Best first Aircraft for local Charter flights. [in your opinion]

[Bumpy Road]

Hello POA forums.
I would like to introduce myself.
My name is Raphael and I am from Germany and moved to the US in 2009.
Flying runs though the family.
Uncle flies helicopters in the French Air Force, step father has his private and great grandfather who passed a few months ago at the age of 94, was a Red Army fighter pilot on the eastern front.
I am an US Air Force vet but sadly never got the opportunity to commission as a legal permanent resident from Germany due to the fact that commissioning is strictly reserved for US citizens and there are no enlistment pilot programs currently available.

However another path of opportunity has appeared in front of me:
Another rather wealthy uncle of mine is starting a private Air Plane touring and shuttle service and knows that I am currently in flight school and wants me to work for him as a pilot.
He is looking at air craft to buy however has little to no experience in the field.
He knows how to manage and market a business and make it successful however no knowledge in terms of aviation.

The idea is to get a single prop 4-7 seater, model year 2000 or newer.
Absolute max budget including wiggle room would be $300.000
We have been looking at Diamond DA-40's and the Piper Cherokee series.
The most important factors would be RELIABILITY, COST OF MAINTENANCE as well as COST OF OWNERSHIP.

We are fortunate enough to live just 10 minutes away from Addison Airport and my job as Compute Programmer is less than a mile away from the runway.
Your input is very valuable and I am EXCITED to hear your recommendations.

 

[gsengle]

Many of these folks are running with Cirrus. The chute is a good marketing point. I'm more of a fan of something like a Piper Saratoga. I would think you could get a nice one at that budget.


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[Bumpy Road]

Many of these folks are running with Cirrus. The chute is a good marketing point. I'm more of a fan of something like a Piper Saratoga. I would think you could get a nice one at that budget.


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Thanks for the response brother.
The saratoga would be ONE HELL of a plane for us to get.
We would have to stay under 300K with a model year 2000 and newer thats in great condition and well maintained.
How is maintenance, reliability and cost of ownership on one?

 

[wilkersk]

Get a good used Cherokee Six, put the money you save instead of buying that "2000 or newer" into avionics to meet the 2020 mandate (you'll need it there for sure). And, then go learn the business. I'm guessing that money to be made in the "Airplane touring" market in east Texas isn't much. Curious to see what a business plan would look like.

 

[gsengle]

Thanks for the response brother.
The saratoga would be ONE HELL of a plane for us to get.
We would have to stay under 300K with a model year 2000 and newer thats in great condition and well maintained.
How is maintenance, reliability and cost of ownership on one?

Pretty reasonable. But I'm not an owner. My arrow was cheap to maintain for what it was. The word is Cirrus can be expensive to maintain.


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[Bumpy Road]

Get a good used Cherokee Six, put the money you save instead of buying that "2000 or newer" into avionics to meet the 2020 mandate (you'll need it there for sure). And, then go learn the business. I'm guessing that money to be made in the "Airplane touring" market in east Texas isn't much. Curious to see what a business plan would look like.

Its DFW and with the right marketing strategy (we are both web designers by nature and he made a million dollar business) I can see a demand for affordable touring flights past downtown Dallas / Fort Worth and short notice private flights.

 

[Zeldman]

Lot of flight tour places still use the Cessna 206 or 207. Although considering the average size of todays passengers make them more of a 5 passenger plane.

 

[Art VanDelay]

Cirrus or C206/207. Keep in mind there's not a lot of business for small aircraft sight-seeing unless your located somewhere with some real impressive sights. Google Earth and drones pretty much accomplish the same thing without getting out of your boxer shorts.

 

[airdale]

... I can see a demand for affordable touring flights past downtown Dallas / Fort Worth and short notice private flights.

Having visions is nice, but not as nice as a solid marketing analysis and business plan. I suggest that you go to https://www.score.org/ then find your local chapter and set up an appointment to get some free help. It is bass-ackwards (American term) to talk about investing large amounts of money without well-researched business forecasts and a tenable financial plan.