brad(at)vision-technology Guest
|
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 6:31 am Post subject: Allegro Decision |
|
|
Hi Rob,
For your mission the Allegro would be a great airplane. A couple
thoughts...
- the baggage area is weight limited (I think 30# on my particular plane)
- a glass panel would be nice, but certainly not needed. They can also be a
distraction when your eyes should be looking outside the plane 99% of the
time. Recent studies are showing they don't contribute to safety, at least
not for VFR flying.
- XM weather. Nice to have, depending on the typical weather in your part
of the country. For some of us it is usually VFR with thunderstorms visible
50 miles away or hard IFR so it isn't as much of an issue.
- hangar... if I had to forego a glass panel and other bells & whistles in
return for having a hangar, I'd go for the hangar. It'll protect your
resale value and lower your insurance costs, so the long-term cost of a
hangar is somewhat less than what the hangar rent is. At my airport hangars
run from $90 - $160 / month. Of course some metro airports are many times
that cost. Make sure you research insurance costs... experimental and
SLSA's are not cheap to insure.
- autopilot... I've only used autopilots in Cessna's and Mooney's, so can't
comment about how well they may work in a light wing-loading plane like an
Allegro that is more susceptible to turbulence.
- remember... the more stuff installed in an airplane, the more there is to
go wrong. Simplicity generally increases reliability and decreases
maintenance costs.
- if you haven't owned a plane before, you may find that you won't fly as
many cross-country trips as you think you will. That's probably true for
70% of new plane owners.
Hopefully that gives you a few more things to think about. Of course much
of it comes down to personal preference, budget and how you'll use the
plane. There is no perfect plane. The trick is finding the balance of
compromises that work out best for you.
Good luck!
Brad Kramer
Allegro N221FA
Mandan, ND
--
| - The Matronics Allegro-List Email Forum - | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Allegro-List |
|
|
|