Thanks goldeneaglepilot,
Yeah, I'm keeping a healthy respect for the jump I'm taking, but having taken a hude number of comfort-zone-busting leaps in my time (in all sorts of areas of life and business), I've recognised that a) if you keep a healthy balance of confidence and respect, you'll be fine, and b) you'll enjoy way more of what life has to offer.
I flew a Lance for about an hour, and thought it was sensational, and my confident side tells me I think I'd be absolutely fine. Your point about parts and maintenance is the biggest selling point for me. But in the end, I think the extra weight is something I just don't need, so why carry it around, as it's just something else to potentially cause me a problem until I'm more experienced.
Thanks again for your post.
IO540,
Yeah, as I said, the TB20 was definitely on my shortlist, and I may have based my decision partly on the TB10 I flew. I'm also sure you'd get used to the doors, but they just seem a bit of a flawed design to me for all sorts of reasons - blowing away, can't reach them when open from the seated position, I couldn't work out a nice way of shutting them from outside on the wing. Probably all just "knack".
"Hanger queen". I think things have moved on a bit now - through necessity, due to the factory going bust about 50 times in a row. There are a few places where parts are as good as "readily available", and it also seems as though they are pretty reliable, having spoken to a number of owners. I think it's possible that the older models (which were bought for £60K, as a "lot of aeroplane for the money"), can sometime end up clogging up hangers due to them being a bit long in the tooth, and relateively expensive to maintain - relative to a £60K machine.
The commander also has an outstanding safety record, which I'm not completely immune to be seduced by.
It's great to hear that you've had your TB20 for 9 years and are still delighted with it - as I said, I think yours is just beautiful, and it was actually photos of yours which made me more seriously consider the type!
It would be great to have a fly. I'll email you now.