Hey everyone. Saw where Jose posted his intro - thought I'd do the same. I'm an Internal medicine doc in north Alabama but Texas is home. Nonetheless, the northwest has always been my adventure location of choice. Been to Alaska twice and northwest Canada twice and go back frequently in my mind. I plan more trips there when finances (read: empty nest) permit. Meanwhile I do what I can to keep up with off airport and rural airstrip flying.

I originally owned a C-140 and sold it to buy a Mooney. Got my instrument and commercial in the Mooney, then sold it when I went back to med school. Just got out of student loan debt so I bought a beautiful C-140A to get back into the swing - but my ultimate goal is to get something that I can use for wilderness travel and possibly doctoring in the back country.

With that in mind, maybe some of you can give me some advice on what airplane would be the most versatile/ all around best for that sort of thing. Before I bought the 140A I was considering a Maule but I had some trepidation about the Franklin engines. The Lycoming seemed to be a better choice, for resale if nothing else, but they were considerably more expensive. I've also thought about a C-180, but either one will have to be after I get the 140A paid off and can take another jump up. Any thoughts on pros/cons of either? Any other plane I should consider?

Certainly have enjoyed all the stories/conversation/photos/etc on the website. Looking forward to getting in on the banter.

Bushdoc

Since money is an object, I think you would be hard pressed to beat a Maule.

Welcome, Bushdoc. At first glance from your username, I thought you might be a gynecologist, so thanks for clarifying.

You should post some photos of your 140A. If you saw the avatar I was using up until today, you probably noticed the 140A that my grandfather had back in the early 60's. I think they are beautiful aircraft, and before I got my 170 I was kicking around the idea of a 140 as well.

You probably opened up a can of worms with this "what plane is good for me?" thread. This one will really bring em out of the woodwork. Enjoy.

Zane

Am I allowed to say welcome? I will just in case, welcome! I´m not alone now.

Yup, that´s a better way to get atention than mine, asking for what´s the better plane for you.

Agreed with AH64, Maules are not that expensive, at least to buy (no idea about owning). You can find some with a nice Lyco 360 for a good price. Those are bulletproof engines mounted on a niiiice airframe. Again, never flew one myself, so I´m talking from what I´ve seen or read, but you can take large loads from relatively short and dirt strips. You can probably take more cargo from a shorter strip with a UH-1 but THAT is expensive.

Once again, welcome if I can say that not having taken a seat myself yet.

Howdy bushdoc,I going to utha to pick up my pacer.If your low on cash THINK of buying a pacer.I know of a pacer for sale good price and has some mods on the aircraft.I think he is asking around $25,000.hope to here from you.BEAGLE

My IA says he wants to sell his '75' M-5. He says he has too many airplanes. Of course, it has a Franklin engine, but the price is right - $55K. It's a very nice, very well cared for airplane. I think he is making a mistake selling it. If someone will buy his Bellanca Travelaire he will keep his Maule (the Travelaire is also a beauty).

Franklins are O.K. once you understand their idiosyncracies, and they are very inexpensive to maintain and overhaul.

Welcome to the jungle.

I fly a 182B. This is the last strait tail and the first that Cessna put cowl flaps on. This used to be a pretty fast airplane. Everbody puts mods on planes like this to make them go faster. The best mod to make it go faster is to move your flight bag into a Mooney. Not good for backcountry short and soft.

We on the other hand have made mods to make it go slower. First we took off the weel pants for a minus 8 kts. Then came the big nose fork with a 6.00x6 wheel and tire. About another 2 kts. Finally we took off the 6.00x6 mains and installed 7.00x6. That dropped about another 2 kts.

Our 182 is IFR, can haul a good load and it will land in most places in the backcountry. Our slowed down 182B will land just about anywhere a 180 can land at unless the 180 has giant tires or skis. And yes they make a float set up for my plane. The real limiting factor is pilot skill and slowly that has been improving.

After having said that, I still would like a 180 cus they do true out faster than mine for those longer trips to Mexico.

Tim