What aircraft should I buy?

Question

What type of plane should I buy for under $100K used, considering the following requirements:

- 4 seats

- at least 700 mile range

- above 140 mph cruise speed

- service ceiling above 10,000 feet

- good reliability

Answer 1

There are a few more questions:

Your experience as a pilot?

What part of the world do you live in?

What type of flying will you be doing?

Now the reasons for the questions:

Experience:  If you are a low time pilot - insurance is a big consideration.

Location:  Obviously if you live in Alaska you might want to consider a high wing where most anywhere else you can have more choices.

What type of flying:  Well if your doing any off airport flying (aka Bush Flying) you would again want to consider a high wing.

Otherwise there is a variety of choice that meet your criteria:

Single Engine fixed gear high wing - consider the Cessna 182 Skylane, it has a good useful load (a true 4 place), good speed in your budget.

Single Engine fixed gear low wing: The Cherokee Archer, Cherokee 235 or Dakota (the Dakota may break your budget), an older Piper Cherokee Six, Grumman Tiger

Single Engine Retractable:  Cessna 182Rg (also offered with Turbo charging) Cessna 210 (also offered with Turbo charging), Older Beech Bonanza, Piper Saratoga (this has been offered in a variety of models - fixed gear, retract, normally aspirated, and turbo charged - it is the decendant of the Cherokee Six), Piper Comanche, Meyers 200, etc.  Personally there is nothing like a Bonanza.

You can also get a few older twins for your budget - but with fuel prices today - I would stay away from them.

I do broker aircraft and if you have any questions you can contact me via my website below.

Answer 2

If I personally was going to buy something such as your conditions, I would come down just a smidge... and look at the Grumman AA-5b Tiger.  That is a nifty little airplane that I have actually seen 4 adults fly in at one time, it has an excellent record, I flew them through weather and turbulence for a couple of years and they did great...  they have a smooth wing (no rivets) and get an honest 132 kts TAS, are TOUGH...  they can handle grass strips, and the winner for me.. was they have a sliding canopy that you can put all the way back, and fold down the rear seat, and push the front seats all the way forward, and you can slide in a large box/crate in there that you can not fit through the door of most other single engine airplanes.

They are economical and reliable,  very easy to operate and fly... and when you are coming in to land on a beautiful Summer morning, you can slide the canopy back and enjoy the sun and the wind...   nifty little airplane. You can find better performance  I am sure... but you could probably pick one up a lot cheaper and they are very simple to maintain.

Answer 3

first show me the money then I'll tell ya...

Answer 4

My suggestion are:

MOONEY BRAVO

ROBIN DR400

and maybe CESSNA

Make sure u visit the manufacturer website to compare which one are better!