What would you buy?

[Helibelly]

Given a budget of upto £30,000 what four seater aircraft would you buy? It has to be able to fly IFR and cruise at a resonable speed. It doesn't have to be aerobatic and of course it must be as cheap as possible to run!!

[360BakTrak]

Depends on what you call 'a reasonable speed', the only aircraft I can think of, which only do about 100 kts, are an AA5 or old PA28.
I'm not very imaginative or up to speed with aircraft costs and capabilities! It does sound like a bit of a tall order though!:}

[AIRWAY]

How much does the SR22 costs?

Anyway that would be my choice, otherwise a PA28 would do nicely

:}

[AerBabe]

I wouldn't.
I'd buy a share in something aerobatic and spend any change on maintenance and fuel.

[Genghis the Engineer]

You'd get a half-decent PA28-161 for that with a fair avionics fit.

Personally however, I'd buy a couple of £6k shares into well run syndicates on higher spec aircraft then you have a choice, better availability, almost certainly lower overall running costs, and hopefully some change.

G

[360BakTrak]

An SR22?! I think £30K might just about cover the initial deposit!!!!:}

[robin]

Robin DR400-160/180
DR500-200

Sorry - I meant a share rather than the whole plane

[Monocock]

Beech Musketeer?

C172?

Bolkow 207?

Big Jodel?

PA28-180 (older style)?

Fuji?

Gardan Horizon?

AA5?

Bellanca?

[IO540]

Helibelly

You won't find a plane that's OK for IFR for £30k, unless the seller is a mug, or is desperate to sell, or there are major bills just around the corner (which the seller knows about).

OK, before everybody has a go at me again, it depends on what is meant by "IFR".

It could be IFR in VMC outside Class A-D, which you can do in anything - that's presumably how flying schools are able to do IMC Rating training, even ILS into Class D airports, in planes which would not be legal for the same in IMC.

For real IFR (in IMC) in Class A-D, you need a lot of kit that needs to not only appear to function but it has to be calibrated etc, with various requirements like FM Immunity which old avionics tend to not satisfy. A few instruments alone will add up to £30k.

Unless you can take on board the ownership costs (which on a used plane can be pretty significant, with suprises here and there) it might be better to look for a share.

[cblinton@blueyonder.]

I agree with 540, for 30k you are looking at 15 k for just the avionics:8

[High Wing Drifter]

Outright: AA5 Tiger

Share: DA Twinstar (when they start-up)

[Oscar Duece]

Have to agree the AA5B is the fastest of that lot.

Musketeer may be beech (quality) but heavy and slow (even on 180 hp)

Jodel (not a 4 seat anyway) and Ballenca, Woods and fabric (even just control surfaces) dont like being left outside, so figure hangar costs.

C172 and Pa28-180 are on par with each other, but may be older that the AA5 you could get and still slower.

Other than that its personal choise. High wing / low wing. Single door (Pa28), two doors (172) or a sliding roof (AA5 & Fuji).

As for IFR. agree 540.

and don't forget it may be £30k to buy. But figure on another £ 3-4 K a year at least even before the wheels leave the ground.