(Very) small company's first SE airplane ... which one?

[Snakum]

Supposing the boss at your fulltime, non-flying job is starting to ask questions about owning a plane, as your (owner's and manager's) time start to become tighter and tighter. He doesn't have enough money to buy into the small local 'fractionals' with King Airs and Barons (where I fly on weekends ), they don't want to split an aircraft, and you're already pretty sure the budget for the initial outlay is going to max out at $200K ... what would you buy, and why, with $200K being the absolute max, and standing a better chance of making it happen if you can keep it well under that. The missions are usually one to two pax and around 300 nm, no baggage, almost all day trips.

What I've seen (all used, of course):

Commander 114 ... slow, but very comfortable for the right-seat pax so he can work while flying (important), but getting long in the tooth (maint. $$)?

V-35 bonanza ... fast, decent room in front for the pax due to throw-over yoke, can be found in our range with lots of goodies

Cessna 182 ... relatively roomy, lower insurance/op costs, late 90s models can be found in our $$ range with plenty of time left on engines

Cirrus SR20 ... roomy up front, not sure of hauling capacity/range on older models?

Older C210 ... really good specimens may be out of our price range, otherwise this would be perfect, maint. $$ might be rough if you choose unwisely here

Newer 172SP ... surprising range and hauling capacity, especially considering the cost and maint. on a four-cylinder engine

I ruled out Mooneys (too small), A36s (too much money), all twins (insurance and maint. costs).

 

[LearLove]

what part of the US are you flying in? If its in the NE or some other ice prone area you going to have a tuff time in the winter going whenever without taking the wx into account. Unless keeping a sked is not important. If I had a need for an aircraft (no matter what the distance) and the ability to go despite wx (unless its the most severe) I'd want something along the lines of a Navajo/Baron in piston or a King Air 90 in turbine. I know you asked for single but unless you go with a PC12 or TBM700 which would cost more than the KA your going to be limited by the capibilities of your SE piston.

If you don't mind waiting for VFR or mild IFR then I's say 182 or some sort of PA28 or a commander if you want retract.

 

[VSI9k+]

How is a Mooney too small for a one or two pax load? You can get a whole lot of Mooney for the price you are talking about. But if it cant be a Mooney id stick with a fixed gear C-182.

 

[flyboyike]

May I recommend something like this?

http://www.aso.com/i.aso3/aircraft_view.jsp?aircraft_id=99011&return_url=/i.aso3/search.jspyyyyyiaso3sid=1xxxxxtypeid=1xxxxxsearchid=496593xxxxxregionid=-1xxxxxmode=xxxxxtypeid=1xxxxxmmgid=27xxxxxmodelgroup=truexxxxxsearchid=496593xxxxxregionid=-1

 

[onthebeach]

Suggestion

From previous posts, I believe you work in the NC area. If the prospective purchase can discipline him/herself to fly within the weather limitations of that region, I'd recommend a Cessna 182 as a "first" corporate airplane.

It's a simple yet capable aircraft which readily lends itself to being owner-flown, and can easily do the mission profile you've described, with possibly some growth in payload.

The acquisition, operating, and insurance costs would be relatively low compared to other choices, and certainly within the budget you've described.

Last but not least, if the operator decides flying isn't for him/her, or they want to trade up, the resale market for 182s is strong.

An interesting question...let us know what the decision is. Best to you.

 

[BoilerUP]

I tend to agree with onthebeach...a Cessna 182 is extremely roomy in the back for a 4-place single, has a high useful load if you need to haul cargo/luggage, is stone simple to fly and operate and should be relatively cheap to insure. I'm not sure how the used 182S market is these days, but you might look for a low time Q model.

If you are looking more for a complex 6-place, I might recommend an early 80s Saratoga SP. I have flown the owner of a large car dealership chain around in one of these and his mission sounds similar to yours (300nm or less day trips, needs room to work in back). I think they can be had within your price range, are very stable, roomy (especially if you remove the front club seats) and have a good useful load as well. Plus, its flying characteristics are almost identical to the Arrow, (its just a little heavier and you need more right rudder on takeoff) and if you have any PA28R experience insurance should be a snap.

Let us know what you decide!

 

[ohoh]

i recommend the Beech Bonanza A36.

seats 6 - and more importantly separate entrance
and cabin seating. nice when taking clients and/or
non-flyers.

i've got got a few hrs in the A33 and it's a real
fun to fly and relatively fast.

---

bottom line it depends on who'll be doing the flying
and typical mission.

if a relatively low-time pilot - as others have recommended
Cessna 182 is safe and am sure the insurance will be
lower also.

 

[Snakum]

Thanks for the info ... a twin is out of our price range. Anything much over $150K and he'll stop listening pretty quickly. Twins are out due to insurance and maintenance costs, as much as I'd like one for the ME time. I'll get my multi-time thru my part-time gig anyway, so I want what's best for my employer. They still joke that they promised me a company jet one day if I'd stay thru the lean times (now over ... thank God), so I can be patient.

The more I look around, the more I think a late model 182 is the ticket. I even found a recent Fortune article about a small business owner buying a Turbo 182 and it listed his monthly outlay and terms. Not bad. Certainly do'able for us in the next year or so if things stay on track. One notch up would be a V-tail Bonanza, perhaps. I'm in the southeast, and have personal limits on weather anyway, so I don't need ice protection. Just room, do'able maintenance costs, and reasonable speed.

Today a C182 ... tomorrow a CJ. I got a book about flying CJs ... two wings ... two engines ... I could figure it out. imp:

BTW ... I found that good Cherokee Sixes are getting pretty expensive. That'd be a perfect fit for us, but the really nice specimens are getting pricey.

 

[sstearns2]

You might want to check out the grumman tiger. It doesn't have the useful load of some 182s, but it's just as fast, if not a hair faster, on a lot less fuel. It's a lot more fun to fly too. You can get a nice early 90s one for about 100K, maybe a little less. Maintence and insurance is cheap too with fixed gear, fixed prop, and a 4 cly engine.

Watch out for the new 182s, the useful loads are not what they were in the 70s and 80s. Our old 70s 182 had a 1500+lb useful load, the new 182 had a 1150 pound useful load. I was shocked when my old flight school got some of the first new 182s. If you go with one of the new 182s try to find one with the 2 bladed prop. The 3 bladed prop adds 50 pounds of weight and adds zero performance according to the POH.

Scott

 

[gkrangers]

Thanks for the info ... a twin is out of our price range. Anything much over $150K and he'll stop listening pretty quickly. Twins are out due to insurance and maintenance costs, as much as I'd like one for the ME time. I'll get my multi-time thru my part-time gig anyway, so I want what's best for my employer. They still joke that they promised me a company jet one day if I'd stay thru the lean times (now over ... thank God), so I can be patient.

The more I look around, the more I think a late model 182 is the ticket. I even found a recent Fortune article about a small business owner buying a Turbo 182 and it listed his monthly outlay and terms. Not bad. Certainly do'able for us in the next year or so if things stay on track. One notch up would be a V-tail Bonanza, perhaps. I'm in the southeast, and have personal limits on weather anyway, so I don't need ice protection. Just room, do'able maintenance costs, and reasonable speed.

Today a C182 ... tomorrow a CJ. I got a book about flying CJs ... two wings ... two engines ... I could figure it out. imp:

BTW ... I found that good Cherokee Sixes are getting pretty expensive. That'd be a perfect fit for us, but the really nice specimens are getting pricey.

Yep, I was going to mention the Six. Seems pretty bad ass...300HP, 6 seats, fixed gear, so insurance probably wouldn't be killer.

http://www.aircraftdealer.com/aircr...erokee_Six/1975_PIPER_CHEROKEE_6_300/6765.htm

http://www.aircraftdealer.com/aircr...erokee_Six/1979_PIPER_CHEROKEE_6_300/7984.htm

a little pricey, but sexy...