My current ride is a 1960 Cessna 180. Over five years, the total airframe repairs required have been a tiny crack in a fake rib behind the leading edge and 7 smoking rivets in the fuselage. The rubber sealant strip around the door windows is ratty and must be replaced when I can remember to order it from the auto-supply store.
The prior plane was a 1954 180, that required even fewer airframe repairs. I replaced the seat rails because they were nearing the limits, but could have waited a few years.
As the GA fleet has aged, most of the problems associated with any particular model have become well-known to the shops and type-club gurus, with many after-market upgrades and fixes available to address them. Companies like McFarlane and Webco? have made a business of providing "heavier duty" parts for known weak points in various make/models. So in some respect the airplanes are "better than new" in terms of dealing with specific problems that historically required liberal applications of time and money at the shop.
Specialty shops like Maxwell Mooney in east TX have become famous for their encyclopedic knowledge of particular types, and are invaluable for pre-buy inspections and ongoing MX.
If you buy an older dry-country airplane from a careful and knowledgeable owner who has used a knowledgeable shop for maintenance, I'd be willing to bet your maintenance costs won't be a major problem.
Having flown the repeated milk-run trips over an extended time (most-recently a five-year 370-nm each way commute from Dallas to Kansas City on a weekly basis) I think your primary issue will be determining the amount of time (and to some extent, money) you're willing to spend in the plane each week without wishing for more speed and scouring Tradeaplane every week in search of the holy grail.
I had owned bigger faster airplanes prior to the Dallas gig, but my travel requirements had lessened to the point that a T-210 and an Aerostar 602P were my only remaining rides without spending a chunk of dough.
I knew from experience gained from flying the 420-nm trip to Nashville hundreds of times over 20 years that the trip time for the 210 would average 2:20, and after several hundred trips the logbook showed a best of 1:55 and worst of 2:35.
The Aerostar's advertised cruise speed was 45 nm/hr faster than the 210, but the block times for the trip were only 15-20 minutes less, and not nearly enough to warrant the added fuel and MX costs associated with using it as the primary plane. My partner wasn't flying it either, so we sold it and eliminated a huge hole in our wallets.
Flying the same trip every week has some advantages, since you'll soon know the location of every public and private airport along the way. It can also become a complacency trap you must guard against as you continue to do it time after time after (yawn) time. The problem you will face is that you won't know for sure how you feel about any particular performance package until you experience it for a while.
After 20-plus years as a buyer's rep, I think the biggest single mistake by new owners is their failure to gain sufficient (if any) actual experience in using the plane they decide to purchase for the trips they plan to fly in it. Accordingly, my advice is to rent or charter or whatever you must do in order to evaluate the plane you plan to purchase prior to closing.
Nice panel, and a great looking bird overall. It's a nice xc setup, I agree. But, it's a bit older than what I've been considering.
I have not bought an airplane before, and especially with an older plane I'm concerned about a never-ending stream of maintenance issues. Or of serious metal fatigue in a critical component. That's part of the appeal of the Tiger, and maybe the 182, compared to a Comanche or a Deb/Bo in this price range.
What, realistically, can I expect to get into with keeping a 250/260 Comanche in good repair? Obviously much depends on the quality of what I buy, and much can be learned from a good pre-buy.
Is it reasonable to assume that a good pre-buy would be enough to identify all significant maintenance issues? I think I have a handle on what to look for w/r/t engines - it's the rest of the plane that I'm wondering about.
