My brother is looking into buying a plane to go 500 miles as quick as possible and as cheap as possible. The top price would be in the mid 100’s and something that gets close to or better than 200 knots. Also needs deice. He has been looking at some mooney’s with TKS or possibly adding it (cost??). We used to own a Piper Cherokee, so were not new to the expences of an airplane ownership. Does anyone have any suggestions for something fast that falls in the price range??
Try Aero Trader. Click on the search link near the top on the left to narrow it down by price range.
There is also Controller, although they seem to be geared towards larger biz jets and turboprops.
There are also other sites you can look at by entering “used airplane” in Google.
I usually us Aircraft shopper online www.aso.com (sold my plane there rather quickly), but I am looking for opinions of others on what type of plane would fit this situation the best.
What kind of useful load do you need? Just one guy who needs to go 500 miles over 200kts? Sure, a mooney might work. 3 people and some gear? Skylane RG or bonanza, but theyre not as fast. 4 or 5 people? Lance or Cherokee Six and even slower. There are better airplanes but then the price goes through your budget.
Sorry, One guy one bag. As little as two seats would be ok. He could go single, multi or even something experimental.
Fast, cheap and low-cost per hour flown? RV-8? RV-10? Something from Burt, i.e Long-EZ? A kit from Lancair? (A Lancair 4 would certainly fit the bill, but not the budget! Same goes for the Glasair III!)
There’s others in the Experimental category, your brother should definitely have a look at some of them. Historically, nothing flies as fast, far and cheaply as some of these aircraft.
Regards,
James
I’d look at a Glasair. As long as your brother is slender. Flying a glasair is like flying in a dentist chair, very reclined. Excellent range and decent speed for low fuel burns.
As I mentioned in another thread, the Lancair family of aircraft are amazing too.
Looking at these pictures, Glasair, I don’t think he would need much for ice protection.
I forgot that that was one of the criteria.
Given what you have said, and not asking a million other questions, I would say he wants a nice M20K. 252 is better than a 231, but a good 231 with the right equipment is easier to find at a good price.
Get one with the de-ice already on it if possible.
If you can get one in good condition in your price range the Mooney M20M’s, Bonanza’s and C210’s are also deice equipped. I think nice ones will be harder to find in your range.
Is he looking for occasional ice protection only or does he want a certified aircraft?
BIG difference, especially in price.
I don’t think being certified would make much difference as long as the ice protection works good. One of the websites that I read today kind of summed it up. Your not going to have any problems with the FAA unless you crash the plane, and then you probablly have worse problems than a non-certified system.
I wouldn’t play the odds on flying into known ice and hoping the FAA doesn’t come after me. Also, I would be hesitant to fly any of these aircraft into known ice unless I was damn sure it was only a very thin layer.
I would definitely recommend he get satellite weather.
From what I could tell by researching the TKS system, the only difference in the certified system was an extra 20,000 for the paperwork. Correct me if im wrong.
Mostly the system would be used for getting through a layer.
I also told him to get the XM weather. I use this quite a bit and so far have found it to be a very good tool. The cloud top function has been surprisingly accurate. And the radar works great.
Buy a Cessna 310! 
depends on what you need the plane for. If you want a good trainer for the money, a cessna 152. The beech skipper is really expensive and the piper tomahawk is a little cheaper.
Have you even read the thread? The OP states pretty clearly what he’s looking for and how much he wants to spend.
You might also want to be more specific when you say “really expensive”.
Gee, I didn’t know those were all 200 knot+ aircraft!!!
Next time, read the FOP!
yes i realize that after i posted it. he was looking for a fast aircraft. my apologies.