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Which plane to buy for EUR200k

I had planned on investing a big chunk of money in a nice Cirrus but instead I will probably throw caution to the wind and invest in a business venture which will, I hope, throw off enough cash to fund my flying activities. (yes. I am an optimist ).

Here are the requirements:

-I reckon I can stretch to about EUR200,000 for the purchase price if I take out a loan. Please, no lectures about taking out a loan to buy a plane. I have spent my entire life deferring gratification
- I am a PPL with 100 hours experience, an IMC and a desire for an IR. I am flying about 10 hours per month as a I gradually gain confidence with flights of an hour or two to nearby airfields.
- I have experience in PA28, C172 and DA40
- I want to travel between the UK and south of France as well as local flights
-Given where I live it is likely that much of my flying will be over water.
-I want to have the option for grass strips
-I need space for 2 POB and 2 road bikes (wheels out obviously)
-I live near the Alps
-This is not a case of “buying your last plane first”. If all goes well I will change the plane in a couple of years, so it only needs to be appropriate to my current skill level
-I enjoy flight training (does that make me weird?) so I am happy to upgrade my skills if necessary. I have been warned off a Cirrus by a Cirrus pilot who told me they were too slippery for a new PPL
-I don’t want something with a likelyhood of maintenance issues.i.e. nothing too old
-I want something that should sell easily in a couple years

An SR22 G2 would seem to fit the bill, as would a C182, maybe even a DA40. I realise that avionics are an important topic but maybe I’ll leave that for another day.

So gentlemen, what would you recommend? And thanks in advance.

LFMD - Cannes

- I want to travel between the UK and south of France as well as local flights
-Given where I live it is likely that much of my flying will be over water.
-I want to have the option for grass strips
-I need space for 2 POB and 2 road bikes (wheels out obviously)
-I want something with a likelyhood of maintenance issues.i.e. nothing too old
-I want something that should sell easily in a couple years

Definitely sounds like you should go for an SR22!

Most alternatives will be too slow for those long UK – Southern France trips or otherwise not be very suitable for grass / short runways.

With that budget, look for 2004 to 2006 models.

Last Edited by boscomantico at 23 Nov 20:43
Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

tinfoilhat wrote:

- I want to travel between the UK and south of France as well as local flights

Some people I know, who have bought an SR22, a 114, a C210 or similar planes in the 300+ hp category, tend not to fly locally anymore very much. Basically because these aircraft cost the same whether flown in circles or between A and B. There is a notable exception of a guy who flies a TBM850 and enjoys an eving in the Air on something quite different: A SF25C Falke.

So if you intend to fly the occasional run around the patch, you might want to assess the options for some cheaper flight time.

Other than that: If a SR22 is what you want, then why not go for it? It might not be appealing to me, but I’m not the one spending your money :-)

Just my 2 cents.

mh
Aufwind GmbH
EKPB, Germany

100 hours is not a lot, but it all depends on a thorough checkout. Obviously i know nothing about you, but really the biggest difference if compared to similar plane will be the avionics, but then newer 182s have glass aswell. The DA40 can only be compared to the SR20.
Grass runways is fine, if you have the technique.
The G2 is the best deal at the moment, the problem is more to find a good one. If i was a dealer i could sell two SR22 NAs at the moment.
The bikes will work if you take them apart and load them through the doorsß. The seats can be folded, and there’s even a nice Cargo STC, for a flat and even bigger cargo area if you don’t need the rear seats.
If you happen to be in Munich sometime i can give you a complete introduction.

Last Edited by Flyer59 at 23 Nov 20:50

C182, like always.

This ticks the boxes and will not suffer in the depreciation department. Also leaves change for some good transition training.

http://www.planecheck.com?ent=da&id=25725

(Low time early 1990’s Beech 36)

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

For me, probably the biggest question is in what kind of weather do I want it to fly. That can seriously limit your choices. For example, I very much like the DA40, but it has no deicing. Also, what do you consider too old? What is your budget for running the thing and how many hours per year are you planning (120?)? 200k can buy you a lot of different things.

As for the SR22 being too slippery… this shouldn’t put you off, just make sure you approach it with the right attitude. As long as you don’t mind a bit steeper learning curve and spending perhaps a few more hours on the transition training (everyone is different). Some people did their PPL on them. I don’t subscribe to the idea that you should fly for 100, 200 or whatever number of hours, then make a small step and repeat. I believe in keeping the bar suitably high.

PS: Probably the biggest issue for me with used SR22s is presence of (well, lack of) DME and ADF. YMMV. And there are not that many naturally aspirated ones around.

Last Edited by Martin at 23 Nov 22:06

RobertL18C wrote:

This ticks the boxes and will not suffer in the depreciation department. Also leaves change for some good transition training.

http://www.planecheck.com?ent=da&id=25725

(Low time early 1990’s Beech 36)

Think that’s around 50k more than he wanted to spend… the days of 1$ = 1.37 euros are long gone….

EDL*, Germany

Steve6443 wrote:

the days of 1$ = 1.37 euros are long gone

I think you have that backwards.

I can understand that somebody might want a DME … but an ADF? In a Cirrus? What for?

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