http://www.iconaircraft.com/index.html
I totally want.
Soooo SICK!!!
Cessna 162 is a bit cheaper. I am looking for a low price solution for travel and this might be it given it can run on pump gas. However, the Cessna has a longer range.
its cool for sure but in the water next to the other jet skis it looks goofy
Shit like this makes me want to go update my medical and hit the skies again. Flying is an expensive hobby when you don’t own your own aircraft though.
yeah, but jet skis can’t go puddle jumping from one lake to another in such baller fashion :lol
hotshit
Consider the Diamond Da20 c-1. Great starter plane. Flew that for most of my flight school.
Just ordered mine
That’s more than the one I posted.
I need something with a range of at least 400 miles, pump gas, and will carry a load of about 600LBS. I want to be able to take the wife, dog, and baggage for a week or so. There are airports near both of our parents. Also, I like the LSA license but I think that limits to just day time flying. I got a feeling that will be an issue but I gotta start somewhere.
Seriously its cheaper than I thought it would be i thought it was going to be some ridicullous price but 130k aint bad at all
If you have it :lol
Anyways airports? dood does this thing have traditional landing gear as well?
Land and sea from what I have read. Not 100% sure if that comes stock. But, there are other cheaper options but this thing is just absolutely sick.
The Icon has retractable gear, but must be an option as LSA restrictions limit to fixed gear only, unless it’s changed recently…Diamond(Katana) DA20-c1 can be purchased used for 70-80K range.
You won’t be able to get an LSA and 600lbs of load capacity…FAA restrictions on LSA is 1320lbs max
Shawn if you’re looking for something in a full load capacity in the 600lb range, you talking 172R to T182 territory. Planes are rated with a max takeoff weight, or max gross weight capacity. Example would be your mentioned C-162. ~825 bare, 1320lbs gross(max, has to be for LSA ifit’s an LSA rated airframe). That leaves you about 490lbs, which doesn’t include fuel load. C-162 probably has a 22-28 gallon cell, so we’ll say 25gal usable fuel. 25 x 6.6lbs per gallon(average hydrometer reading) = 165lbs. So that leaves you ~325lbs of usable max load, which you’ll never want to use. I always factor a max of 75-80% of the max usable load but that’s just me. I do that for safety and performance reasons, especially if it’s hot weather.
the 172R has a load cap of around 800lbs iirc, and the 182 series is up around 1100lbs, but now you’re into VSR/IFR private pilot ratings. I’m checked out in alot of Cessna airframes and have piloted variants from 152’s to a Skymaster 336(not TE rated for it though but have flown) and will say you really can’t go wrong with them as long as you choose a proper plane. Cessna has made some duds in the past. In reality, if you’re thinking about buying your own plane(FAR better and smarter than renting) and flying for travel go get your PP rating in VFR. More money in flight school, but more freedom and cost effective in the end. Then you can always train/school for instrument flying and not be limited to 5 mile visibility only crap. VOR’s suck to learn, but are a staple and GPS has come a loooong way since I first checked out and makes IFR alot easier…
FWIW…if I were to invest in an aircraft, I go get a Mooney without question.
Some of the LSAs were around 4XX-5XX load capacity? I didn’t think another 100LBS would be an issue. I doubt that includes fuel. blah.
OK, I’ll retract the won’t and say that there may be an LSA out there with a 500+lb cap, but it’s going to be a puddle jumper at best and likely have minimal fuel capacity/range…and all this is a huge stretch. Example would be Cessnas new Skylane(182) and that just breaks the 600lb mark but is far from LSA at ~3100lbs gross. Just remember LSA = 1320lbs gross max, including all fuel, plane weight, and total load. I just checked off the Cessna HP for the 162, useable fuel load is 346lbs.
Realistically buying a plane for traveling with family, invest in bigger options or you’ll just end up dissapointed(or worse) Don’t want you to end up like Aaliyah :eek:eek
Ughh. You are killing it for me. Moving away from LSA just makes everything that much more complicated/expensive. I was hoping to have something that would be a more practical solution.
I’m really not trying to do so Shawn, I just a) don’t want you to buy the wrong aircraft for what you’re intending to use it for, and/or B) get into trouble mid-air with an overloaded or unbalanced airframe.
for the price of a 162, you can buy an older yet well maintained 172P with a few thousand hours of flight time and it’s twice the aircraft. Update it with a GPS(if it already hasn’t) and you’re golden. And getting the VFR private pilot rating isn’t too bad in price, just takes a little more time to do so and honestly I think you’d get MUCH more use and fun out of it. I had my ultralite rating for years and didn’t get hardly any use out of flying until I went to VFR and ultimately, IFR.
LSA is really just for someone who wants to just take a plan up for an hour or two and puddle jump from here to syracuse and back for lunch or something. When you start throwing in luggage and dogs + passengers you really need to look beyond that.
however in hindsight, if LSA is what you want to go for do it. You’ve got to start somewhere, you just may need to change your paramaters a little(like leave the pets and pack light). LSA would suit and be very practical for that instance and I wouldn’t hesitate to do so as long as you stick well within the limits of the aircraft.
One thing I’ll get into detail on here is why I chose to not load to the limit of max gross CAP, and it revolves around approach(landing). In my flight experience(~570 hours now) I have had many occasion where I have to abort an approach due to weather and or landing surface conditions. When a plane is loaded to it’s max gross cap it’s performance is limited. Slow “airfoil” reaction, rate of climb, etc and it’s even more compunded by hotter weather. T/O and approach are the two times you want max performance to either change direction or accelerate away and a fully loaded LA’s performance drastically reduces when you get closer to that weight limit, and it’s the unexpected and uncontrolled that will get you…
My worst experiece was during my VFR night cross country training in a DA20-c1 on a long approach into Worchester Regional. Tower 120 had my aircraft coming in on about a 5 mile approach to runway 29/11 due to wind speed/direction that night. Over the comm I could hear tower in contact with a few heavy on the same approach as well, different controller, however 10-15 miles out. One mile out I call my approach to tower and get visual confirmation from them(they can see me), 1/2 mile in tower I get verification. 15-20 seconds later and at only ~120-150 hundred feet of elevation on final approach, I get a hectic and nervous response from another tower controller " Katana eighty three romeo foxtrot BREAK APPROACH IMMEDIATELY, NORTHEN ABORT!!!". Full power, full prop and a heavy banking climb my instructor and I are frantically looking though the canopy while pulling away only to see a 737 heavy on final not a few thousand feet behind our pervious location. We were close enough to cath a small amount of the planes jet wash as I came about to get back into the pattern. After some “polite and calm” deliberation with the tower we find that the two controller had some pattern overlap and miscomunicated with approach speeds of other craft.
Had the plane been fully loaded to capacity it would have never moved out of the way quick enough. Likely quick enough to avoid a collision, but at the very best I would have been caught up in some SERIOUS turbulence at only 2-300 feet off the ground. It was ugly enough as it was and could have been far worse. Since that event in 2001, I have never loaded a plane anywhere near full cap.
I truly do hope you get into this because flying is an absolute blast. You’ll never get a veiw more beautiful than flying at 3000ft over vermont mid fall, or buzzing over the coast of maine in the early AM when the sun rising. My only gripe is that I never pursued buying a plane myself back in '00-'04 when I was really flying alot because I’d be doing ALOT more of it today had I bought my own. REntal prices and insurance went through the roof in 2004 and I have all but completely stopped flying because of it 
You have specifics about this write me. Be glad to help you out.