I gave the question a thorough thought and decided that this would be the right thing to get:
Instead of the passenger seats, I would get two beds, a shower and a fridge installed. And then just let it drift wherever it wants to go. Every two or three weeks we would moor in some nice harbour, visit the local launderette, replenish the supplies of water, food and whisky and off we would go again...
The Zeppelin sounds like a fine idea if somebody is paying all the bills, even those not associated with aircraft, so you can quit work and travel in it full time. Then again, I suppose that if you're paying for the maintenance of a Zeppelin, the rest are inconsequential!
My choice for a free, monogamous, self run forever aircraft is the SF260, as posted above. If somebody else is paying for fuel and polishing staff I go in a different direction, sidestep the Beech 18 selected by others and go directly to the upscale choice... A Lockheed 12A Electra Junior. :-)
Isn't that Beech the same one as an N-reg one owned by the Danish lawyer who made all that money processing the zero VAT route for aircraft?
For me too, it would have to be amphibian. Large enough for comfortable camping, say a Grumman Goose at least, a Catalina better. Indeed with all the amenities and style of living as described above, though I prefer grappa and calvados over whisk(e)y.
We are not spotters sir, we are very knowledgeable enthusiasts.
Aren't they all? 
Apologies Genghis, it's tough to tell the difference from a distance....if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck.....thanks for id-ing the aircraft, btw
I have never seen a Beech 18 before, but they seem popular. Is it just their look, their shiny-ness, or are they particularly well performing aircraft?
I have never seen a Beech 18 before, but they seem popular. Is it just their look, their shiny-ness, or are they particularly well performing aircraft?
I think both the Electra Junior and the Beech 18 are classy in the same way as a DC3, built in much the same way too, but much smaller and faster. Aluminium aircraft of all types were left shiny and unpainted in the era and as you can probably detect from my site moniker, that's quite OK with me :-)
The Beech is one of the iconic GA designs, produced from 1937-1970, with over 9,000 built. The Lockheed despite being a bit more glamorous was a victim of the companies success, and its production was displaced by the P-38 etc.
The engines make either aircraft a practical proposition even 75 years on: two R-985s are a very good thing if you can afford to feed 900 HP. They are powerful, relatively inexpensive to overhaul, highly reliable. About 40,000 built by Pratt. Covington turns out one radial per day, and you can get it delivered with a phone call...
This rather pretty Beech was at Fairford this year, parked next to the FAAM BAe-146.
I was lucky enough to get a look around the inside of the aircraft and I'm sorry to say that it was really rather scruffy inside - put charitably, a work in progress!
G
I think a DynAero MCR4S would do nicely...
[+1]. For a capable, cheap aircraft to own, hard to beat the DynAeros. Not much chance of getting it in the UK I am led to believe. I'd have one of these reworked Rotax lumps in front of it, especially if someone else is paying
it'd be a Marchetti SF260...
Have you ever considered getting one, SIlvaire? From what I can piece together, one is not beyond your means (??)
Covington turns out one radial per day, and you can get it delivered with a phone call...
but perhaps just not on a Sunday...(!astonished!)
http://www.covingtonaircraft.com/statement-faith
(really must get some comprehensive emoticon support on this forum!)
Masterofnone - yes, I once thought about devoting my life to buying an SF260. That's what it would take for me in the absence of your imaginary inheritance from a rich uncle :-)
I even finagled a visit to the airbase where they are used for training in Italy (not so far away from one of our fellow forum members), hooked up with a local US guy who has an SF260 that came from that very base (still in squadron colors), and got him some decals for the aircraft from the squadron. All parties thought that was fun. I learned a lot and generally made a pest/asset of myself (hopefully the balance was positive) in getting involved and learning about them from every source.
But in the final analysis they cost an awful lot of money compared to what else you can buy. Both my aircraft combined cost 1/3 as much as a nice Marchetti! Plus, I'm gathering some applicable high wing loading experience with aircraft #2 and I've noticed SF260 prices are gently decreasing... Someday :-)
I even finagled a visit to the airbase where they are used for training in Italy (not so far away from one of our fellow forum members),
You can add another forum member to that list as I was lucky enough to grow up less than 10NM away from the place where they build/built them (LILG) :-) There is a great airshow at Vergiate in summer every year that really is worth the visit.
Another very pretty aeroplane that was bulit close by (at Vizzola Ticino) was the Caproni Calif, a side-by-side two-seater glider made of aluminium of which even a jet-powered motor glider version was proposed (another hot candidate for this fantasy-airplane list):
