a specific plane, instead of methodically
deciding what my requirements were. Also, some of the kids said they did
not want to fly with us on weekends, which lowered the requirements a
bit.

New requirements:

1) Human total can be as low as 4 or 5 seats. Human weight is 850 lbs.
2) Luggage is 200 lbs.
3) We would like to be able to go about 600 nm; which should get us to
Grand Cayman, Bahamas, and most of the southeastern USA.
4) If we burn about 15 gph, then I suppose we need about 75 gallons
capacity, for a total of 450 lbs.
5) Adding up humans, luggage, and fuel; I come up with about 1,500 lbs.
6) We want the cost of an aircraft loan to be about $800/month. Tiedown
is $100/month and hangar is $300/month at our local airport.

We prefer if the wing is a high wing like the Cessna; for ease of entry.
The Cessna 182 was wide enough, but the 172 was a bit cramped in the
width.

Any thoughts on good aircraft choices would be *GREATLY* appreciated.


--
____________________________
Ah, Young Grasshopper.
Sometimes it is eyes that blind a man.