Another vote for the 177. Bought one approximately 3 months ago. It's a genuine 4 seater with loads of room inside, and it will carry 4 adults on full fuel. A standard 172 and any sub-200bhp PA28 can't do that. Plus it looks great, has set-back wings and no struts so much better viz than 152/172. VP prop, but very easy to fly.
Comes in a choice of fixed gear or retractable, although the latter are more common. Fixed will give you a good 120kt, retract upto 150kt. Oh, and they only use around 35L/hr of avgas. Performance is excellent; under 300m to get airborne, so a 500m strip is more than adequate.
Insurance was £2200 with no low-hours restrictions, although if your're loaded with hours you could probably shave £500 off that.
Last edited by Shunter; 25th Jan 2007 at 13:46.
Reason: horrific spelling