Nimpto,
I see several things you need to consider. And I do feel that you are extremely insecure in this. I am going to try to address some points.
- plane magazine adds are often outdated by the time they make print. Have a look on the Internet. Planecheck or Avbuyer will give you a much broader choice and more up to date ads.
- You say to buy in a few months. Well, in that case, you will need to start a project right now, gathering the facts, figures and match the plane to the mission. If you don't, you will end up with a buy which won't satisfy you even after the first several flights. It should NOT be a gamble, as long as you feel it is, keep away. As I wrote, it took me THREE YEARS to come up with a solution which satisfied me and I used to trade planes for a living years and years ago....
- You mention you will eventually do your IR. Great, but then do NOT go with a plane which is not an IR platform. Ideally, get one which is IFR certified now, as getting it certified later can be very expensive. However, IFR for 20k is not going to happen. 50k upwards is more likely, a fully de-iced aircraft will set you back more than that.
- You mention Scotland and France. The UK generally and Scotland in particular are quite often IMC/IFR with ice and other nice things. A plane which can deal with that will ideally be a twin with full de-ice. Yes, a single without de-ice can do the job some times of the year, but you'll still be driving and sitting around like on needles if it's unclear if you can fly back or not. Or kill yourself on the way to that all importand and life changing meeting back home... Unless you fly a heavy duty IFR plane, MUST and flying do not go together. Just to give you an idea: Out of about 30 trips I planned last year (VFR), TWO did actually happen. The route I bought the plane for was last summer not flyable for more than maybe 3-4 days in comfortable VFR. IFR, maybe 15-20 trips might have worked out (non de-iced, non-turbo, single engine). Given the weather conditions yesterday, no VFR plane could have made that trip, nor many "light IFR" (no de-ice, Single engine) planes. Yesterday's weather was sufficient to ask for a fully de-iced twin.
- Golfing, if you have to take your whole baggage, you'll need a bigger airplane than most we mentioned. Family and golf equipment would mean an available payload of no less than 400 kgs, realistically, if you don't want to be the one telling the wife that it's ok that you carry a 100lb golf bag but she has to do with a 10 lb suitcase to go to Scotland.
Looking at your last post, I'd strongly suggest to revisit your budget or to wait for the ideal plane to come along at the price you can afford, but that won't happen in 2 months.
You are concerned about ending up with a flying wreck. That does not have to happen, but it can. A few things to look out for:
- Engine: On condition is a much higher risk of a massive investment than if the engine has reasonable time left to TBO. Learn about the time limits and other necessary parameters. Those airplane adds are like marriage adds, in code and often misleading. You will need help to learn how that works. Aim for at least 500 - 600 hours before TBO. If you can get more, so much the better. Same goes for the propeller.
- Avionic: See that you can get the most you can for your money and make sure (if you aspire IFR) that what is in there is IFR certifyable.
- Maintenance: Have an expert go through the records and do a pre-buy inspection. I can't help you with contacts in the UK, but maybe someone else can here.
For what you have in mind, in my experience and opinion you won't get happy with a Cherokee or any other basic trainer/traveller plane for long. You should seriously consider going for a true travel machine, with speed, space and capability. The cheapest available planes of this sort will be things like the pre- J Mooneys (C, E, G or F), Piper Arrows (which carry more than a Mooney but are more expensive to operate), Cessna 182 or alike. They are not de-iced, but they are stable IFR platforms. For serious IFR, we are talking upwards of a Piper Seneca.
And then something else.
You mention your wife might "put her foot down". Before you even consider buying, make sure your wife is 100% behind you. More people than I care for have had to take the decision "my plane or my wife" sooner or later in the game. Unless she backs you and also the consequences of your buy without a doubt or anxieties, either convice her or stop the project.
Best regards
AN2
Last edited by AN2 Driver; 6th February 2011 at 06:09.