As Scott said, weight is everything.

My full fuel payload is about 620lbs, which makes it a pretty good three person airplane. If I have four people I start thinking about leaving fuel behind.

W

Seems that 182 is your best bet. You give up some speed, but you get a versatile bird.
Remove the back seats and it is a very usable bird for camping. ( same as the 185 which is just a little more challenging with cross winds. )

I've personally been in a 182 that cruises at 155 KTAS.

Verified.

Had some sort of engine STC and wheel pants, but otherwise pretty stock.

I was impressed.

I was also shocked at what 182s sell for now. Holy cow!

Is there not an equivalent 182 like experimental of some sort? That might be an option.

Mike C.

Mike, the turbocharged restart models cruise that fast from the factory. There was a bit of an aerodynamic cleanup, particularly regarding engine cooling. The older ones with a 300HP STC will do it too, at least when they're light. They suck down a fair amount of gas, but they'll let a 75 year old pilot get insured in something that cruises quick and can go just about anywhere.

Throw enough horsepower into a plane and you can get nearly anything to scoot along pretty quick.

Insurance is not that hard to find for a complex plane. I fly a Piper Arrow 200 and just turned 80 with insurance by Avemco at $ 90 k hull for $2600/year. Liability is the standard coverage. I have just over 4100 hours total with 1244 hrs m&m. Had another quote for almost the same coverage and premium. So don't give up on the plane you want/need just because you are a geezer!

jrt CFII,AGI, etc.

I've personally been in a 182 that cruises at 155 KTAS.

Verified.

Had some sort of engine STC and wheel pants, but otherwise pretty stock.

I was impressed.

I was also shocked at what 182s sell for now. Holy cow!

Is there not an equivalent 182 like experimental of some sort? That might be an option.

Mike C.

I loved flying the Cherokee 6! It is a truck! We didn’t fly off grass.

My experience in the 206 was limited but it felt like it sat higher off the ground and could carry 5 of us including the owner and a bunch of gear. There is one or two that flew off Newlon for skydiving and MAF operates them off unimproved strips in unimaginable places.

I understand the need to make the shift for insurance purposes.

Best wishes!

I have a lot of time in Cherokee sixs and Saratogas and a retractable turbo Saratoga

the tapered wings on the later Saratogas compared to the six really help and if you add the turbo it has full power to 17,000ft.

the Saratoga is really easy to load and there are fixed gear turbo togas out there if you require fixed gear and good performance under all conditions.

my biggest problem was the Saratogas do not have known Ice so I went to a Senica iii before the Aerostar and gained pressurization and 50 knots with the Aerostar.

Some of the later model Saratoga TC‘s were equipped with
TKS as an option.

I’ve had my Dakota for 8 years. With full fuel you still have 750 lbs for people and stuff. It has huge wheel pants so smooth grass would be ok but not anything real rough… get a 206 or 182 for that. I get 140kts on 11.7gph, and have flown it all over the US, Bahamas, Mexico, Cuba and Guatemala.

Interestingly, I am looking to upgrade to a B36TC, SR22T or Malibu Mirage. I need to be able to do Reno to Michigan in one day, ideally with just one stop.

That's about 1600 nm. West bound, seasonal headwinds will make it a grueling day.

If you can get pressurization, go for it. It will radically reduce the fatigue of such flights, and give you more practical and safer use of higher altitudes.

Mike C.

[/quote]I’ve had my Dakota for 8 years. With full fuel you still have 750 lbs for people and stuff. It has huge wheel pants so smooth grass would be ok but not anything real rough… get a 206 or 182 for that. I get 140kts on 11.7gph, and have flown it all over the US, Bahamas, Mexico, Cuba and Guatemala.[/quote]

I second this. Had my Dakota for 10yrs and while I'm on this forum because the Bonanza's hold huge appeal, the Dakota has been an incredibly capable machine. You give up something on speed obviously, but I can lift full fuel (72gal useable), have 758lb of people & gear and take off in <1,000ft according to book (I haven't tried this but my home airfield is 2,200ft and I require half for landing and take off). I plan for 135-140kt cruise and also plan for 12gph though I am refining my leaning technique and can now get it down to a shade under 10gph. A plot of one of my longest and slowest flights is attached; I typically see average speeds for the entire flight in the low 130kts.

I don't know about fitting bikes, that would require removing wheels and the baggage door is smallish, though I'm pretty sure you could get two in via the main door and with the rear seats folded forward. I've had three golfers, with golf bags and luggage. I've had four pax each with a chunky bag plus other paraphernalia (see pic).

I also wouldn't plan for rough/bumpy fields with my wheel pants on. Taking them off you lose a few knots, but then I'd be comfortable with much rougher fields.

It's always a compromise I guess and you'll find what works for you I'm sure.

Used to have a Dakota. What a great plane. You had to be carrying dense objects to get to gross weight, it was reliable and inexpensive to maintain.

I carried a lot of mtb cargo. A large frame 29er would fit w front wheels off but you were leaving back seats at home. I took it on many a camping trip and had it loaded to roof.

Most memorable trip was climbing in Bishop. My friend and I were ready to blast off for home at about 5pm on a Sunday. As he walks to go drop the rental car key in the one way slot a 182 lands and taxis up. Two of the most beautiful women I have ever seen clamber out, along w shiny looking guy and the pilot. Turns out they were Victoria Secret models and a photographer trying to get to Mammoth for a photo shoot. They had to divert to Bishop due to wind. It’s Sunday evening and they wondered if we could drive them over in our rental car. As they finished telling me this story, I look across the ramp and see my buddy dropping key in the slot. I ran over to him and we tried for 10 min to fish keys back out but no joy. As we taxied away, I saw the models and the photographer crammed into a Chevy compact car wit a mechanic from one of the hangars that had the door open, driving out of the airport. He had a big grin on his face. Point of the story was that the Dakota held a lot of camping gear and never be too quick to drop off your rental keys ….

I have a friend with a Aerostar and a 206. You can imagine the missions the 206 is used for. It has an io550 in it and is amazing. Incredible load capacity, easy loading and quick. It’s no more than 5-10 knots slower than my 177rg. He regularly trues out in the low to mid 140 knot range. Thats with a cargo pod and no wheel pants, so if speed is an issue there would be more available.

For the mission you described I can’t think of anything that would come near the 206. Not as nice to fly as my Cardinal or a Bonanza but it is basically a truck after all.

So true...