JChrisAero

Thank you all for the responses. @catchman86, thank you especially for the details you gave, those were indispensable. Here are my take-aways. Initial purchase budget needs to be slightly higher, which if we do move to Alabama for this PhD, (the deciding reason for the plane) we will have room for. If the initial inspection isn't good, WALK AWAY. Maintenance costs are highly dependent on the initial condition of the aircraft, what equipment it has, and how much you're able to put the plane in good shape before it goes into the shop. Fixed costs are highly dependent on your location and ratings. (100-200% difference in storage cost between Decatur and Madison County for example) IFR is beneficial in every way, and the plane should be certified/certifiable for IFR to begin with. (I'll get the rating ASAP using the plane. Way-way-way cheaper than what I was paying at a club/school) Expenses that are not strictly necessary add up, but some are really nice to have. We'll be watching the market carefully. If we do end up in Alabama and we find a solid C, I'll post our results here. I like data and I'll be sure to share.

Once again, thank you all, this gives us a lot to chew on. A couple of clarifying points: Additional costs up to the purchase price over the course of the first couple years are expected, and we’re not in a rush, if we have to walk away from a couple planes based on an inspection, we do. Getting my IFR would be a given if I have an IFR capable aircraft to train in (especially one not dripping fuel on me when I open the left door… 0.o fun times) @MikeOH is the 17k figure including initial purchase price? I don’t necessarily expect it to, but I couldn’t tell from your post. Noting there is a WIDE variation of opinions on cost, how many of you are putting money into upgrades like reupholstering, speed mods, glass instruments, etc? I would be content with round dial and a simple gps, so if a good chunk of this is upgrades, it would be helpful to know I also can walk away from this idea if we can’t find a solid airplane in our budget, I love to fly, but thankfully there’s a lot of joy in life apart from it too

Wow, thank you all for the responses! I did see a few comments about $10000 initial annuals, but most seemed to be in the 1-3k range. I’d like a good mechanic to look over any plane we’re considering. Don: convenience is definitely the reason here, and yes our budget is tight, but we’re not trying to buy the cheapest thing out there either. We just don’t need a souped up glass cockpit speed demon with every bell and whistle. I trained in 2020 and 2021 round dial flying dead reckoning or VOR to VOR and still prefer it tbh. Hank: thanks for the heads up, that’s very helpful. We’re both light people and have taken 172n together to 14000 ft briefly to cross 9k mountains in Wyoming, but our families are on the plains along the front range in Co and in the white mountains of AZ, so we’d never have any terrain over 8000 feet msl with the correct routes. DXB and WhiskyTango: I am not yet IFR rated, I was half way through when we got married last year and would have to restart that from scratch. Thanks for the honest assessments, I really appreciate that. We can discuss a more realistic price range if need be, but I have seen a couple planes that would fit our parameters, they’d need that inspection for sure though to be sure

Hey everyone, My wife and I are considering getting an M20C for cross country trips. Background: she's planning on starting a PhD in Northen Alabama, and neither we nor our families are near hub airports, so she suggested it might be worth buying a plane both so I can keep up my ratings and so we can use it to visit our families more easily back west (CO and AZ). I'm a 150 Hr Cessna pilot with my high-performance endorsement, so I'd need a complex endorsement as well as transition training. I've done 8-hour cross countries before (CO-IN and back in an old 182) and they were long, but manageable, so on that front I think I know what I'm getting into. I've also been reading everything I can about the gotchas of the M20C, especially an excellent old article by LASAR in 1996. I also work in aviation, specifically flight and accident/incident data analysis, so I have some good resources at my disposal for checking into the history of individual aircraft. Our budget would be 40-60K for the aircraft, can be totally basic with no speed mods, ugly paint, etc. as long as its systems and airframe are sound. Do you have any input or thoughts? Are we totally off our rockers? Opinions are helpful even if they sting Thanks in advance!