The query about an aircraft type performance search database, made me wonder how much time people might have spent researching a type they would have liked to buy, and whether they ever followed through on the research and bought the type.
My aircraft purchases have been serendipitous/opportunistic but have spent many hours researching and debating the finer points of:
Cessna 195 (with Jacobs B2)
Cessna 180 A through H
Cessna 182 A through B
Not sure what the psychology of this aircraft fantasy football is, but the 195 excepted, the early 180/182 would have made quite good ‘investments’. The 195 demographic means that the asking price is well north of $100k but they can be found in good condition at $60k. The overhaul cost of a Jacobs is very reasonable, so in away they might still have longevity as practical tourers.
Ironically have only owned Piper, which may be a more practical (in fixed gear, fixed prop configuration) type, with quite a lot cheaper airframe parts.
Serendipitous mostly.
Was flying club aircraft in Switzerland for about 6 years, getting my PPL and having lots of fun in the mountains, but very difficult to arrange multi-day longer trips.
Went to the Geneva airshow are ran into the Cirrus sales guys. My wife sat it in and liked it, then she heard about the parachute and she said “honey, your 50th birthday is coming up…” and I swear thats how it happened. Plane was great, sales guys from Germany were great, got my FAA IR in it and started to fly all round Europe.
Kids got bigger (a lot) and moved to school in the UK. Cirrus proved to more and more limited. A friend (who happened to be a TBM sales guy) told me I should look at a TBM. Went for a test flight. Was hooked, but couldn’t anywhere near justify or afford the price. But he knew of someone who had one available for LT lease, so…
Moved to the UK and bought a property in the country with a grass strip (my wife found it, bless her). The TBM couldn’t operate off it safely, so for the first time I actually did some paper research for something that would be “TBM like” (especially the pressurisation) but could cope with a 700 m grass runway. The Piper Malibu Mirage jumped off the page in minutes. In a complete bit of serendipity ran into someone on the this forum who had one for sale and the deal was done in minutes. Thank you v much – you know who you are.
BTW, the seller of the property we bought had a 1941 Piper Cub he no longer needed. As my most mystical flying experiences in Switzerland were wandering around the mountains in a Cub, that became part of the deal.
So serendipity 95% of the way, plus a lot of encouragement from a wonderful wife.
I guess the moral of the story is that I was lucky to be in a phase of my life where I was no longer tied to a corporation, I could operate my business activities from wherever I wanted, was open to moving place of residence and open to new flying experiences.
Wow. What a story. Still in step 1 
Buckerfan wrote:
As my most mystical flying experiences in Switzerland were wandering around the mountains in a Cub, that became part of the deal.
So the same key for the house & the cub? ouups I forgot it’s hand start for both
@Buckerfan great history and what a magic carpet going from the Cotswolds to the Alps, or gently checking out the Cotswolds in a J3. Your neighbour flies in regularly to Oxford in his very nice Pacer.
In April a series of videos got posted on the Cessna 195
At 2,200 lbs empty it needs some quality infrastructure to hangar it, including a nice tug. While tailwheel and a bush airplane on floats, it actually is more practical on reasonably long and smooth tarmac due to the lack of effective flaps. Although there is one in Derby which operates from 500m grass.
Well I’ve just watched all those 195 videos. It seems to me like a more accessible / manageable staggerwing, which I’ve always had a soft spot for.
