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Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998 21:17:27 -0400
To: lancair.list@olsusa.com
From: Marvin Kaye <marvkaye@olsusa.com>
Subject: What to fly while building??
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Posted for Ed Armstrong <ed@testelectronics.com>:

>>>>>
What advice would you have on a puddle hopper airplane? I need to get a 
little $15,000 plane just to get around here. Renting is costing me 
$5K/year plus I can never get one when I need it or as long as I need it 
for. I figure I will use it until I get my L360 built and then sell it.
At first I was looking at Tomahawks. I know they have a bad reputation, but 
I learned on one and they fly well for me. However, I never owned one. What 
I found out is that they are constantly getting issued AD's because of a 
cost reduction Piper did on the tail design. The real scary thing is that 
there might be some very expensive AD's coming out in the near future that 
could just ground all of them.

My second choice was a Grumman TR-2 there is one for sale in local to me in 
Hayward. It is a really neat looking machine. However, my old flight 
instructor and the buyer Willie at my flight school says they flat spin out 
of control and you can not recover.

Then there is a Beech Skipper, they say it is heavy and not very sporty. 
Also, I think it might be out of my price range. I am just looking for a  
 cheap puddle hopper.

Everyone recommends a Cessna 152. I think they are ugly and not very 
sporty. I don't think it is too much to ask for a two seater that can cruse 
at 100 knots, has aerobatic handling, and costs under $18K used with about 
3000 hours on the body and 1000 on the engine. Do you have any 
recommendations.? I really like the Grumman, I wonder if it is really all 
that dangerous.

Regards,
Ed
<<<<<

[my suggestion was to look for a decent used homebuilt... I would suspect
that an experimental will likely have received better care and will
probably outperform any spam can he could find at a comparable price.  If
any of you have any thoughts along these lines I suspect there might be
other folks who have also wrestled with this problem and would be happy to
hear additional suggestions.  <M>]