Picking an airplane

[GoldenRivet]

Gentlemen, Ladies...


... i have decided that i have worked way too hard this year. My first deployment call came on january 7th to Memphis, TN where i remained until April 23rd. I got home the night of the 23rd and was redeployed on another assignment the very next afternoon. The second assignment lasted only a month, but i was rerouted to a new one on May 25th. I have been on the current job since.

this year i have been home the first 7 days of January, one day in April, 2 days in May, about 8 days in July for a total of 18 +/- days at home.

its been rewarding in a lot of ways, but the time to go home and hybernate for the winter draws near. My current contract runs out on September 3rd, at which pooint they have the option of renewing for up to 30 days or cutting me loose. I have already decided i will not be staying past October 3rd on the road.

the big news is... My wife has given me the green light to buy an airplane! and i think i am going to go ahead and move forward with that possibly some time in October.


I have narrowed it down to two final choices

1. Cessna 150 Commuter - It is inexpensive to obtain and inexpensive to operate. This airplane can be had for a "song" at an average cost of about $18-25,000. it sips fuel, requires little maintenance and is cheap to insure. the downside is, it is a two seater. and it wont haul a lot of weight. two average Joes with full fuel could put it very near the upper end of its maximum gross weight. additionally, they are slow. depending on conditions and loading in the sub 90 - 100 kt range.




2. Grumman AA5A Cheetah - the cheetah is a "slippery" airframe. It uses bonded skin instead of rivets giving it excellent speed per horsepower in its class due in part to the lower parasite drag the design offers. frequently in the 120-130 knot cruising speeds with a 4-5 hour endurance. it also boasts four seats, which, depending on the loading, all four can be safely occupied and still see decent performance numbers. they are in the upper end of $30-40,000 range to obtain.



the problem is... a lot of my flying, perhaps 95% of it, will often be done alone, or with only one other occupant. However there may come the rare occasion when a third or even fourth seat would be nice to have. I also have a few folks i could get into a four seater, that wouldnt even be contenders for a ride in a 150. but thats a lot of extra cash to drop on having 2-3 seats unused 95% of the time.


which do you think i should shoot for?