Soooo ... PA-32?

[drotto]

This is just my 2cents but you may want to start out with a Fixed Gear Six for your first plane. Being a New pilot it may be a little much to add Retract Gear to your flying. Not to say you could not handle it but in my experience after getting my license I still had some learning to do.

Retract is still learn-able, but the fix gear is easier to insure. You will need a few more hours. My dad made the jump from a 172 to a Saratoga SP, and I am doing the same. Cherokee 6's (the older 260 variant is slow but has a massive useful load), the fixed Saratoga circa 1980, and the newer version is the Saratoga 6X (but the decreases useful has already been mentioned).

 

[Jimmy cooper]

Your entire family , two dogs and your mother in law, plus baggage? it sound like a flying nightmare to me but to each his own. Plus your being a low time pilot taking on this very heavy responsibility?!. Flying a retract like a bonanza is not a big transition, plus if something "were to occur" you'd be exposing fewer people to danger. I haven't flown a Cherokee six in over twenty Years but it was like a Flying kenworth.

 

[labbadabba]

The big complaint I heard about 210/206's is that they are maintenance hogs, and their gear is poorly designed.

Really? The 210 yes but the 206 is just a big leaf spring and is practically indestructible. The only worry with the gear on the 206 is how high will you bounce when you're transitioning....