We currently fly a Grumman AA-5B Tiger – a 180hp fix gear four seat airplane, the fastest in its class. It has 135kts cruise, 550NM legs, and an awesomely flexible cabin with great visibility (but not much shoulder room (42inches)).

It is remarkably cheap to operate and burns 9.5gph. It’s fully IFR equipped, with a standard 6-pack IFR layout, Garmin 430WAAS, STEC-30 with altitude hold autopilot, a  coupled Garmin 396 with XM weather and radio, and an iPad with Foreflight and a Stratus 2 with ADS-B-in for weather and traffic on the iPad. It also has a digital engine monitor (EDM-700) and a fuel totalizer (JPI 450). It’s a great instrumentation for a very low price. I calculate $80/hrs including gas with engine and maintenance reserve ($35/hour) – based on a $4.70/Gallon.

It’s a remarkable little machine – our magic carpet – and none of the other planes under consideration can stand up to this rare combination of efficiency and cost effectiveness. But who said planes were about saving money? :-)))

Requirements: 4-seats, >160kts, >600NM legs, lots of luggagespace, Autopilot
Nice to have: potty (six seater), IFR, wide shoulder room

As long as I continue to only fly 50-100hrs per year, I can afford large operating cost/hr. Fix cost should be the primary focus. This might put twin engine airplanes back in range. (i.e. Twin Apache, old Baron (Spar A/D)). That way I would fly with the family at night, something I currently don’t do.

Planes currently on the not so short short list:

*Piper Comanche 260 C – 1969

*Meyers 260D – 1958

*Lancair ES-P (Columbia 350) – 2010

*Mooney Ovation 2 (180+ kts, long cabin) – 1990

*Rockwell Commander 114 (wide cabin) – 1980

*Cessna 210 (Spar crack A/D) – 1976

*Beechcraft Debonair F33 (Spar crack A/D) – 1971-1984

*Piper Malibu (Insurance!) – 1986-1990

*Cessna P210 Silver Eagle (Turbine) – 1980

*Socata TBM-700 (Insurance!) – post IPO 😉