Does anyone make a 5 seater airplane or is it only 6?

jd21476

jd21476

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jd21476
Currently I have a little Grumman AA-1 that I have actually only owned for about 5 months. I use it to commute to work and it seemed like it would fit my mission 90% of the time. BUT, right after I bought it, suddenly my kids want to take trips places and I have to keep saying no cause its only a two seater. With my wife and three kids, thats 5. Does anyone make one? Four seaters are abundant and fairly reasonable but 6 seaters tend to stretch the budget if I decide to move on to something bigger.
 
Aren’t some Velocitys 5 seats?
 
A few Beech Sierras and some Bonanzas. I actually have the 5th seat for my V35 (not installed), but when I look at it, I can't imagine it would be usable in any way. I have a family of only 3, including me, and I barely have enough room for the luggage on our trips as it is.
 
As the kids grow you’ll need the 6 seater for useful load and all the crap.
 
How far back you willing to go? Is the cirrus not 5 seat?
 

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Most cars are 5 seats, but you don’t see anybody very excited to sit in the middle of the back seat. Pretty much the same with planes. If you want everyone to be happy, you’ll get at least a 6 seater, let alone the useful load issues.
 
Socata Trinidad. Not sure if the Tobago is 5 as well. Cessna 210, 205 or 206 can be set up for 5. Beechcraft Sierra has a 4+2 version but those last 2 seats are really for very small children.
 
Buy a Cessna P210.
Pressurized is great, and the backseat is really only useful for 1 person, despite what anyone else may claim that 2 can sit back there. My favourite plane I ever had was my P210, still regret selling it despite my wife asking for something bigger...I should have said no, and kept it.
There has been many times I've considered buying another one.
 
You’ll probably want to have a six seater, just to have enough comfort, baggage capability and deal with weight/balance issues. A36 Bonanza, Cessna 210 and the Cherokee Six.

Them’s the ones - single engine, that is.
 
cheapest thing you can get under that threshold is probably a well worn six 260. 5gph penalty to go archer speeds and climb like one with a load. The pax will love it though, so as long as your destination is less than 400NM away. The 300 is appropriately power mated, and commands a large premium over the 260 for the obvious reasons.

Give the six 260 a look if on a budget. If you're gonna go slow anyways might as well have the elbow room. 3+2s like the socata are priced like six seaters anyways, nonstarter. good luck in the hunt.
 
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Early Cessna 310s and pressurized 337s came as five seaters.
 
They can set up SR22s for 5, but you're not getting much useful load or comfort for that.

There are 4+2 Twin Comanches out there that can haul a respectable amount
 
The later Rangemasters were five seaters. You had two up front and then they kind of staggered the three rear seats.
 
Only one person has said this specifically, so I will too. A Piper Cherokee Six with a 260 HP engine is probably the best solution from a cost standpoint. You'll still see a range of prices and conditions for those that are for sale.

I'm assuming since you're flying a Yankee, budgetary considerations are part of your issues, and some recommendations made above completely ignore that.
 
My SR22 is a five seater and it would be ok for two adults and 3 kids but definitely not 5 adults. Fine for me since we only have two kids.

I'm also the guy whose big car is a Porsche 911 so the cirrus is cavernous.
 
WillFly4Food said:
You’ll probably want to have a six seater, just to have enough comfort, baggage capability and deal with weight/balance issues. A36 Bonanza
Click to expand...

Problem with the A36 is that, with 5 of the seats filled, all the baggage goes on the 6th seat, meaning there isn’t much room for it. There are no baggage compartments (yes, there are modifications). A short trip, sure, but a family vacation with 5 people would make for a pretty cramped cabin.
 
Most 6-seaters are functional 5-seaters.

Except for the early Cherokee Six.



(But those are 7-seaters.)
 
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RussR said:
Problem with the A36 is that, with 5 of the seats filled, all the baggage goes on the 6th seat, meaning there isn’t much room for it. There are no baggage compartments (yes, there are modifications). A short trip, sure, but a family vacation with 5 people would make for a pretty cramped cabin.
Click to expand...
You can remove the 6th seat to give more room, but yes, generally speaking, if you are hauling 5 people in a 6 seat airplane, you aren’t going anywhere that requires overnight luggage.
 
Yes, there is a behind the seats baggage mod STC for the A36, but I think since about 1980-ish, that came standard?

Also, I should’ve mentioned the Cessna 205/206/207, too.
 
WillFly4Food said:
Yes, there is a behind the seats baggage mod STC for the A36, but I think since about 1980-ish, that came standard?
.
Click to expand...

It appears you're right. Apparently my clients haven't had anything that new and fancy!

I always thought this showed a tremendous lack of foresight on Beech's part. "What? people want to use our airplane to travel?"
 
As already mentioned, my 1996 A36 has a baggage area. The Bonanza is a fine plane, but there are better in my opinion. If planning to truly travel with your family, be kind to them, buy a pressurized 210. Not having their head feeling like it may explode, will mean more to your kids, than an extra inch of shoulder room. The two stupidest things I have done in my three decades of flying were selling my 172 to get a 182...and years later giving into my wife and selling my P210 to get a baron. If I knew then what I do now, I would have kept both my 185 on floats, and my P210, really the best of both worlds.
 
Some variants of the Piper Aztec were 5 seats.
 
Shuswap BC said:
Buy a Cessna P210.
Pressurized is great, and the backseat is really only useful for 1 person, despite what anyone else may claim that 2 can sit back there. My favourite plane I ever had was my P210, still regret selling it despite my wife asking for something bigger...I should have said no, and kept it.
There has been many times I've considered buying another one.
Click to expand...
I have had my C-210 since 1971 and love it. I's a 1964 with struts so no spar failure consideration. It is non-turbo but I can cruise at 23,000' light load (I will not carry non-family, pax due to liability). I have carried 5 with a short adult girl in a jump seat. Wearing an oxy mask is not a burden for me.

The staggerwing Beechcraft is a 5 place as I recall.
 
Beechcraft Travel Air
 
skier said:
Some variants of the Piper Aztec were 5 seats.
Click to expand...

The Aztecs are all true 6-seat airplanes. With lots of usable fore and aft baggage space, in addition to one of the roomiest 6-seat cabins in any airplane. Perhaps you meant its predecessor, the Apache?

Fearless Tower said:
Cessna Bobcat
Click to expand...

If we are going to twins, that opens up a lot of choices for true 5 or 6 passenger carrying capability. That's the path that took me to a twin. No doubt a Bamboo Bomber would be damn cool on the ramp!

Fearless Tower said:
Since no one else has said it, if you really want to haul 5 adults and all of their luggage, you gonna need a Beech 18....
Click to expand...

Now you're talkin' :thumbsup:

weilke said:
Most single engine 6-seaters are functional 5-seaters.

Except for the early Cherokee Six...
Click to expand...

FTFY.:)

WillFly4Food said:
Yes, there is a behind the seats baggage mod STC for the A36, but I think since about 1980-ish, that came standard?...
Click to expand...

The problem with aft baggage in an A36 is the limited CG capability. The two aft seats are already max weight limited because of that. Putting anything heavy further back just exacerbates the problem. An A36 is what I originally started out researching, but once I discovered it really isn't a true 6-place airplane, I ended up researching 6-place twins instead.
 
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GRG55 said:
The problem with aft baggage in an A36 is the limited CG capability. The two aft seats are already max weight limited because of that. Putting anything heavy further back just exacerbates the problem. An A36 is what I originally started out researching, but once I discovered it really isn't a true 6-place airplane, I ended up researching 6-place twins instead.
Click to expand...



That’s the thing I always wondered about the A36 baggage compartment: it’s got to hard to balance out.

Kind of like having the 5th and 6th seats in an S35 Bonanza. And I know people who’ve had adults sit back there. Smh
 
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