Your Thoughts--More Advice Needed

[Pistol Pete]

I've been looking at airplanes and every time I look at my needs/wants versus my budget, I keep coming back to a Beechcraft Sundowner.
I'm 6'3" and 245 and large framed. I flew in my friend's A36, then rode along when we ferried a Baron... those planes are tight inside. The Musketeer series (Muskateer, Sundowner, Sierra) planes are wider than the Bonanza by a couple inches and I need it.

The pros for the Sundowner are...
Very roomy inside.
Very strong airframe.
Seems to have low costs on annuals.
Inexpensive initial purchase price.
Decent/good payload.

The cons are...
Slow... most say 107-109 KTAS at 75% or so.
Fairly unattractive, but I don't care about that.
Parts are somewhat expensive. Not as much as the Sierra.

Basically, it's got the room of a 182 and the performance of a 172. The consensus among owners is it burns 9.5 gph at 75%.
I joined AOPA and read through their "Purchasing and Airplane" pages. The primary point I got from the information is... it's easy to get more airplane than you can financially handle. My budget is $12K annually ($1k/month) for cost of ownership, it seems like once you pass fixed gear/fixed prop, you have a much greater potential to go well over budget... several reviews of complex/hi performance owners indicated the potential is high.

Please give your thoughts on a Sundowner.

[gotyacovered]

Wish I could help ya on the sundowner.

On your budget, sounds like you should look into a half or third of a 182! I have 50% of a 182 and those cost are close as far as monthly average. $1000 is probably pretty close. My last 40 hours at 70% (22 squared) Im burning 12.5gph... And cruising right at 128kts/147mph.

I would highly reccomend a partnership.

Good luck, Hope that helps.

[Pistol Pete]

Wish I could help ya on the sundowner.

On your budget, sounds like you should look into a half or third of a 182! I have 50% of a 182 and those cost are close as far as monthly average. $1000 probably pretty close. My last 40 hours at 70% (22 squared) Im burning 12.5gph... And cruising right at 128kts/147mph.

I would highly reccomend a partnership.

Good luck, Hope that helps.

I appreciate the input. One thing I didn't make clear was my budget... I used the Operating Cost Calculator on the AOPA site. It doesn't include the loan payment or rebuild budget... I could be wrong, but hopefully I can pay the plane off before the engine would need OH. When I need an OH, I'd probably just finance it.
I was working off 100 hours per year at about $120 per hour... And yes, I'd like to find a partner.