Or a 182 RG and get about 15 extra knots. My last trip was just me at 8500’ on a warm ish day and I think the TAS was almost 160 knots. A turbo one is even more better.

Really good ones available right around $150k, Lycoming engine, can be sold easily.

In a 50+ knot headwind, it will be laborious. The winds in east Canada can be pretty strong.

If the mission is to travel that route with passengers, get something faster.

Speed is also an asset when dealing with weather. You can get to alternates faster and deviations around weather are less penalty on travel time.

One last thought: in cold weather, a pressurized airplane is far more comfortable. The cabin is sealed, so no freezing drafts, and the cabin is much more uniformly filled with heated compressed air.

Flying a 182 for 5+ hours in a 50 knot headwind at -30C outside temps seems more like torture than travel. If you want to make this trip in the winter, the 182 isn't it, IMO.

Mike C.

I very happily owned a 182 for about 15 years and flew it up and down the east coast of the US, often in the winter.

Despite being overall very happy with it, Mike speaks a lot of truth above.

If you want a twin, look at a 340. There are a ton out there for under $150k. You can plan on 190ktas burning 30gph LOP, or a bit faster at 40gph ROP. Nice sized cabin for 3-4 people, and a ton of baggage space. While I am not a fan of FIKI piston powered planes, most of the 340A's were equipped for known Ice.
For a hands off operator, you can plan on $450/hour to operate ( at least here in the US).

Where is the baggage space in a 340? Nose, cabin, lockers?

Yes, yes, and yes.

There can be fuel tanks in the nacelles which reduce their usefulness for baggage.

Mike C.

Is there any love for the 58P Baron? Something about the 340 makes me think its too much. Cost to operate, hanger, insurance must be more?

This one has known ice and low time engines.

https://www.controller.com/listings/air ... -58p-baron

Was thinking 340 also. But that’s a big system for First Airplane.
210? P210? They seem to not be as pricey as fancy Bonanzas.

You’ll be upgrading before long so focus on something that trades well, gets you flying and helps figure out the next step efficiently.

Or.... just get an Mu2 and be done with it lol

That's what I did, piston single to MU2, one step. Had 10 hours ME time, just to get the ME rating.

It's a little harder at the start to make such a jump, but you end up where you want to be quicker than doing each level. You'll need mentors, good training, and a good attitude about staying within your limitations.

I like 340s for this also, but they tend to be more expensive than 421s for some reason. Something about eastern Canada screams "pressurized twin" to me. There are a lot of empty places.

A Colemill 310 or Baron if going unpressurized. Won't need turbos due to cold and lack of high terrain.

Mike C.

The trip would happen every 3 weeks or so. Head to NS, stay 3-5 days, head back to Ontario. Scrapped flights are a bummer but not a big deal. These are not business related, just keeping in touch with my aging parents/extended family.
I'm a drop and run sort of fella mx wise. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Especially weaknesses!

P46T would be fantastic. Truth be told i've never actually investigated financing something like that. I'm also a pay cash sort of guy.

I wonder what the payments on a P46T would be

That's what I did, piston single to MU2, one step. Had 10 hours ME time, just to get the ME rating.

It's a little harder at the start to make such a jump, but you end up where you want to be quicker than doing each level. You'll need mentors, good training, and a good attitude about staying within your limitations.

I like 340s for this also, but they tend to be more expensive than 421s for some reason. Something about eastern Canada screams "pressurized twin" to me. There are a lot of empty places.

A Colemill 310 or Baron if going unpressurized. Won't need turbos due to cold and lack of high terrain.

Mike C.

Isn’t running an mu2 in Canada a paperwork nightmare? Pascal, as i recall, Went through some extraordinary hoops with his.

Low time pilot, first time plane owner, flying what sounds like his family, on discretionary personal trips, with a budget of $150K, and....we're talking MU2s and 421s!!!

Yikes.

Hey Ray, let's pull this back to reality a bit.

You need a 150 knot-ish airplane that can haul roughly 1100#s.

You don't need FIKI, although deice would be nice. Why don't you need it? Because when icing is present, you're not going!! You cancel the trip or shift the dates to when you can complete the flight without icing.

I flew from Indy to Calgary regularly for almost 2 years in my NA, non iced Bo. Every few weeks or so back and forth. Yes, there were a few times, maybe 3 in total, when I needed to shift departure dates due to icing. But I was not grounded for the winter. You have no business flying in icing conditions for these kinds of trips. So a pressurized, FIKI plane, while awesome, is not what you need. It's what you may want. But those wants come at high cost. Not necessarily acquisition cost, although your $150K target is woefully short. But operating costs will be massive. If you're not ready for $30-50K+ annuals and $500-750+/hr operating costs, you're in over your head.

Any decent 182, a 520 or 550 equipped 33, 35 or 36 Bo, a first gen SR22 (subject to UL check - a plus, you can even find one with TKS at/close to your price range), or a Mooney will handle your mission all day long, and be a great first plane. Personally, I'd lean to any of the first 3 planes, but that's just me. I don't like the seating position of the Mooney. Though the speed is tremendous.

My 2 cents.

Building on some of the posts above...

1) owning a turbine in Canada is a regulatory PITA - they are required to be on an approved maintenance program, much like a Part 135 airplane in the US. Big cost driver as most single engine turbine operators tend to get the maintenance done in turn-key fashion by a 3rd party provider, and that provider needs to make a profit on everything they do.

2) Flying to Calgary is entirely different than flying in the Maritimes. Entirely different moisture content in the air and a completely different set of air mass movements. Icing is FAR more prevalent in the Maritimes.

3) The example of the 182 is attractive until one considers the most basic of bodily functions... the need to pee! You won't be doing the trip non-stop in a 182 if there's any wind at all because, while the airplane may carry enough fuel, you will need a bio break. Options for those bio breaks are poor when headed eastbound. If you have to pee when over northern Maine you'd better have brought a bottle because there is NOWHERE to let down, and I mean NOWHERE, plus if you did stop in Presqu'isle or similar you'd have to clear customs and have filed eAPIS etc.

4) Winds... Those bloody winds! Flew to New Brunswick this past Sunday - absolutely gorgeous "clear and a million" VFR day. Still, I had 15 knots on the nose on the way down, and that was down at 5500', my minimum for terrain clearance. For winter travel, book an average of 25 knots and you likely won't be far off the mark, unless you go higher, then add another 10 knots to that average. Yeah, winter weather can be a handful in this part of the country.

5) Twins... You haven't mentioned where home base is located. That will be a big factor in where you get your maintenance done, and, in turn, what aircraft type will best fit with the more local maintenance shops. Barons and 310's are nice, and fast, and expensive to operate compared to singles. All the comments above about pressurization, be it in a single or a twin, really are valid. I've got a bit of time in 340s and 421s as well as just a tad in an Aztec. The Aztec feels like it is in a completely (lower) class, although as others have pointed out, they can be deiced and are pretty simple to work on. In most of the twins you will do well to pay your mechanic good money to learn how to service the heaters. That seems to be a bit of a lost art these days. If the heater packs it in, your flying is DONE until it's fixed again. Even if it's not too cold outside, you'll be "IFR in frost" without the heater working.

6) Temperature... My personal cut-off is -20C on the ground. Anything below that means you will die of exposure should you ever make an unexpected off-field landing. For longer cross-country flights I move that low temp limit up to -15C, simply because it's easy to fly far enough to experience another 5C temp drop on the ground.

7) Big Singles... We recently had a friend visit in his C210. An older airplane but very capable. He booked 160kts at 12gph LOP on his flight up from the Niagara region. The lifting capability of that airplane is great, it's speed is pretty good and it can be had with deice boots and prop (can't remember if it's heated or has alcohol sprayers).

8) Deicing services... Be prepared to be your own deicing service on the ground. Buy a barrel of Isopropyl Alcohol, transfer it to a plastic jerry can (they are surprisingly crash-worthy) and take along a hand pump-style garden sprayer so you can apply the IPA yourself before hopping in and blasting off on a cold morning.

9) Covers... Unless you have hangarage at both ends of the flight, invest in good winter covers. Talk to Aero-Covers in Orillia - a terrific family-owned business now going into its 3rd generation. His engine covers with Thinsulate are terrific - great insulation and very little bulk. Also, get the full Reiff Turbo-XP pre-heat kit for the engine and oil cooler. Always carry an extension cord and the necessary splitters to power all your pre-heaters. Don't count on any airport having these available.

10) Emergency equipment... Be prepared to spend a night or two camped outside in the event of an off-field landing. That means a tent, sleeping bag, source of fire, heavy boots, parka, mitts, toque, snowshoes, shovel, and a big blue plastic tarp. You'd be amazed how that blue tarp is the most visible color for SAR folks to see.

OK, I'll shut up now. I love flying in the winter, but only do so when I'm prepared to meet Mother Nature on her terms.