Airplanes

flyersfan31

flyersfan31

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Freiburgfan31
I love thinking about airplanes I'd like to own. Since I don't earn the money in my family, I just spend it, I don't see myself acquiring a collection a la Kermit Weeks. Still, I love talking about them. So, here is a random, and not exhaustive, list of GA planes I really like, some for no good reason. I'd love to fly them, maybe own them. What do you think?

1) Socata TB20 - looks nice, great interior design and space, decent performance. Downside, well, it's French, and lousy gas mileage. Still, a great looking bird
2) Beech Staggerwing - what a design! Big too. Probably wouldn't be able to maintain it.
3) Cessna 195 -- how can you NOT like this plane? Also big, and I probably wouldn't be able to find a local A&P to take care of the round engine. Still, with a polished metal finish, one beautiful plane! Suh-weeeet!!
4) Lake Amphibian - I know all the reasons why you wouldn't want one. I want one anyway.
5) Cessna 310 - I'm smitten with multis of late. Buy low, you know! What a beautiful airplane, and practical too. Best looking twin I think.
6) Stearman trainer - from the time when men were men and tailwheels were conventional, and you didn't need an endorsement to fly one. Old school flying. I WILL get checked out in one some day.
7) Piper Turbo Arrow IV - Yeah, a turbo. Yeah, a T-tail. But they look great and fly high. Too small, only one door, and I live in the east. Three strikes against. But they look great and fly high. T -tail Lance: Ugly. T-tail Arrow: nice.
8) Peterson 182/260se STOL conversion - Have you seen the videos? You could land it on a beach towel!
9) Beech A36 Bonanza - the one I'll likely end up with. Performance, Beech quality, club seating (I won't be back there, so what do I care about knocking knees), classic Beech lines. Needs more baggage space.
10) FIKI Seneca with STOL conversion -- after seeing Ted's at the Reading breakfast, all I can say is WOW. I don't know if his was FIKI; that would be icing on the cake. But a Seneca with the Robertson STOL is a pretty impressive twin. Club seating, natch, with the baggage space Beech left out.
11) Cardinal RG - pretty plane, pretty good performance. If only they were built better...
12) RV10 - I have no time to build, even a quick-build. I'd rather spend my free time flying. Still, great $/performance tradeoff in a nice plane.
 
Missing the Pilatus PC-12 from the list. Fast, High, Short-fields. Plenty of load!
 
flyersfan31 said:
2) Beech Staggerwing - what a design! Big too. Probably wouldn't be able to maintain it.
3) Cessna 195 -- how can you NOT like this plane? Also big, and I probably wouldn't be able to find a local A&P to take care of the round engine. Still, with a polished metal finish, one beautiful plane! Suh-weeeet!!
4) Lake Amphibian - I know all the reasons why you wouldn't want one. I want one anyway.
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I trimmed your list to show the ones I like. I actually think the next thing up for B&B Aviation (after the initial sting of buying the 201 wears off) will be starting an RV-8 quickbuild. Brent has a giant garage at his house, so we have the space.
 
If money were no object, and I didn't need the airplane for actual travel, and I could only own one airplane, it would have to be the Beech Staggerwing. But unless I win the lottery (and I don't even play) I'll never be able to afford one (maybe Bill and I should partner up on one:)). Second on my list, with a chance that I may be able to afford one one day is the Cessna 195.
 
Bill Jennings said:
I trimmed your list to show the ones I like. I actually think the next thing up for B&B Aviation (after the initial sting of buying the 201 wears off) will be starting an RV-8 quickbuild. Brent has a giant garage at his house, so we have the space.
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I think a RV7 is in my future. none of that nosewheel stuff though! :D
 
Hmm, Pilatus, yeah, that really is a do-everything plane. The Swiss got it right!

Yeah, I left Mooney off the list. I'm not really a fan of the look - kind of like the tail is taffy that got pulled a little too far from the nose. (Ducking from the blows about to rain down on me from Mooniacs!) It's hard to imagine more bang for the buck though.

I left out the Mustang because I specified GA. However, if I were to own a warbird, I kinda like the Avenger. Cabin space, big cargo bay, flexible dorsal turret, perfect for hauling the family around...:D
 
I owned an A-36 that was turbonormalized with tip tanks for over five years; sold it last fall. Now have a P-Baron. If there are any questions you might have, I'd be happy to share any insight I have with you.

Best,

Dave
 
Simple tastes for me. A Tiger for me, maybe a Cardinal as a 2nd choice.
And either a turbo Lance or 206 for those long trips out west with the wife & kids:yes:
 
Diamond?! Further proof that youth is wasted on the young.:rolleyes: Why fantasize about an airplane that isn't a classic?

For me, the Cessna 195. Classiest, best looking GA single ever built.

Mark
 
OK, if I had unlimited bucks, my dream plane would be the Spartan Executive. Hands down the best looking GA plane I've ever laid eye on!

Tail dragger, retract, round engine, 170+kts, 24000 service ceiling, and did I say it's beautiful? A remarkable airplane for 1936!

http://www.spartanexecutive.com/html/gallery.html
 

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GrampaMark said:
For me, the Cessna 195. Classiest, best looking GA single ever built.
Mark
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Richard O said:
Second on my list, with a chance that I may be able to afford one one day is the Cessna 195.
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flyersfan31 said:
3) Cessna 195 -- how can you NOT like this plane? Also big, and I probably wouldn't be able to find a local A&P to take care of the round engine. Still, with a polished metal finish, one beautiful plane! Suh-weeeet!!
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You guys are just sucking up to Greg for 195 rides at Gastons! :D

and it is a beautiful and nice flying airplane ;)
 
Any twin engine turbine helicopter with skids would do :D

But if I'm thinking "Buy American" it would be a Bell 427, otherwise an AStar 355 (TwinStar) :yes:

:heli:
 
Bill Jennings said:
OK, if I had unlimited bucks, my dream plane would be the Spartan Executive. Hands down the best looking GA plane I've ever laid eye on!

Tail dragger, retract, round engine, 170+kts, 24000 service ceiling, and did I say it's beautiful? A remarkable airplane for 1936!

http://www.spartanexecutive.com/html/gallery.html
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I thought I was the only one with this peculiar disease!

Just think, if you lived here, we could make a Spartan partnership.
 
Beech 18, PBY and a G-V. The Spartan Exec is nice, but I prefer twins.
 
No AC47 gunship? "Puff the Magic Dragon"......

:lightning: Death from Above.
 
Anthony said:
No AC47 gunship? "Puff the Magic Dragon"......

:lightning: Death from Above.
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I'd rather have the AC 130 version of Puff. I got to see a demo of it once, lot's of firepower and room to pull my car in and take it with as well as an apartment inside.
 
Henning said:
I'd rather have the AC 130 version of Puff.

room to pull my car in and take it with as well as an apartment inside.
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Now that would be kick ass! A mobile apartment with room for a small car and bike in back. Hmmm, maybe I should fly south for the winter, maybe Florida, nah, how about Rio?

:goofy:
 
Henning said:
I'd rather have the AC 130 version of Puff. I got to see a demo of it once, lot's of firepower and room to pull my car in and take it with as well as an apartment inside.
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I prefer the old Spooky. Its a nostalgia thing. Remember that scene in "The Green Beret" where John Wayne orders the hit on the base camp?
 
Called in or watched Spooky, Puff and Spectre perform many times. Really impressive at night; the tracers came down so close together with the large volume of fire it looked like a laser.

Also did many BDAs (bomb or battle damage assessments) after they finished. Sometimes a few minutes behind an Arc Light; usually the next morning. Unfortunately, all that firepower didn't accomplish much with out excellent intelligence. We referred to many missions as 'monkey killers'. All we found was dead animals (to include monkeys).

When they did get good intelligence, the results were catastrophic for the bad guys. ARC Lights were strategic; very difficult to bring to bear on mobile targets. With the 130s that had night vision capability, much more tactical in nature. Puff and Spooky would respond to those of us on the ground. Spectre was more on their own.

Best,

Dave
 
My "lottery list":

A. Get-places planes
  1. Diamond DA40XL. Great view, amazing knots-per-gallon, fun to fly. Great for shortish trips, giving rides to first-timers, etc.
  2. Diamond DA42. Same as above, but with known ice for those ugly winter days, and a second blower so I'd feel OK going over the lake in the winter.
  3. HondaJet. I'd say "Eclipse" but I don't like Avidyne and I really like the way the HondaJet is different than the rest of the VLJ's.
  4. Javelin. When I want to get somewhere far away, fast, solo or with one pax - You can't beat 10,000 FPM and 528KTAS in any other single-pilot civilian bird. Wow.

B. Fun planes
  • Seawind 300C. New, quick for an amphib, and what better way to combine flying with being on the water on a nice summer day?
  • Super Cub, with floats for the summer. I *would* go west in this bird. I've read (OK, well, listened to...) Flight of Passage a few too many times. :)
  • Cessna 185 with wheel skis
  • Extra 300 (or maybe a Pitts S2B or S2C). Gotta have that Vitamin G. :yes:
  • SF260, for those times where I might want to get somewhere AND have some fun along the way.

C. Classics
  • P-51 Mustang. Goes without saying.
  • Beech 18.
  • Is the Twinkie old enough to count as a classic yet?
 
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