Any Archer III's in Melbourne?

[AirBumps]

Hey guys,

I'm looking at doing some longer (4 or 5 day) country trips in the coming months and don't yet have a CSU/Retract endor. So, I'm thinking that the Archer is probably going to be one of my best bets.

Just wondering if anybody can tell me who, which schools, may have an Archer III (or a II thats in decent condition) for rent. So many of the older II's are in such terrible shape.

Lilydale have a III thats in pretty good nick, just wondering if anybody knows of some others?

Cheers,

[Lasiorhinus]

You could get your CSU/Retract endorsements in a day or two in an Arrow..

[cudza101]

AB,

What Lasiorhinus is saying about the CSU/Retractable endorsement is true but if you're planning to do a decent-sized trip an Archer is a good way to go - Arrows are expensive and invariably loose. There was an Archer III advertised for sale at Moorabbin last year and you can safely assume it's on the line somewhere.

As an alternative, have you thought about going in a Warrior III? I went to Uluru and back a couple of years ago and you really don't notice the 10kts in cruise - unless you're looking at an Archer for loading purposes.

[AirBumps]

Thanks guys,

I'll do the CSU/Retract endo. but not until mid year or so. In any event, there don't seem to be that many Arrows or C182's around that schools will happily rent out for a week at a time because they need them on line for training. Thats what I've seen anyway....

Maybe just stick with a Warrior, the 10 kts probably isn't the end of the world and the loading benefit would probably only be another 50-70 KGs depending on BEW.

[cudza101]

Renting is always a problem if you're only going to do 1 hour per day (I don't know if this applies - the best you might be able to do with such low utilisation is a 150hp Warrior from RVAC or similar. Nonetheless, a Warrior is fine for long trips providing you've only got two people. Any more than that and you'll be struggling with weight... and DVT!

[jetbrett]

I don't know what your intentions are in regards to future flying, ie employment/fun but I would suggest getting a 182. Very good machine, good range, good load capacity as well as getting to enjoy the view a bit more, then that way you have high wing experience which is much more preferable if you go hunting for a job in the country. If you aren't planning on flying for a career then I suppose it doesn't matter how you get there, as long as you have fun and learn from the experience.

Cheers

JB