Morne
Line Up and Wait
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2011
- Messages
- 699
- Display Name
Display name:
Morne
First post in a long while...
6 years ago when I bought by carburated C182E I had a "normal mission" of 250nm each way and was a low time (100-ish hours TT) pilot with no instrument rating. Since then I got my IR and flown in lots of actual (still current). I got my HP endorsement in the 182 and even rented a 182RG for a handful of hours one year while my bird was in annual to get the complex endorsement.
My mission has changed since then. That 250nm each way round trip is no longer. However, I have several trips a year now in various parts of the country. For instance, last summer I flew KBJJ to KRVS (and back at the end of the week) 4 times. That's 724nm each way, necessitating a fuel stop. It's also about 6 hours in the plane each way. I've flown my bird to Phoenix, New Orleans, Vermont, Miami, and coastal Carolinas. All very long trips in the NA 182. Trips to eastern Pennsylvania, Washington DC, and anywhere in Virginia are still easily within a single tank, obviously. But I have also had to stay low under winter/spring cloud decks with ice in them and have even started accumulating ice 3 times (and promptly got out of it, naturally). While I can still take my wife and 2 kids comfortably in the 182 more room/payload/speed would certainly be nice.
Financially I am in a better place than when I bought the 182. My house is paid off. So the increased OPEX and MX of a complex/turbo airplane is within my means today. Hence my desire and ability to upgrade. Whatever I do I will sell the 182 before buying another bird, I will not own 2 airplanes.
So, what to buy? I kicked around a lot of options but the most important criteria for the wife's acceptance value includes:
1 - Must be easy to get in and out of. This rules out virtually every low wing. Yes, I admire the low wing birds and have even flown one (Grumman Cheetah). They just aren't for her and thus aren't for us to own.
2 - Must be better in turbulence than my current 182. That basically means a heavier plane which is pretty easy to accomplish. It rules out the Diamond series of planes whose sailplane style wing makes each bump easily felt (and it's a low wing anyway).
That brings us to the 210 series. I really admire the whole line of them. I fully understand just how dramatically they changed from the early 60s to the early 80s. Frankly, I probably should've bought a 210 in the first place but I was concerned that it was "too much plane" for a low time pilot like me. Now that I am over 600 hours I am more confident and think I could handle the step up with proper instruction.
Then I had a buddy, who is not a pilot but has owned a P210 (had a professional pilot fly him around) in the past, contact me. He indicated that he's got a business arrangement in the Carolinas that he might be getting into that would allow him to become an airplane owner again and asked if I wanted to go 50/50 in with him on a P210. For him pressurization is a must. I am intrigued. Really intrigued. I think a P210 would be very comfortable for my wife to fly in and would get me around faster without too dramatic of an increase in OPEX and MX.
If you were in this position would the P210 be the right bird for you? Are there other birds I am forgetting?
As to shopping for a P210 I get that things like inconel exhausts and intercoolers are very desirable to get the most out of them. Oddly, with the current state of weather information available in the cockpit the radar pod on the wing is less of a selling point than in the old days. I have picked my way through plenty of ugly stuff with an iPad/Stratus and a strikefinder in my 182. So an ancient (likely inoperative) radar pod is really not something I care much about.
Another thought - to avoid dealing with the potential for struggling through the headaches caused by prior ham-fisted pilots is it smarter to buy a runout P210 and immediately major both the engine and turbo? That way I can start with a clean slate and fly her right? Or since I'd just be starting to learn how to run a turbo bird should I fly 100-200 hours on it first and get experience before wiping the slate clean?
The last point to consider is that ever since I bought my plane (right around when I got my PPL) I have always been an outright owner. I am not used to sharing a plane. I could conceivably buy a P210 outright but it would be a bit more of a stretch financially. 50/50 not only makes the acquisition cost less but also helps if a big maintenance hit comes along (which is sure to happen with a bird of this complexity). I hated the old rental birds I trained in because they weren't maintained the way I would want them to be, that's what drove me to buy my own plane.
I realize there is a lot here. Appreciate input.
6 years ago when I bought by carburated C182E I had a "normal mission" of 250nm each way and was a low time (100-ish hours TT) pilot with no instrument rating. Since then I got my IR and flown in lots of actual (still current). I got my HP endorsement in the 182 and even rented a 182RG for a handful of hours one year while my bird was in annual to get the complex endorsement.
My mission has changed since then. That 250nm each way round trip is no longer. However, I have several trips a year now in various parts of the country. For instance, last summer I flew KBJJ to KRVS (and back at the end of the week) 4 times. That's 724nm each way, necessitating a fuel stop. It's also about 6 hours in the plane each way. I've flown my bird to Phoenix, New Orleans, Vermont, Miami, and coastal Carolinas. All very long trips in the NA 182. Trips to eastern Pennsylvania, Washington DC, and anywhere in Virginia are still easily within a single tank, obviously. But I have also had to stay low under winter/spring cloud decks with ice in them and have even started accumulating ice 3 times (and promptly got out of it, naturally). While I can still take my wife and 2 kids comfortably in the 182 more room/payload/speed would certainly be nice.
Financially I am in a better place than when I bought the 182. My house is paid off. So the increased OPEX and MX of a complex/turbo airplane is within my means today. Hence my desire and ability to upgrade. Whatever I do I will sell the 182 before buying another bird, I will not own 2 airplanes.
So, what to buy? I kicked around a lot of options but the most important criteria for the wife's acceptance value includes:
1 - Must be easy to get in and out of. This rules out virtually every low wing. Yes, I admire the low wing birds and have even flown one (Grumman Cheetah). They just aren't for her and thus aren't for us to own.
2 - Must be better in turbulence than my current 182. That basically means a heavier plane which is pretty easy to accomplish. It rules out the Diamond series of planes whose sailplane style wing makes each bump easily felt (and it's a low wing anyway).
That brings us to the 210 series. I really admire the whole line of them. I fully understand just how dramatically they changed from the early 60s to the early 80s. Frankly, I probably should've bought a 210 in the first place but I was concerned that it was "too much plane" for a low time pilot like me. Now that I am over 600 hours I am more confident and think I could handle the step up with proper instruction.
Then I had a buddy, who is not a pilot but has owned a P210 (had a professional pilot fly him around) in the past, contact me. He indicated that he's got a business arrangement in the Carolinas that he might be getting into that would allow him to become an airplane owner again and asked if I wanted to go 50/50 in with him on a P210. For him pressurization is a must. I am intrigued. Really intrigued. I think a P210 would be very comfortable for my wife to fly in and would get me around faster without too dramatic of an increase in OPEX and MX.
If you were in this position would the P210 be the right bird for you? Are there other birds I am forgetting?
As to shopping for a P210 I get that things like inconel exhausts and intercoolers are very desirable to get the most out of them. Oddly, with the current state of weather information available in the cockpit the radar pod on the wing is less of a selling point than in the old days. I have picked my way through plenty of ugly stuff with an iPad/Stratus and a strikefinder in my 182. So an ancient (likely inoperative) radar pod is really not something I care much about.
Another thought - to avoid dealing with the potential for struggling through the headaches caused by prior ham-fisted pilots is it smarter to buy a runout P210 and immediately major both the engine and turbo? That way I can start with a clean slate and fly her right? Or since I'd just be starting to learn how to run a turbo bird should I fly 100-200 hours on it first and get experience before wiping the slate clean?
The last point to consider is that ever since I bought my plane (right around when I got my PPL) I have always been an outright owner. I am not used to sharing a plane. I could conceivably buy a P210 outright but it would be a bit more of a stretch financially. 50/50 not only makes the acquisition cost less but also helps if a big maintenance hit comes along (which is sure to happen with a bird of this complexity). I hated the old rental birds I trained in because they weren't maintained the way I would want them to be, that's what drove me to buy my own plane.
I realize there is a lot here. Appreciate input.
