02 May 2025, 10:03 [ UTC - 5; DST ]
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Post subject: Re: The greatest single engine airplane of them all?  Posted: 22 Jul 2024, 19:02 |
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Joined: 11/15/17
Posts: 1050
Post Likes: +544
Company: Cessna (retired)
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Username Protected wrote: P51 Good pick, but I'll bet a 3 place P51 would be too expensive. 
Just get some surplus drop tanks.
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Post subject: Re: The greatest single engine airplane of them all? Posted: 05 Aug 2024, 10:28 |
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Joined: 09/20/14
Posts: 1944
Post Likes: +1565
Location: KBJC, KMCW, KVGT
Aircraft: G36TN, Great Lakes
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Username Protected wrote: Yes the G36 is def my second choice. It’s only issue is the lack of (stock) turbocharging for flying out west.. TAT TN is superior to anything Beech ever did regarding stock turbocharging. +1 for the G36. Especially if you need to carry large cargo, mountain bikes, or elderly passengers. Super easy to load through the barn doors. Ability to operate on grass. Cruise at 180+ kts.
_________________
Matt Beckner
Last edited on 05 Aug 2024, 10:36, edited 1 time in total.
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Post subject: Re: The greatest single engine airplane of them all? Posted: 05 Aug 2024, 17:40 |
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Joined: 03/13/11
Posts: 206
Post Likes: +149
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The answer is more simple than you think. Whatever airplane you currently own is the "greatest single engine airplane of them all" for you. Whatever the trade offs it has, after all, it's why you bought.
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Post subject: Re: The greatest single engine airplane of them all? Posted: 05 Aug 2024, 18:55 |
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Joined: 11/15/17
Posts: 1050
Post Likes: +544
Company: Cessna (retired)
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Depends a lot on definition of greatest, but in terms of sales numbers, the market has said Cessna 172.
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Post subject: Re: The greatest single engine airplane of them all? Posted: 06 Aug 2024, 12:55 |
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Joined: 06/25/20
Posts: 76
Post Likes: +46
Aircraft: Bonanza G35
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That’s kind of like saying horses were the greatest form of locomotion ever because we went through way more of those in the millennia prior to the 20th century than we have built cars. The 172 was definitively the 20th century’s answer to this question. Not so much the 21st century’s.
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Post subject: Re: The greatest single engine airplane of them all? Posted: 09 Aug 2024, 08:15 |
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Joined: 11/23/23
Posts: 50
Post Likes: +6
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IMO the C182 is probably the best all around single Cessna ever built. I own a 69 M with long range fuel tanks. I run 65% at about 5k-10k’ flight plan 125 knots get a little more. Can fly 5 hrs with very comfortable reserves.
My 18 yr old daughter has her private and she flies it too. Insurance and Mx are priced right. Comfortable on grass and dirt strips, big cabin, wife loves the back seat leg room. Now I’ll probably say a Skywagon after I get one someday but that purchase price and insurance ain’t as friendly priced.
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Post subject: Re: The greatest single engine airplane of them all? Posted: 09 Aug 2024, 10:01 |
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Joined: 02/09/09
Posts: 6222
Post Likes: +3002
Location: Owosso, MI (KRNP)
Aircraft: 1969 Bonanza V35A
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Username Protected wrote: My wife came to perceive that the cabin class pressurized cessna was the minimum comfort a plane should. She is not wrong. At least she wasn't exposed to a turboprop or jet. Mike C.
I made that mistake! I own a Travel Air and a 414. But before that, I flew her around in a customers 421C, then a 441 which are now both gone. The first time she flew in the TA, I didn't think she would ever fly in it again. She surprised me when she flew in the TA to go to Mackinaw Island for the day. However, if asked, she'll take the 414 any day of the week.
My answer to the original question is.... A Travel Air. It's a Bonanza with a spare engine just in case. Living in Michigan, I'm always flying IFR or over the lakes. The extra engine gives more options. It will get into any airport that a normal pilot will take a 182. It will do it on reasonably close to the same fuel burn at the 182. I have 1475$ useful load, so like the 182, if it fits, it ships... Two bullet proof Lycomings cost next to nothing to maintain. Every mechanic in the world knows how to maintain it. And best of all, it's still a real Beech!
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Post subject: Re: The greatest single engine airplane of them all? Posted: 15 Aug 2024, 07:59 |
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Joined: 03/28/10
Posts: 1169
Post Likes: +297
Location: Columbus, OH
Aircraft: AA5B
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Username Protected wrote: Without question the 182. It has it all, safety, reliability, easy to fly, hauls a good load, good range, fast enough, and you can fly it until you lose your medical. This is reflected in the market price for them now. Major run up in recent years! Many are priced out from 182 ownership now. Mike C.
That’s because all you damn Bonanza pilots are aging out on insurance for a retract and buying them all up!   
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Post subject: Re: The greatest single engine airplane of them all? Posted: 15 Aug 2024, 11:45 |
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Joined: 01/10/13
Posts: 1230
Post Likes: +508
Location: greenville,ms
Aircraft: baron 58
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cessna 185 gets my vote, i regret selling mine
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