Based on being a 500 hour pilot, I have three recommendations. If you want to stay single engine I would buy either a P210 or a piston engine PA-46. If you are looking to go with multi engine I would buy a Baron.

For the P210, 1980 and latter seem to be the best. I would stay away from the R model as Cessna did not make very many and parts can be hard to get. The P210 is good flying airplane with good systems. Maintenance is on par with your budget. If you get one with Flint Tip tanks it will easily have the range that you require. The biggest plus with the P210 is that it has pressurization and will fit in a standard 40' hangar.

The Malibu series is also a good aircraft, it will give you more interior space. However, it requires a bigger hangar.

Both of these are not going to have huge speed advantages over the TN A36, however, pressurization is a game changer for long distance flying. Since you do not need to carry a large load, they both fit your mission!

As for the Baron, it is a good stepping stone into twin engine aircraft and is a real twin. Even if your goal is a pressurized twin, get a couple hundred hours of twin time in a Baron. It will have slightly better speed and the range that you want. Operating costs will be in your budget as well. You may very well find that it is the right aircraft for your mission and that you don't need anything more.

Based on your budget and somewhat your experience, I wouldn't get a turbine yet.

Until you have the $$$ and experience to fly a jet, I'd keep your Bonanza and fly the airlines for those kind of trips. GA is fantastic for 300-500 mi distances, and getting to remote places. It's never going to be competitive with the airlines for time, comfort and cost (not to mention safety) for those kind of trips. You'd be giving up a lot of the pure joy of flying. Probably not going to fire up the 421 for a hop around the patch after work or a $2000 hamburger to an airport 50 miles down the road.

Depends on the plane. GA will beat door to door time for most typical trips in the US in a 200+ knot aircraft, and I will take GA comfort over airline comfort in a high end, pressurized, cross country Ga aircraft. Not even counting wasted time of being at the mercy of airline scheduling. When people ask me when my flight leaves, I love to say, when I get there. :-). Cost is a different beast. But for the OP, one plan that will do that mission reliably and safely within his budget is a piston PA46.

With 4 people in the A36 it will be price competitive with the airlines for much longer distances than 500 NM. As for comfort, airline economy seating is not very comfortable compared to the relative roominess of 4 people in a 6 seat A36. As for time, the airport parking, crowds and security protocols at large airports adds a lot of time to the overall trip time for an airline flight, making a GA flight time competitive in some circumstances.

We'd all like it not to be true, but sitting on top of a major hub like Houston with nonstop jet servcie to 150+ destinations, GA is just not a practical alternative to airline service. The old adage, "time to spare, go by air" is very true. I've been AOG'd multiple times in out of the way places (all of them a fun adventure), but if I've gotta be somewhere, the Bonanza (or anything within reach for me finacially) just doesn't do it. For coast-to-coast travel, I like having two weeks in the Bo. On United, it's out and back in a day, sometimes.

4 adults plus bags isn't possible in the beautiful but heavy B36TC I fly. It costs about $420/hr to operate. From Washington DC, a trip to New Orleans is an all day adventure with a fuel stop. On the airline, I can eat breakfast at home and lunch in the French Quarter. Cost wise, it's over $5,000 vs. $900 for 3 seats * 300 RT.

Until you get into jet territory, all-weather, harsh terriain flying is considerably less safe. Boots and TKS don't measure up to a heated wing and the ability to top weather in the high flight levels. Turbulance and Ice can be formidable in the teens and lower 20's. Crossing the gulf of Mexico? I'll take two turbofans out of the wings, thank you!

200kts in a PA46 loses ground quickly to 450kts in an Airbus. If you live in a rurual area, you can start to make a better case for it. But you're crushed on cost.

So, I content myself that I love flying the Bonanza over shorter distances, and weather that's not too nasty. It's not an airliner, and never will be. The next step up from a Bo doesn't get you there, and will cost an awful lot more, for not a whole lot faster.

Had a business meeting in Cabo this weekend. Meeting ended at 1 PM, last flight out of Cabo Was 1 PM. But I headed back to the airport loaded up my plane and was home in time for a late dinner with my kids. All the other people there had to wait till the next day. That one flight alone saved me about 24 hours. Maybe Cabo is not the worst place to have to stay an extra day, but when you run a business and you have young kids at home, 24 hours is a long time.

This trip is about a worst case scenario for GA. Anchorage AK to my home in Ogden Utah 1865 nm away. Went for a 3 hr. Business meeting. One day out one day back, No direct flights that time of year, everything connects through Seattle. Couple that with sub optimal departure times, suboptimal airport location having to go to Salt Lake City, ground transportation, security. That is typically a full long day travel time going commercial. 6:45 in my plane. Additionally from Alaska to the northwest United States was IFR low IFR the whole way due to a big low, spinning off the ocean. So when you can kick the airlines butt on a functionally international long trip like that, there’s not much debate you are usually going to win in the lower 48 .

in the past 12 years that has not been anywhere near my experience. as it's been said, if you can go 200 kts, you can beat the airlines to any destination within 500nm. that's a pretty big radius. in the past 12 years (when I flew an A36, then the C340, then a TBM850), I have never been AOG (or missed a trip/mtg because of mechanical issues). I have, however, been screwed several times by airline disasters.

flying commercial is an awful experience. (and yes, I do the lounges, bus class, etc). it still sucks.

If you fly IFR, and have an all-wx airplane (I do), it wins.

At the lower end of the price range a baron is not a bad choice. The IO550 barons can comfortably cruise at 200 KTAS. The 2nd engine is very nice to have, and barons have good single engine performance.

A turbine plane is going to get you significantly more performance, but at a substantially higher cost. Also at 500 hours insurance may be an issue, and you might find the workload to be very high.

You don't need a jet to make that work, but it helps.

A nice 300 knot turboprop changes the game entirely.

The airlines are terrible at getting you point A to B unless that's big city to big city with a non stop flight. Anything else GA can win over seemingly large distances.

Try Evansville, IN to Rapid City, SD. Best the airlines can do is 6 hours gate to gate, figure 7.5 hours net with security and overheads. That's 790 nm for GA. A 172 almost beats the airlines! And don't forget departure latency, the airlines don't leave when you want, so that adds wasted time that isn't always acknowledged.

With my Citation, I've done a day trip to Salt Lake City. 1143 nm. Spent 6 hours on the ground and 6 hour in the air. That is a *3 day event* for the airlines. My plane is saving me *days*, not just *hours*.


I apparently missed the memo that I shouldn't be having fun with my turbine airplanes:

(Citation V joy ride, some air work and approaches thrown in)

I did worry that flying I would somehow be reluctant to do "fun" flying in my MU2 and Citation because they are so "complex" and "expensive". I got over that pretty quickly.

If you ever buy an airplane that you feel is too expensive for your budget to just go and fly for fun, then either adjust your budget and fly it anyway or sell it and get something else.

Mike C.

A piston twin is the peak of pilot workload.

Turbines make engine management trivial. A great workload reducer is ample performance.

Don't confuse the superior and thoroughness of turbine training with complexity.

Mike C.

I had to particpate in some flight testing at Roswell once. Citation down in about an hour and a half or so, airline back took all day. I did get to experience a water injection takeoff in a Metro, though. We all held our feet up, too.

Guess I'm a better pilot than I thought.

IMHO Barons have ample performance. More is always better, but I've never felt like I needed more for safety. Of course single engine things would get more interesting on a mountain airport takeoff.


A piston twin is the peak of pilot workload.

Turbines make engine management trivial. A great workload reducer is ample performance.

Don't confuse the superior and thoroughness of turbine training with complexity.

Mike C.

With your experience and requirements (was going to say lance or glassair), I’d stick stick the Bo

MAYBE a turbine 210

Also don’t even talk about “safety” of the airframe as at 500hrs you are yuuugley the biggest danger if you’re advancing to break the 200kt segment

And if you’re going pressurized, or twin, that a few times over


Real world stick with the bo

I’d invest in TKS and more training if that’s on the table

in the past 12 years that has not been anywhere near my experience. as it's been said, if you can go 200 kts, you can beat the airlines to any destination within 500nm. that's a pretty big radius. in the past 12 years (when I flew an A36, then the C340, then a TBM850), I have never been AOG (or missed a trip/mtg because of mechanical issues). I have, however, been screwed several times by airline disasters.

flying commercial is an awful experience. (and yes, I do the lounges, bus class, etc). it still sucks.

If you fly IFR, and have an all-wx airplane (I do), it wins.

It really depends where you live and where you are going. For example, flying the A36 to Grand Cayman last month from north Florida took 3.5 hours direct in comfort. Airport is 10 minutes from the house. Beautiful and relaxing flight. Compare to airlines where it would have been a 2.5 hour drive to Tampa for the once daily mid day flight, or a five hour drive to Miami. Get there 3 hours early, park, haul your luggage, stand in lines for security, etc. takes a full day. Weather is of course a factor , but on this trip I beat the airlines by every metric except price, and perhaps safety as some will not fly over water in singles.