Single Engine Airplanes that have a lot of room.

FloridaPilot said:
I was talking with a buddy of mine who is interested in flying but he is a big guy, 6'2 250 LBS. Ex college football player who is not fat but has very wide shoulders. Cessna 172 is too tight for him, he might as well fly with his right arm around the CFI.

Can the folks on here think of an airplane with more width between the left and right seat?


As always thanks for your help.
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I'm 6'3 285lbs, ex college football player as well.

A PA-28 works just fine for me. If he expects an SUV in terms of room, he's going to be disappointed every time.
 
tuwood said:
Ditto on the SR20/22. I'm only 6' and around 215 and when I did my discovery flight with a female CFI that barely weight 110 I felt like I was smashing her through the door in a C172.
The SR20 however is more like a mid sized SUV with a center console and there's plenty of room between the two front seats.
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I have flown in an SR22 and it is nice but seriously "smashing her through the door in a 172" as I said I am a big guy way bigger than you and I have flown in an Aeronca Super Chief with 6' 200 pound instructor when doing my TW endorsement. Sure you have to forgo personal space (and a lot of fuel) :) but a 172 is really not that bad. The SR22 is going to cost 2X+ the 172 per hour but if you can afford it go for it.
 
MAKG1 said:
A PC-12 has a really nice lav. Priorities, man, priorities.
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Meh, not sure about nice, everyone on board is going to be hearing your business.

Ours doesn't have the lav anymore.
 
cgrab said:
Al it took was one summer flight with my wife in a 172 to convince me to buy a Cardinal. She said rubbing sweaty arms together for a couple of hours was not something she was ever going to do again. Not only do we not touch in the Cardinal but the vent windows mean we don't sweat either.
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My one complaint about the Cardinal design is that the side windows can't be opened... unlike in a 172, all you have is the old '60s style vent windows that were good for little more than tossing out cigarette butts. So on hot days, on the ground, I sweat plenty...

Yes, the Cardinal is plenty roomy - wide that is, which is probably why it is significantly slower than a Mooney with the same engine, despite the (apparently) aerodynamic design.
 
MAKG1 said:
Single engine with a lot of room?

PC-12.

You might want to constrain the question a bit more.
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Okay,

I friend of mine is interested in learning how to fly, no previous flight experience he has gone up in a Cessna 172 but he was pretty much rubbing shoulder to shoulder. He sweats quite a bit the 172 didn't have A/C and he was embarrassed that he got sweat on the CFI and didn't want to go back up. He still wants to fly but he would like a little bit more room. That sparked the question, I don't think a Cirrus would be a good training plane for him just starting out.

coloradobluesky said:
A Howard is absolutely CAVERNOUS. Just 4 seats, but its HUGE in there.
http://www.john2031.com/photos/howard_dga/2/N22410_3.JPG
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Awesome looking airplane!

ktup-flyer said:
I feel his pain. My shoulders are 21"-22" apart, so 172's are TIGHT
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His torso is shaped like a V, I don't really know his exact measurements but I consider myself wide in the shoulders, (I wear a 38' shirt) he is larger, he was a linebacker in College. I just hit a white ball around all day.

DFH65 said:
I have flown in an SR22 and it is nice but seriously "smashing her through the door in a 172" as I said I am a big guy way bigger than you and I have flown in an Aeronca Super Chief with 6' 200 pound instructor when doing my TW endorsement. Sure you have to forgo personal space (and a lot of fuel) :) but a 172 is really not that bad. The SR22 is going to cost 2X+ the 172 per hour but if you can afford it go for it.
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I have been in a Cirrus and I will see if he wants to consider but I would tell him to build a flying foundation first.
 
cgrab said:
Al it took was one summer flight with my wife in a 172 to convince me to buy a Cardinal. She said rubbing sweaty arms together for a couple of hours was not something she was ever going to do again. Not only do we not touch in the Cardinal but the vent windows mean we don't sweat either.
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Even in a 172 with the window open I still sweat too.....but hey this is Florida!
 
Cockpit%20area%20N75242.jpg
 
Seems this thread has spun out of control.

I'm a big guy 6' 5" and a few pounds on your buddy. I own a 182P and it's perfect. Plenty of head room and leg room. No oddly placed arm rests that seem to jab me in the thigh, no consoles rubbing my knees, no awkward climbing up wings and over seats. And it's an easy plane to learn and use for trips.

I've flown nearly every other plane mentioned in this thread and none of them seemed roomier than my 182.
 
If you have self-loading ballast in the right seat, in a 172, have him/her run the seat back all the way. Then you don't rub shoulders at all. . .

I used to fly looooong "patrols" in CAP 172s and 182s, and it made a big diffrence, just off-setting the seats like that.
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
Cirrus: 49 inches
Socata TB: 51 inches
Conculsion: The TB series aircraft are not legacy GA singles?
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Two things:
1) A single widest point measurement may not be a full representation of the practical width of the cabin since most aircraft doors/sides are not perfect vertical planes and human beings are not perfect cylinders. I've been in the Sonata TB aircraft and the Cirrus has more shoulder room (I'm 6'6" and have super wide shoulders like the OP)
2) Fine, perhaps my statement could have been a bit less absolute but I stand by the general statement that for a broad shouldered tall person, you'd be hard pressed to find anything meaningfully more comfortable in width than a Cirrus and Id be shocked if the OP wasn't perfectly happy in a Cirrus.

Is that better?
 
ya but are you "Vee" shaped? :D

Brad Z said:
Seems this thread has spun out of control.

I'm a big guy 6' 5" and a few pounds on your buddy. I own a 182P and it's perfect. Plenty of head room and leg room. No oddly placed arm rests that seem to jab me in the thigh, no consoles rubbing my knees, no awkward climbing up wings and over seats. And it's an easy plane to learn and use for trips.

I've flown nearly every other plane mentioned in this thread and none of them seemed roomier than my 182.
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He's focused on the wrong things, I don't give a damn if I'm sweating on the CFI, tell your friend to focus on learning to fly. This isn't the CFIs first rodeo in the summer time.

Get back up there.
 
Or tell your friend to wait until fall/winter to resume flight lessons in the 172. Better flying weather anyway most of the time.


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azure said:
My one complaint about the Cardinal design is that the side windows can't be opened... unlike in a 172, all you have is the old '60s style vent windows that were good for little more than tossing out cigarette butts. So on hot days, on the ground, I sweat plenty...

Yes, the Cardinal is plenty roomy - wide that is, which is probably why it is significantly slower than a Mooney with the same engine, despite the (apparently) aerodynamic design.
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At 6' 2" his height might be an issue. The spar carry through goes right over your head. I had to get a headset with no top band. At 250 the forward CG problem would cause him to carry excess weight in ballast when flying dual unless the right seat pax is a munchkin.
 
FloridaPilot said:
His torso is shaped like a V, I don't really know his exact measurements but I consider myself wide in the shoulders, (I wear a 38' shirt) he is larger, he was a linebacker in College. I just hit a white ball around all day.
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I'm right around NFL fullback size. 5'11 260. Wish I could just take the doors off on the 172
 
luvflyin said:
At 6' 2" his height might be an issue. The spar carry through goes right over your head. I had to get a headset with no top band. At 250 the forward CG problem would cause him to carry excess weight in ballast when flying dual unless the right seat pax is a munchkin.
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Maybe, if his legs are long enough that he needs the seat pretty far back. My headset is constantly hitting the headliner too, but it's definitely well in front of the spar carrythrough. The reason is that I need to have the seat cranked nearly all the way up to see over the panel.

And yes, the Cardinal definitely tends to be nose heavy and this can be a problem, especially if he's 250. That's nearly twice what I weigh and I need ballast to be in the envelope with most male pax.
 
FloridaPilot said:
I was talking with a buddy of mine who is interested in flying but he is a big guy, 6'2 250 LBS. Ex college football player who is not fat but has very wide shoulders. Cessna 172 is too tight for him, he might as well fly with his right arm around the CFI.

Can the folks on here think of an airplane with more width between the left and right seat?


As always thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

I'm a 6' 3" 270 lb. ex college football player, and my Cessna 182 fits me quite well with my 5'11" ex college softball player wife riding shotgun. I've had my 6'5" 270 lb. ex college football player brother up front with me, and even that wasn't all that tight. My big brother and I are flying 1500 miles round trip to Oshkosh in a couple weeks, which should be a testament to the roominess of the (post 1961) C-182. The 1962 "E" model is the first of the wide bodies. The earlier ones are skinnier.

I had to do my dual training in a C-172 rather than one of the school's C-150s because of weight. Cost more to train in the 172, but I was able to switch to the 150 for solo work. The 172, really wasn't that bad once you get used to rubbing sweaty shoulders with the CFI, and as a fellow ball player, I know he's not scared of swapping dude sweat. He can always stagger the seats a little, so he and the CFI aren't shoulder to shoulder.


To my collegiate gridiron brethren: Have your big beefy muscles liquefied and run down to your gut, or is it just me? Dang I used to be a hoss, but I've gotten soft over the years. I'm just about 10 lbs over playin' weight, but the weight is distributed itself a bit differently :eek:
 
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ktup-flyer said:
I'm right around NFL fullback size. 5'11 260. Wish I could just take the doors off on the 172
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Do it! It's legal to fly it sans doors. At least that's the case with my 182. I haven't done it yet but have always wanted to. I'll get to it...
 
FloridaPilot said:
Okay,

I friend of mine is interested in learning how to fly, no previous flight experience he has gone up in a Cessna 172 but he was pretty much rubbing shoulder to shoulder. He sweats quite a bit the 172 didn't have A/C and he was embarrassed that he got sweat on the CFI and didn't want to go back up. He still wants to fly but he would like a little bit more room. That sparked the question, I don't think a Cirrus would be a good training plane for him just starting out.



Awesome looking airplane!



His torso is shaped like a V, I don't really know his exact measurements but I consider myself wide in the shoulders, (I wear a 38' shirt) he is larger, he was a linebacker in College. I just hit a white ball around all day.



I have been in a Cirrus and I will see if he wants to consider but I would tell him to build a flying foundation first.
Click to expand...

I went from zero to check ride in a cirrus and it was a great plane for learning. The air force uses them for training as well.
They are more expensive so there's no denying that.
 
FloridaPilot said:
Okay,

I friend of mine is interested in learning how to fly, no previous flight experience he has gone up in a Cessna 172 but he was pretty much rubbing shoulder to shoulder. He sweats quite a bit the 172 didn't have A/C and he was embarrassed that he got sweat on the CFI and didn't want to go back up.
Click to expand...

Yeah, since that will be the very first time in the history of aviation a CFI got sweat on him from a student.

Like I said, get a petite CFI, fly the Skyhawk and suck it the hell up. If there's a Skylane for rent he might like that better, but not as many flight schools have them.

Like the man said, if he can't rub shoulders with folks and has to have an SUV-sized cabin GA just isn't for him. Airplanes tend to be a bit small on the inside, some more than others.
 
steingar said:
Yeah, since that will be the very first time in the history of aviation a CFI got sweat on him from a student.

Like I said, get a petite CFI, fly the Skyhawk and suck it the hell up. If there's a Skylane for rent he might like that better, but not as many flight schools have them.

Like the man said, if he can't rub shoulders with folks and has to have an SUV-sized cabin GA just isn't for him. Airplanes tend to be a bit small on the inside, some more than others.
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Generally I agree - and would give the same advice. After all I learned to fly in C152s in the early 90s and sucked up the sweating and being jammed together (although my CFI was a 90lb woman and I was 13-16 at the time so that helped!) But that being said, now that I own an airplane with a comfortable, large, ergonomic cabin and very effective air conditioning, I am loathe to jump into an old 182RG or Arrow to complete my Commercial which I need to do soon as my written test expires in 10 months. Point is, OP's friend should suck it up for training but it might not hurt to let him know that GA can be just as comfortable as luxury mid size sedan if you are willing to spend the money - it doesnt always have to be jammed like sardines in a 40 year old span cam with no air conditioning. This is particularly important if he ever wants to sell the idea to his wife!
 
SoonerAviator said:
Or tell your friend to wait until fall/winter to resume flight lessons in the 172. Better flying weather anyway most of the time.


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Best suggestion in this whole thread.

I would never suggest someone start flight training during the summer in Florida, especially if they are that size and sweat a lot. Just my opinion, but doing so is probably a sure fire way to get them to stop training out of misery. Flight training already takes a lot of self-motivation to get through. No reason to add another variable pushing you to quit.

Also, he should give a Cherokee a chance. I find Cherokee's feel better at the shoulders then 172s (and I think they are indeed an inch or two wider even though they taper at eye level more then a 172). You can find those to train in everywhere, no problem.
 
TB9. Mines a bit of a weight hog--UL is only 780lbs, but I'm 6'6 and right at 3 bills. Easy ingress and egress, plenty of shoulder room and you can pick up a great plane for under 50k with plenty of time left. Hell, I'm selling mine soon to get a TB20


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So I spoke to my buddy a few mins ago and he met someone that has a Piper Dakota. I haven't been in one personally, this will be his first low wing airplane experience he is just going around the pattern to see if he likes it or not.

Never been up in a Piper Dakota do you think that is going to help his space issue?

I always loved Pipers and I'm a bit jealous!
 
OkieFlyer said:
I'm a 6' 3" 270 lb. ex college football player, and my Cessna 182 fits me quite well with my 5'11" ex college softball player wife riding shotgun. I've had my 6'5" 270 lb. ex college football player brother up front with me, and even that wasn't all that tight. My big brother and I are flying 1500 miles round trip to Oshkosh in a couple weeks, which should be a testament to the roominess of the (post 1961) C-182. The 1962 "E" model is the first of the wide bodies. The earlier ones are skinnier.

I had to do my dual training in a C-172 rather than one of the school's C-150s because of weight. Cost more to train in the 172, but I was able to switch to the 150 for solo work. The 172, really wasn't that bad once you get used to rubbing sweaty shoulders with the CFI, and as a fellow ball player, I know he's not scared of swapping dude sweat. He can always stagger the seats a little, so he and the CFI aren't shoulder to shoulder.


To my collegiate gridiron brethren: Have your big beefy muscles liquefied and run down to your gut, or is it just me? Dang I used to be a hoss, but I've gotten soft over the years. I'm just about 10 lbs over playin' weight, but the weight is distributed itself a bit differently :eek:
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Gravity!
 
Depending on your mission, don't discount LSA. The CT cabin is wider than a 182 at 49". Many CT fliers are 6'2" 250 plus.
get%20comfort.jpg
 
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