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#1
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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. |
#2
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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. |
#3
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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. -- Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/ |
#4
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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 |
#5
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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 |
#6
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John,
Dont' care about purchase price right now, avionics, etc. Well, in that case: Cirrus? Lancair? -- Thomas Borchert (EDDH) |
#7
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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 ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
#8
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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... |
#9
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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. |
#10
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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. |
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