Re: What would you buy with a 50k budget?

>>>>> "KE" == Kirk  <Ellis> writes:

    KE> As far as VFR flying was concerned, things looked hopeful but
    KE> flying only 15 or so hours a year is not going to satisfy my
    KE> quest to become a proficient aviator. I thought that perhaps
    KE> just tooling around the neighborhood in a little 152 or so
    KE> would satisfy the urge, but in the pathetic 150 hours I have
    KE> amassed over the last ten years I am already beyond
    KE> that. Confining myself to local hops around the pattern does
    KE> not hold much appeal any longer if I cannot mix it up with
    KE> some good XC's every so often. The thought of taking those
    KE> relatively longer XC flights to places further than 100 miles
    KE> from the home base are part of what motivated me to obtain
    KE> that license. But, sadly, the longest XC I have ever flown in
    KE> that time is the one required for the PPL.

You describe a situation similar to mine a few years ago.  I lived 3
miles from a very good club with taildraggers, Cessnas, and even a
Bonanza, but then the club moved one way, I moved another, and my
flying dropped to no more than 20 hours/year. Like you, I wanted to
fly long, multi-day cross-country flights.  Finally I realized I
needed to either buy my own airplane or quit.

I ended up buying an Aircoupe, performance not greatly different than
the ubiquitous C-150.  The first year I put on well over 100 hours and
I've flown it from N. California to Arizona, Seattle, Oshkosh, SoCal,
and of course all over N. California.

I cite my experience to point out that one does not need a $100K
airplane to fly cross country.  I joke at the air****t that I can get
to the same place as the Mooney/Bonanza/C206 guys, I just have to
start yesterday.  So what?  Neither does one need the IFR rating to
fly X-C, just judgement and vacation time. Read Rinker Buck's "Flight
of Passage" to see how it's done.

Consider a lesser airplane than your dream airplane.  It will hold
value and you can sell it in a few years and get your capital cost
back. That's what I plan to do.  The Coupe whetted my appetite for
faster cross countries so I started building an RV-9A.  I'll sell the
Coupe in a year or two to pay for the engine.
-- 
Truth is for the minority.
 ~ Baltasar Gracián