I have some sort of status with all the major car rental companies. They have all let me down on occasion during/post COVID. Have the Uber and Lyft apps, they have both let me down a surprising number of times. Crew cars are awesome when that works, but is hit or miss. Recently I have had good luck in some markets with Turo.com. This is to car-rental what Uber is to Taxi service. But there are some nice cars. Teslas, Jeeps, exotics, depending on what you want to pay. Tired of crappy low end rental cars, I have moved Turo to my first choice, then the majors, except in the rare instance when Uber makes more sense for me. last year outside of Detroit I had to lease a stretch limo complete with chauffeur and LED mood lighting and reflective ball. Yeah the ground transportation can be a little challenging.

where are you located. the normal weather through the year can be very important. in the aircraft selection.

in my case living in the northern mid USA required a deiced turbocharged aircraft that could fly into the low to mid teens to deal with ice and storms.

An early to mid-2000's SR22 would be a great place to start, can't go wrong with that.

Get your feet wet, learn the challenges of owning a plane for a couple years, move on from there.

A 58 Baron sounds like a pretty good fit, especially a decent one with A/C and good avionics/interior. Your buddy will likely not have a problem with insurance. However, the 58 will realistically carry 4 adults plus bags and gas.

Depending on your exact airport and hangar availability, you might have some trouble finding a place for a bigger cabin class airplane. The 400 series Cessnas are great airplanes and peaches to fly. However, depending on the exact one you get, you'll start getting into big money - especially if you're looking at upgrading avionics.

If you buy a piston twin, with or without a prebuy, I'd bank on around $20k for your first annual. Just factor that into the acquisition cost and you won't be surprised. If you decide to go turbine, the MU-2 is the best deal going right now.

I am prejudiced but the best traveling aircraft out there for up to 4 people is a 700 aerostar. incredible safe will stay level on one with the other windmilling, will climb at 500 FPM, known ice excellent (expensive ) support from factory. unbelievably fun to fly.

Buy a really good aircraft it will pay dividends in reliable on time transportation. for business that is what you want.

Alright, I will be the crotchety turbine guy here…

This a mission for a 90, 425, MU2, 690 All day long.

3 passengers plus pilot. 4 people. Baron or A36 or SR22 or PA46 you are climbing in and sitting in weird positions. All nice aircraft for pilots, most “non-plane” people think it is nuts. Akin to a Volkswagen Beetle for the 58 or 36. SR22 or PA46 more modern, but still weird.

Also, all the mentioned pistons have funky environmental. Again, not what “non-plane” people want. Hot in the summer (even with AC), cold and drafty in winter. Again, SR22 and PA46 better.

We charter repeat, scheduled, clients all week long on the 150-200nm trips in the King Airs. These are what I call “angle trips” where you are going places it would take 4 hours to drive with roads. 30-45min in the 90.

You want to keep your employees happy, especially in todays climate. Hauling them around in a “tin can” (or plastic can as it may be) would be less than appealing to most employees. “Do I have to go in the plane?”

Haul them in something they don’t mind being in. I didn’t say “like” as they may not. But you don’t want them to dislike it.

We all think like pilots. You need to think like a non-pilot employee to see what is best. Why do you think hardly anyone charters out of old twin Cessnas, Barons? Almost no one charter flies a SR22 and when they do it is 1 person most times.

Also, any of the turbine planes mentioned would do the odd long mission you described (with fuel stops).

BWTHDIK….

Revisiting after my first comment on this. Lots of recommendations, unfortunately almost all of them are out of his acquisition budget stated, and as a student pilot he’s likely not going to be insurable at any amount in them. Now Tripp, correct me if I’m wrong on this next concern. His friend/fellow pilot likely has turbine time given the ag flying but he likely has minimal experience in the flight levels or with retract/pressurization if he’s used to low flight (my crop duster friends get nosebleeds if they hit 5k’). While I agree that a KA 90 or turbine is a good fit for both missions(though better for the longer one), 1-200 mile trips are a lot of cycles for distance covered, which add up for maintenance. I tend to feel like Tripp and his friend should start with a PA-32, or an SR22, get some time in, then reevaluate. Rent or hire a pilot and dry lease a cabin class for those trips with the wives, and see how it goes. I do like the Malibu Matrix as well but they tend to follow the other PA46s in insurance and training requirements which I would fear would be a problem Roth now. Any “cheap” plane can be a financial burden and I would be concerned that is why he could find in a cabin class twin (turbine or piston) in todays market. Sorry if I offend someone, not my intent. I think OP’s got good intentions and wants to make a smart purchase. But I want him to be realistic too.

If you are going to maintain a 400 series twin turbocharged Cessna, you want to get pressurization. Pressurization is a BIG game changer for passenger comfort.

It also allows you to go over weather, go faster, and pick up better tailwinds.

The 401A is cheap for a reason.

Mike C.

My first business airplane was a Cessna 170B. It sure beat driving! Not a great plane to take non pilot passengers.

My second business airplane was a Comanche 260B. I could beat the airlines on any trip under 500 miles. Employees rarely flew with me, but it was better.

My third business airplane was a Cessna T210L. About the same footprint as the Comanche, but more employees flew with me.

My fourth business airplane was an MU2. Now I could beat the airlines to any place east of the Rockies. Employees flew with me all the time all over the place, even on 1600 nm trips out the west coast. 300 knots, pressurized comfort, airliner feel.

My fifth business airplane is a Citation V. Employees ask to go on trips just for the fun of it. I can beat the airlines anywhere in the USA by hours. Can land at pretty small airports, too.

I won't have a sixth business airplane. I'll be retired.

The best business airplane for you is the "biggest" one you can afford. If you deal with non aviation people, a turboprop is the line between "tolerate" and "enjoy".

Mike C.

Passengers will enjoy a Cessna 421
But the pilot has to tolerate maintaining it

this. if it's a business asset for things that cannot be missed, TP is the answer.

This seems odd with the PA46 lumped in there with the others. Have you ever sat passenger in a PA46? I have flown a lot of first class, and have had rare occasions to sit in the back of some of my PA46 variants. Hands down, the paying seats, especially the 2 rear seats of the PA46 are better than first class. Unless you are in the lay flats of some airliners. I have flown a lot of non-pilot pax over the years, and have yet to have anything other than Wow comments.

Here are some of my previous cabins, and the last one a week ago enjoying a transcontinental flight Florida to Utah, taking a quick nap in the back while my buddy flew us over the Rockies.

The PA46 is a personal little airliner. Unfortunately, these deluxe M-class Pipers are not in the price range of the OP's desire, but the older PA46's offer similar comfort for a bargain price.

I agree with Chuck that the piston PA46 Malibus should be on the list; even the older PA46s are super comfortable in the back and many have had good A/C units installed, and modern Garmin panels installed. Pressurized, reasonably quiet (for a piston), long legs, flies economically down low and up high. Many of them have onboard radar and also certified for flight into known icing. All-weather aircraft for sure and much cheaper to operate than a twin. Useful load for the short missions won’t be an issue. For a 1000 nm mission, you would need a fuel stop if you wanted to fill the seats. Older Malibus are in the OPs price range. Should be on the short list of the planes you consider.

However, I agree that the OP should actually spend some time checking out aircraft in person and see how they fit with his group’s expectations. Doesn’t make sense to do an armchair exercise here only to find that one or more of the spouses says “NFW” to the end result of the online decisionmaking! GA comfort can be a very personal thing …

Good luck!

PS - I love sitting in the back of my PA46; chills me right out. I just don’t get to do it very often except during training or flights with my partner to/from recurrent training. Still, it’s a real treat when I can sit in the back. The older Malibus have the same room in the back as the newer ones, it’s just that the upholstery isn’t quite as modern.

Pa46 would be a GREAT plane for mission 1. Comfy, quiet, a/c. No sweat.

Even an early malibu would be load-challenged to do 300nm with 6 average American adults and bags. That’s just not a mission for under 400hp.

Had a Malibu and an MU2. Malibu would likely work out for missions one and two and maybe the longer haul depending on pax size and how much they love being in a small airplane.

I don't understand people recommending Baron over A36 - is that just twin and useful load preference? I don't see how you put 6 adults in one of those for any real leg lengths.

Old Malibu is an awesome plane. The ones with bad paint and interiors are still reasonable given the current market. You can run one for a good bit for 50k a year and the insurance is probably a lot easier than a turbine.

Turbine anything would be awesome for this mission, but IMO you need to be flying a good bit to stay current in them. I also found the 'lag time' at the beginning and end of short flights with turbine take away some of the block speed advantage. It was amazing how fast I could get Malibu or Dakota off the ground from arriving at airport.

For the piston single options - think the Piper lineup (Saratoga, etc) is much more comfy for 6 people than the Bo. Bo is an excellent 5 seater, but two big people don't fit well in the last two seats. Others are all great.