Hello, thought I would introduce myself. I am a military pilot with limited GA time, but my wife and I have wanted to get an aircraft of our own for some time and thought this would be a good place to do some research on Bonanza's and the like. Look forward to finding out more about the aircraft.

Tyler

Welcome to BT Tyler.
Where you located? I'm sure someone in your area would love to take the both of you for a ride in their Bonanza.
Or, click on the Mentor tab on the red bar at the top of this web site for a list of mentors in your area.

Thank you. I am currently deployed but am stationed in South Dakota. When I get back I will likely look into things a bit more seriously, but until then it's nice to be able to research things and get to know people.

Lot's of USAF presence here Tyler. 381st SMW, 74-77.
Stay safe, back home soon I hope.

Saaaaalute!

Tyler,

Welcome to BT. We love airplane pics, so if there are any of your plane you are allowed to post, please do!

Stay safe, and good luck in the plane search. We love to help people spend money!

Tim

Well, I know how to spend money... it's spending it well on something nice and reliable that can be a bit tricky, ha. My knowledge on how to go about buying an airplane is astonishingly close to zero. Now let's see if I can attach a picture... this is from two or so years ago.

That'll work.

Welcome.

If you're a do it yourselfer and up for an adventure, there's lots to learn and many people to help. If you just want a good plane at a fair price, there are several brokers who are well regarded around here. Tell them what you want to spend and they'll deliver a plane to you.

No S#%€!

Tyler,

Great picture. I love seeing the glowing engines.
If you search on BT, you can find lots of information no airplane purchase. This will give you a good background.
But at the end of the day, you will likely be best served by using a broker for the actual purchase process.

Tim

Thank you for the kind words and advice. While I like to be hands on at times, I think the broker will be the way I end up going so I will do some research on that here as well.

All that said, the thing we probably can do is help match your mission and budget to a model of plane. Finding a specific s/n is good broker job.

So what would you like to spend to purchase? What would you like to spend each year to own? How much weight do you need to move how far? Anything your particularly want to have (or not) on the plane?

I will preempt and note; afterburners are no longer an option on most GA aircraft. You would likely need to get an old warbird or other radial powered airplane.

Tim

Welcome to BT Tyler, and thank you very much for your service

Tim - Fun fact of the day: I have seen fuel flows as high as 320,000 lb/hr; having seen that I have decided to forgo the afterburner on any aircraft I may purchase.



The upper end of the budget is 150k with a yearly budget of up to ~20k that would incorporate various fixed costs such as hangar, annual, insurance, plus 100 hrs of flying with money saved for overhaul, unexpected maintenance, etc. We have a spreadsheet for a lot of this, though some of the data is notional (annual costs can vary, etc.). I am curious what an "average" annual costs for a Bonanza as well as the average overhaul. I tend to price things out a bit high for costs because I'd rather not be surprised by any bills and if I can budget out the hours it will help me fly and not worry about the money since it is already accounted for in the budget.

As to needs, well, the biggest concern is safety then efficiency. The minimum requirement is two seats and maybe 50 lb of luggage. Nicer would be the ability to carry four adults (hence my interest in the Bonanza) though this obviously pays a penalty in efficiency compared to some two seat little thing.

I realize this is not the most helpful of answers, but I am really just trying to do research so my wife and I have all of the data we need to make the best decision for us when the time comes (which won't be until we PCS, likely a year from now or so).