Tall pilot looking to buy a time building plane

[MBDiagMan]

Since OP wants to build time, how important is time in a retractable vs fixed gear? And how important is cross country time?
All things being equal if 2 candidates, one with 1500 hours in a 172 that rarely left their state vs one with 1500 hours in a Mooney that’s been to almost every state, and some international travel (Caribbean, Canada, etc)…. I know which one I would hire.

Bingo! Building time is done by measuring…. well by measuring TIME, not distance. An hour in a J3 at something like 5 gallons per hour logs an hour just like an hour in a Baron at 50 or 60 gallons per hour.

 

[Juliet Hotel]

Bingo! Building time is done by measuring…. well by measuring TIME, not distance. An hour in a J3 at something like 5 gallons per hour logs an hour just like an hour in a Baron at 50 or 60 gallons per hour.

True enough. But the question of why can still make a difference. At one point, the FBO I was working nights at was looking for a new F/O for their King Air so I went upstairs for an interview. I had somewhere north of 1000 hours by then with about 700 or so of it being in the previous 24 months. All of it was VFR tailwheel doing banner ops. The Chief pilot said boy this a great resume, but I wish you had more IFR hours. Remember, I already worked for the company. It would have been nothing for him to say well, keep a pair of kakis and a shirt in your car and if a trip comes up while you're here, we'll let you come along and see how you do. Instead, he ended up hiring a friend of mine who had less time and less professional experience than I did but was more instrument current.

So yes, an hour is an hour is an hour. But when it comes to actually getting hired, what you did or didn't do during those hours are can make a difference.

 

[Crashnburn]

Is light sport out of the question? Quite a number of those birds have really roomy cockpits. Some are faster than SkyHawks.