Hi Everyone -
I'm a little over 1000+ hours, all rental aircraft to date, and have been trying to buy an aircraft for years... YEARS!!!! I fly between 150 - 200 hours a year, and lately mostly on an older Avidyne Equipped Cirrus SR22TN up at the flight levels.
The mission: I fly a ton from coast to coast, and based out of the Chicagoland suburbs to meet up with business clients and employees, and "almost" avoid the airlines entirely. I am SEL, MEL, IFR, High Performance, Complex, High Altitude rated today. All of it has been rental hours. Speed to get there though nice isn't a requirement. I could do without speed if I had to. The single engines that are out there, unless moving to turbo prop, have limited useful load and very few with de-ice, full de-ice or FIKI. Hence a twin.
Requirements: Full-Deice or FIKI is a must from a protection standpoint. I fly high enough and long enough cross-countries that this is a must. WAAS capable GPS (even a 430W) is a minimum, with some kind of a glass display (doesn't have to be a full blown glass AHRS, but something.....), A/P capable of coupled GPS / ILS. Seating and load capable of 4 adults and 2 kids. Everything else is optional. I really don't go on too many vacations, it's all day trips or 1 night overnight at best, but I'll go and fly anywhere from Chicago to Washington, or South Dakota to New York as an example.
Plane: Honestly, I've looked at everything from Azteks to Navajos and even early Cayenne's for years and years and years. An Aztek seems like the best bet (slow, but great in ice) or a Navajo (non P, I hear the engines are a nightmare and low TBO).
So what's the problem: 1) I'm not an A/P and yet very mechanical and tech savvy and prefer to do things myself or work with someone by the book.
2) I don't want to finance anything, I want to pay cash for the aircraft and only pay monthly for hangar rental, annuals, and mx as needed versus a monthly payment on an aircraft.
3) I want something reasonably maintainable
4) I would prefer to own it outright with 3 or 4 people with similar interests
5) I would prefer if one of the people was an A/P or knows an A/P we could work with
6) I can't find a single soul with similar interests who lives in chicagoland
7) Clubs are not of interest (40 - 75 members against a single plane, and the planes don't fit the mission)
I Would love to make things a reality, and find some peeps that fit the bill. Not sure what else to say, other than help?
I'm a little over 1000+ hours, all rental aircraft to date, and have been trying to buy an aircraft for years... YEARS!!!! I fly between 150 - 200 hours a year, and lately mostly on an older Avidyne Equipped Cirrus SR22TN up at the flight levels.
The mission: I fly a ton from coast to coast, and based out of the Chicagoland suburbs to meet up with business clients and employees, and "almost" avoid the airlines entirely. I am SEL, MEL, IFR, High Performance, Complex, High Altitude rated today. All of it has been rental hours. Speed to get there though nice isn't a requirement. I could do without speed if I had to. The single engines that are out there, unless moving to turbo prop, have limited useful load and very few with de-ice, full de-ice or FIKI. Hence a twin.
Requirements: Full-Deice or FIKI is a must from a protection standpoint. I fly high enough and long enough cross-countries that this is a must. WAAS capable GPS (even a 430W) is a minimum, with some kind of a glass display (doesn't have to be a full blown glass AHRS, but something.....), A/P capable of coupled GPS / ILS. Seating and load capable of 4 adults and 2 kids. Everything else is optional. I really don't go on too many vacations, it's all day trips or 1 night overnight at best, but I'll go and fly anywhere from Chicago to Washington, or South Dakota to New York as an example.
Plane: Honestly, I've looked at everything from Azteks to Navajos and even early Cayenne's for years and years and years. An Aztek seems like the best bet (slow, but great in ice) or a Navajo (non P, I hear the engines are a nightmare and low TBO).
So what's the problem: 1) I'm not an A/P and yet very mechanical and tech savvy and prefer to do things myself or work with someone by the book.
2) I don't want to finance anything, I want to pay cash for the aircraft and only pay monthly for hangar rental, annuals, and mx as needed versus a monthly payment on an aircraft.
3) I want something reasonably maintainable
4) I would prefer to own it outright with 3 or 4 people with similar interests
5) I would prefer if one of the people was an A/P or knows an A/P we could work with
6) I can't find a single soul with similar interests who lives in chicagoland
7) Clubs are not of interest (40 - 75 members against a single plane, and the planes don't fit the mission)
I Would love to make things a reality, and find some peeps that fit the bill. Not sure what else to say, other than help?
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