Seneca is a good idea and I have at least one other person at my local airport that would go in with me. How are they on long trips (and short 150-300 mile trips) as compared to the Lance, 210 & SR22? Is it sort of a waste to use it I a small trip? I am in the old "small" mountains and it would be nice to get the extra climb. I'll spare this thread the twin vs single debate.
Buy the plane you need, not the one the peanut gallery tells you to get. Skip the 182, won't do much that your Tiger doesn't unless you plan on doing any backcountry strips.
How much of your flying is travel and how much is just fun and proficiency flying ? You don't see many twin drivers just out flying for fun. Even a Seneca at 20gph turns that $200 crab-cake into a $300 crab-cake.
If I got this right, you have two small kids at this point. A SR22 would give you plenty enough payload/range yet it is not too much plane to just go flying for 2 hrs.
I have two kids and a share in a A36TC. It is a great 4-seater as that leaves you room for all the stuff that likes to travel along with a kids. Club seating and fold-out table in the back allows everyone to stay occupied. I have plenty of pictures of my wife curled up in the third row asleep with the kids spreading cake crumbs in the plane
Be very realistic on whether you need ice protection. While I have picked up some ice here and there (most of it in your neck of the woods), I dont think there are many trips I would have taken with ice protection available that I haven't taken now. If you decide you need it, I see four options:
- a booted 210
- a booted Seneca (II,III,IV,V)
- a A36 with fiki TKS
- a G3 SR 22
Both the 210 and the Seneca also offer the option of radar, mostly for summertime flying. Otoh, once you get into a plane with two engines, boots AND radar, the number of things that can eat $1000 in a afternoon at the shop is pretty high.
The lowest entry price for known ice is probably a 210 followed by a Seneca, a TKS Bo and with the G3 Cirrus on the top. What you save on the purchase with the twin, you are going to spend on fuel and component overhauls to make up for it over the next two years.
Once you drop the need or ice protection, the entry price drops down considerably. Any of the HP singles would probably serve you well for many years to come. I know several people who pretty much bought one plane and owned it for 25-30 years. HP singles offer a lot of utility for relatively modest expense, whether you buy a 210, Bonanza, SR22 or TB21 is more a question of religion.