what about Pipistrels? I don’t know them but seems like a good choice.
What’s the budget?
The budget is as low as possible, so the project will most likely boil down to buying a hangar queen for a song, putting it in the maintenance hangar and bringing it back to life. For now, the best such lead I know is about €10k for an all-metal single-seater that cruises at 95 knots on 11-12 litres of 95 octane mogas per hour.
Snoopy wrote:
Apparently aircraft craftsmanship of the highest level
Actually very dependant with the builder’s skill. MCR01 is a bit difficult to fly, but MCR4 is not very complex. I’m curious of what did raise this accident rate. By curiosity, Where did you get these informations?
No mention of local windspeed?
Silvaire wrote:
A uninteresting but very practical answer would be a C-150 ‘Commuter’ in very average condition.
Yes. That would be my very first choice (at least 30 kgs ago….)
Bog standard airplane, reliable, can park outside if need be, anyone can fix it, great engine and with a travel prop around 90 kts @ around 18 lph. Plenty of baggage space too. I had a french built F150L / 1971 with full corrosion protection and the new style panel. Loved it. For short commutes the ideal airplane. They tend to be relatively expensive though, but then what is not today.
Ultranomad wrote:
For now, the best such lead I know is about €10k for an all-metal single-seater that cruises at 95 knots on 11-12 litres of 95 octane mogas per hour.
For that kind of money my bet for a very universal airplane which does 90-100 kts with ample baggage I’d be looking for a Rallye or a Grumman AA5 Traveller. The latter sometimes appear for this kind of prices and is a good commuter for few money.
11-12 LPH is pushing it though.
A nice C150 is going for 50k on the public market and 35k personally currently. Running cost of a C150 (certified) vs. an uncertified plane is a factor of 2, maybe 3, acc. to my gut feeling. I have access to a nice 150 and incl. maintenance it costs 5k in a good year and 10k in a bad (hangar excluded!).
Some non cert. all metal planes like the CH601 HD or similar go for 15-25k and are Rotax equipped. A new engine is available for 5k used.
greg_mp wrote:
Actually very dependant with the builder’s skill. MCR01 is a bit difficult to fly, but MCR4 is not very complex. I’m curious of what did raise this accident rate. By curiosity, Where did you get these informations?
Just hearsay:
At the end of 2010 there were 90 registered MCR4S’ in Europe. The company went bust about 14 months later (so while it is back in business now, I assume the number hasn’t risen a huge amount since).
There have been at least 13 MCR4S accidents according to ASN Aviation Safety Database.
It is therefore reasonable to assume that over 10% (maybe as much as 15%) of these planes have crashed.
I was hoping to buy one of these, but these figures do not fill me with confidence.
Snoopy wrote:
I have access to a nice 150 and incl. maintenance it costs 5k in a good year and 10k in a bad (hangar excluded!).
Wow, that is practically the same as my M20C costs. These costs are insane. At the time I flew the 150 the annuals were way below the comparable ones of a complex. In 10 years of ownership of a F150 I never had one AOG so all I ever paid was for the annual/100 hrs check. Cessnas are generally in high demand.
Sure, experimentals may well be cheaper, but they are restricted and definitly not something to own if you are not qualified to do some work yourself. However, the OP clearly sais all metal. I also reckon certified even though he has not specified that. Also what kind of routes he wants to commute is decisive.
For the same price between 35k and 50k once can definitly get more capable airplanes. However, they also cost more to run. This can however be outweighed by the fact that a 120 kt airplane will need 20% less time to get to a specific destination and even with higher fuel flow may get similar trip fuel.
I have access to a nice 150 and incl. maintenance it costs 5k in a good year and 10k in a bad (hangar excluded!)
Jeez !
