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How about Vans Aircraft? Homebuilt are often overlooked, but an RV-10/14 gives you some good options. Only downside with homebuilt IMO is lack of ability to tra

How about Vans Aircraft? Homebuilt are often overlooked, but an RV-10/14 gives you some good options. Only downside with homebuilt IMO is lack of ability to train in them.

base698 6y ago
I wanted an RV7 when I started flying. Partly due to the price, it seemed like a good trade off to be practical. I've flown a few of them, but never long term. We saw several in the 2 years of shopping and one was pretty sketch in terms of build quality. My wife got her PPL and all the sudden had an opinion on what to buy. :) She's now a CFII so her opinion matters. I still would be into getting one if my wife was sold on home built.
- ryandrake 6y ago
  Another benefit of E-AB category is that you can do your own maintenance and annual condition inspections (if you are the builder), saving you a gazillion in recurring costs. Plus the freedom to modify. In a Cessna, you can’t so much as run a USB charger out to the panel without the FAA coming down on you like a ton of bricks. On an experimental, if you want the latest electronics or if you want to swap in a different engine, go right ahead, sparky! (Disclaimer: I’m 3.5 years into a RV-7 build so I’m biased)
  - ohazi 6y ago
    > you can do your own maintenance and annual condition inspections (if you are the builder), saving you a gazillion in recurring costs. You're not kidding. I think the cheapest annual inspection I've ever seen was around $2,000 for an old, clean 172 that needed zero actual work. More typical is ~$4,000-$10,000 for a modern-ish 4 seater, depending on what they need to do. Throw in $20,000 every several years for an engine overhaul. If you have a G1000 and they need to touch it, it's going to cost you at least half a car.
rkochman 6y ago
I have an RV-10, and it’s amazing. I can take 4 adults at 160kts burning 10gph, it’s easy to handle for a high performance airplane, and it’s such a simple design that maintenance costs are low.

How about Vans Aircraft? Homebuilt are often overlooked, but an RV-10/14 gives you some good options. Only downside with homebuilt IMO is lack of ability to train in them.

base698 6y ago

I wanted an RV7 when I started flying. Partly due to the price, it seemed like a good trade off to be practical. I've flown a few of them, but never long term. We saw several in the 2 years of shopping and one was pretty sketch in terms of build quality. My wife got her PPL and all the sudden had an opinion on what to buy. :) She's now a CFII so her opinion matters. I still would be into getting one if my wife was sold on home built.

ryandrake 6y ago
Another benefit of E-AB category is that you can do your own maintenance and annual condition inspections (if you are the builder), saving you a gazillion in recurring costs. Plus the freedom to modify. In a Cessna, you can’t so much as run a USB charger out to the panel without the FAA coming down on you like a ton of bricks. On an experimental, if you want the latest electronics or if you want to swap in a different engine, go right ahead, sparky! (Disclaimer: I’m 3.5 years into a RV-7 build so I’m biased)
- ohazi 6y ago
  > you can do your own maintenance and annual condition inspections (if you are the builder), saving you a gazillion in recurring costs. You're not kidding. I think the cheapest annual inspection I've ever seen was around $2,000 for an old, clean 172 that needed zero actual work. More typical is ~$4,000-$10,000 for a modern-ish 4 seater, depending on what they need to do. Throw in $20,000 every several years for an engine overhaul. If you have a G1000 and they need to touch it, it's going to cost you at least half a car.

rkochman 6y ago

I have an RV-10, and it’s amazing. I can take 4 adults at 160kts burning 10gph, it’s easy to handle for a high performance airplane, and it’s such a simple design that maintenance costs are low.