Don’t forget the PA-22/20 Pacer conversion. There out there and cheep. For $20K $35K you can get some very nice planes. The 150HP and 160HP will out perform most 172s. There simple and very functional. Eddie Trimmer up in Alaska has many mods to make them great back country airplanes.

Rick

I agree about the Pacers! While i don't have any experience with the wing extensions (which i'm sure are great) i've heard great things about the performance with just a little more wing. But don't underestimate a true shortwing either! I fly a '57 22/20 with the 150 hp o-320. I haven't had it on many unimproved strips, but the altitude performance is surprisingly good when kept light. Just yesterday i quickly got up from my homebase on the frontrange (KLMO @ 5055msl) to 14000 to explore around rocky mtn national park and longs peak. It was just me, but almost full fuel and i climbed at over 1200 fpm initially followed by about 600fpm when i reached 14. There are a couple other pacers in the area and i heard a rumor that a couple guys have some with wing extensions and o-360's over in kremmling.

coloradokevbot wrote:I agree about the Pacers! While i don't have any experience with the wing extensions (which i'm sure are great) i've heard great things about the performance with just a little more wing. But don't underestimate a true shortwing either! I fly a '57 22/20 with the 150 hp o-320. I haven't had it on many unimproved strips, but the altitude performance is surprisingly good when kept light. Just yesterday i quickly got up from my homebase on the frontrange (KLMO @ 5055msl) to 14000 to explore around rocky mtn national park and longs peak. It was just me, but almost full fuel and i climbed at over 1200 fpm initially followed by about 600fpm when i reached 14. There are a couple other pacers in the area and i heard a rumor that a couple guys have some with wing extensions and o-360's over in kremmling.

Wow, that is good performance. This is what I was looking for when I started this thread.. real world experience.

Real world experience: Two guys in a standard wing 150hp pa-20 out of Marble on an Oct morning trip. 1/2 fuel, no bags. Burned up most of the runway and just barely cleared the trees at the west end. I was the pax, neither of us have been back in a Pacer since.

I do get pretty good performance out of the pacer, but it is pretty sensitive to weight. With me and my instructor the best climb we ever really saw was just under 1000 fpm but usually it was closer to 700 fpm. It is really pretty forgiving on approach speeds, but climb rates do change fairly dramatically if the climb speed varies. The ground roll really depends on weight and technique, generally I keep tail low with one notch of flaps and let it fly off, but if you're near gross, it seems to take a long time.

Hey COKev, bring that Pacer out to our fly-in this Saturday. Not only do I dig pacers, I want to be impressed! I believe a few others are coming from Longtown too, we'll even feed you pancakes.

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flynbeekeeper wrote:Real world experience: Two guys in a standard wing 150hp pa-20 out of Marble on an Oct morning trip. 1/2 fuel, no bags. Burned up most of the runway and just barely cleared the trees at the west end. I was the pax, neither of us have been back in a Pacer since.

That is the reality. Gutless means long groundrolls, and long exposures with the wind. Your technique will get a workout, and you will get the experience you're looking for.

Gump

Just to clarify, that "technique" i mentioned was from my personal experience and particular plane. I don't want to offend any other pilots on their ways, because i sure know that i could always use some help improving mine!

This thread topic is several months old, so thinking optimistically, the original poster should have a few more duckies saved.

In that case, he may want to check out a great looking 2009 Murphy Rebel for sale at macdonaldaircraft.com for 45K.


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.975888,-73.487349

What about buying the 182 and continuing to rent the super cub?