A question about popularity of 2-place monoplane form factor

zaitcev said:
Swift for a first airplane, are you guys raving mad? Firstly a Mooney with the same IO-360 will beat it anyway. Secondly he needs a hangar full of spare parts and the experience to take care of it. And he's going to wreck it.
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He was asking about a 2 seater... The main issue he's going to run into is icing on the Oregon leg. Either his mission gets modified or his aircraft choice gets modified.
 
Mooney 201, use backseat for whatever. Perfect. Easy to fly and it will haul ass.
 
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The Commanders have some nice planes that would be great for your mission. The 114 and 115 are very nice four seaters, have useful load around 1000 lbs, and it is possible to find them with de-icing. In many situation they are true four, so you can get the tanks and the seats full, and the cabin is reported to be confortable.

If you really need only 2 seats, some of the smaller "fours" are great. I would second a Mooney. The M20J burns about 10 GPH while doing 175 knots, and will have a useful load in the 900 lbs range. There is little out there that can match the speed to fuel burn ratio of a Mooney 201.
 
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drotto said:
If you really need only 2 seats, some of the smaller "fours" are great. I would second a Mooney. The M20J burns about 10 GPH while doing 175 knots, and will have a useful load in the 900 lbs range. There is little out there that can match the speed to fuel burn ratio of a Mooney 201.
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Good advice here, but hard to stay within budget. E & F models will be slightly older and ~10 knots slower and may have higher useful load (more than 1000lb is not uncommon, with 64 gallons of fuel). 155 knots on 9-9.5 gph is tough to beat. My wife and I travel in my C at 140 knots, 9 gph, with pretty much with whatever I can fit inside. I don't haul books or machine parts, just luggage and stuff, and generally run out of space before useful load. Mine is 189 hp, the E, F & J are 200 hp; F & J have more space in back seat and baggage area.
 
KBOI-KHIO my RV7 no wind 1:45. KBOI-KSLC 1:25. You can find a nice full IFR with two axis autopilot RV7 or RV7A well within your price range. I've never had anybody refuse a ride in any experimentals I fly. Go over and hang out at Caldwell KEUL, There are lots of RVs there and it is easy to get one of those guys to take you up and let you fly the airplane a bit. Don
 
RhinoDrvr said:
Which Diamond made useless by not certifying for IFR. I still think a DA20 would be my ideal personal airplane if I could shoot an approach through a thin layer to get home...
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Agreed.
 
Having flown the DA-40 in convective IMC, there is no way in hell I'd want to do it in a DA-20. It would be okay for busting through a marine layer, but that's not always what IMC is about. If it was IFR certified Diamond would be sued out of business due to people getting killed in it.
 
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