Does this thing even exist?

Coinneach

Coinneach

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Coinneach
Due to BasicMed and my own weird personal preferences, I want an airplane with the following characteristics:

Vne 250 knots
Ceiling 18,000 feet
Tandem
Tailwheel
Retract
CS prop
4 hours endurance + reserve
450# full-fuel load

Anything out there that meets all these reqs?
 
T-34 Mentor, although it might be a little shy on the ceiling. If you have the money ($$$$), they’re around. Same with T-28A and B models. They might be a little cheaper but way more thirsty. A friend on mine owns a B model. I think he said something like 35-40 gph plus 1-2 gph on oil. But it sure does sound nice.
 
What's the useful load on an RV-8? No retracts, but it would seem to tick all the other boxes.
 
Dana said:
What's the useful load on an RV-8? No retracts, but it would seem to tick all the other boxes.
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Except for retractable gear and 250 KIAS Vne, an RV-8 covers it. RV-8s have a Vne of 200 KTAS (true, not indicated). Folding legs might give an extra five knots or so, but like some other planes (Cirrus, Lancair/Columbia/Cessna 400), well-designed fixed gear is mighty slick plus lighter than retractable.
 
Jumpmaster said:
T-34 Mentor, although it might be a little shy on the ceiling. If you have the money ($$$$), they’re around. Same with T-28A and B models. They might be a little cheaper but way more thirsty. A friend on mine owns a B model. I think he said something like 35-40 gph plus 1-2 gph on oil. But it sure does sound nice.
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T-34 was my first thought, but is that oil consumption accurate? Gallons, not quarts?
 
Jumpmaster said:
T-34 Mentor, although it might be a little shy on the ceiling. If you have the money ($$$$), they’re around. Same with T-28A and B models. They might be a little cheaper but way more thirsty. A friend on mine owns a B model. I think he said something like 35-40 gph plus 1-2 gph on oil. But it sure does sound nice.
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T-34s and T-28s both have the little wheel in the wrong place if the OP wants a tailwheel.
 
Coinneach said:
T-34 was my first thought, but is that oil consumption accurate? Gallons, not quarts?
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I think he was referring to the T-28 oil consumption which is probably accurate for an R-1820.

T-34 probably has the same oil consumption as your average Bonanza
 
Thunder Mustang, Titan T-51 V8, and Stewart S-51 are the only ones that are coming to mind. The Titan would need the “speed wing” with all the fuel options to hit your range though. Needless to say, they are all hot machines with very “experimental” power plants.
 
You need the very very rare Cessna 180RG. Or the even more rare Mooney with tailwheel conversion.

In all seriousness, maybe split out what you want from what you need. If altitude, payload, range, and soft-field are needs, then you could do way worse than a 180. No retracts, and it's not incredibly fast, but it hauls a lot, looks cool as anything, and did I mention it doesn't look goofy? Or, if you're going to fly soft field when it's muddy, do you really want retracts? Not saying you don't, but I wouldn't want mud that turned to ice up inside where I was storing the landing gear that I needed to come back down. That's a thing...I've been yelled at for getting too much mud underneath the flaps of a Cherokee, which froze at altitude, and those flaps are way less finicky than most retracts.
 
Dana said:
A T-34 is a Bonanza, essentially, just way cooler (now I've done it!).
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True.

Actually, there is a plane that would probably fit the OP’s criteria…..the Temco T-35 Buckaroo, which is essentially a tailwheel T-34.

Only problem is they are extremely rare. I’m not sure if there are even any currently flying.
 
I thought of the Siai Marchetti. It lacks tail wheel and tandem seating, but you could have your passenger sit behind you in the 4 place versions;). Fully aerobatic also. Service ceiling may be 19K though so you could limit yourself to 18K. Also, only 237 kts max speed.
 
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Wow ! Most of us have monetary limitations that clearly translate to speed limitations....I cannot afford anything as fast as you describe !

Let us know what you find .
 
Coinneach said:
BasicMed limitation. I don't need to get in trouble with an airplane that flies higher and faster than my medical.
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The Basic Med limitation is that you cannot exceed 250 kias. Not that the airplane have a Vne of less than 250 kts. Even accounting for self-limiting away from temptation, you do know that 250 kias is REALLY fast for the type of airplanes we're discussing here. 250 kias at 18,000 is something like 340 ktas. That's way beyond the range of most normal aircraft considered for operation under Basic Med, hence my confusion.

Further adding to (at least my) confusion was you specified you wanted an airplane with a Vne of 250 kts. I wasn't sure what you meant - Vne of 250 or MORE is how I read it. You did say you had some "weird" requirements, maybe you want to practice WW2-style dive bombing!

Also, you didn't specify a "range", only an "endurance". If you're using this for fish spotting or other loitering like that, that makes sense, but for travel it doesn't.
 
RussR said:
The Basic Med limitation is that you cannot exceed 250 kias. Not that the airplane have a Vne of less than 250 kts. Even accounting for self-limiting away from temptation, you do know that 250 kias is REALLY fast for the type of airplanes we're discussing here. 250 kias at 18,000 is something like 340 ktas. That's way beyond the range of most normal aircraft considered for operation under Basic Med, hence my confusion.

Further adding to (at least my) confusion was you specified you wanted an airplane with a Vne of 250 kts. I wasn't sure what you meant - Vne of 250 or MORE is how I read it. You did say you had some "weird" requirements, maybe you want to practice WW2-style dive bombing!

Also, you didn't specify a "range", only an "endurance". If you're using this for fish spotting or other loitering like that, that makes sense, but for travel it doesn't.
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Apropos to dive bombing, I think he needs the tail wheel for carrier landings ( to catch the arresting wire)
 
RV8, modified with an O-720 and balancers/ballast to bump the Vne speed. Even make your own retract if you want.
 
RussR said:
Also, you didn't specify a "range", only an "endurance". If you're using this for fish spotting or other loitering like that, that makes sense, but for travel it doesn't.
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Range is a function of endurance and winds aloft, no? It's all well and good to say your aircraft has a range of, e.g., 500 NM, but if that's zero-wind range, when have you ever seen calm winds aloft?
 
Coinneach said:
Range is a function of endurance and winds aloft, no? It's all well and good to say your aircraft has a range of, e.g., 500 NM, but if that's zero-wind range, when have you ever seen calm winds aloft?
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You can fly a 152 for 4 hours.
You can fly a Turbo Bo for 4 hours.

Which one goes further in that 4 hours?

I've gotten calm winds aloft a number of times when flying in the middle of a high pressure system.
 
A Swift with a big engine and aux tanks if you can live without tandem seating? Official VNE is much lower than 250, but the wings didn't come off of the D'arcy Swift until it hit 300mph :eek:

Maybe a tailwheel Yak?
 
Coinneach said:
Range is a function of endurance and winds aloft, no? It's all well and good to say your aircraft has a range of, e.g., 500 NM, but if that's zero-wind range, when have you ever seen calm winds aloft?
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Range is a function of groundspeed, fuel burn and tank size, primarily. I mean, there are a lot of LSAs that can fly for 4 hours. Some of them have a cruise speed in the 70 kt region. So, that's a range of 280 nm. Is that suitable for your needs? Conversely, the PA-46 I fly regularly has a cruise speed around 180-200 ktas, so that's almost 800 miles in the same 4 hours (with an hour reserve).

Can you restate your requirements a little differently? We'd be better able to give advice if so.

Typically, how far do you want to go, how many people, how many pounds of people and stuff, and how fast? The rest is just aesthetics, really (tailwheel, retract, tandem, CS prop).
 
Spartan Executive

Spartan_Executive_7_NC17633_arrives_RIAT_Fairford_10thJuly2014_arp.jpg
 
MajorTurbulence said:
I thought of the Siai Marchetti. It lacks tail wheel and tandem seating, but you could have your passenger sit behind you in the 4 place versions;). Fully aerobatic also. Service ceiling may be 19K though so you could limit yourself to 18K. Also, only 237 kts max speed.
Click to expand...

I think I saw a tail wheel Siai Marchetti parked at a local airport recently. I didn't know they existed either. Will snap a photo if it is still there.

Brian
 
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