Re: Need fast plane for IFR?

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I started IFR training in club planes, always slightly different,
didn't really get the hang of it.

Then got my own Commander 112TCA and things went more smoothly. IMHO
it's more important to always fly the same plane than have a really
fast one.

Of course, if you later want to use the same plane for serious travel,
then you should go for a faster one not just to mix better but more
importantly to get places, preferably in single hops: go for long
legs. Commander 112TCA wioth long range tanks has 6+ hours @ 140 +
kts: it has flown me from Finland to The Netherlands non-stop (5 h 35
m airborne) with the last part being VFR due to fuel reserve
limitations.

"Jerome Kaidor" <jerryk@best.com> wrote in message
news:5vcY5.306$1%2.14886@sjc-read.news.verio.net...
>
> *** Hello,
>
> Doing some plane shopping here.... I'm trying to decide between
a
> Piper Arrow and a Sundowner. I can afford either of them, although
> the Arrow is just a scoche more expensive. ( well, actually, a
> multi-thousand-dollar scoche :-) ).
>
> The Arrow has retractable gear & constant speed prop. The
Sundowner is
> big and comfortable and cheap. The Arrow is very mainstream. The
Sundowner
> is somewhat more of an orphan.
>
> For the mission of earning my Instrument rating - the Arrow's
book cruise
> is 140 knots, the Sundowner's - 116. I know that high speed can be
an
> advantage when mixing it up with other IFR traffic in busy terminal
areas.
> But is it a big, constant advantage, or just an occasional one?
>
> One guy told me that learning in a fast airplane would make me a
> better Instrument pilot. Of course, he was trying to sell me the
fast
> airplane :-). I suspect it could stretch the training out somewhat,
> because the faster the plane is, the more you get behind it. But,
just
> because an airplane is fast, doesn't mean you have to *fly* it fast,
right?
> You can always slow'er up when things get busy....
>
> Comments?
>
> - Jerry Kaidor ( jerry@tr2.com )
>
>