Finding Your Ideal Aircraft: Today’s Market Is Pricey, but Potential Bargains Abound

While there is no such thing as a cheap airplane, recent surveys of the GA market, including the diverse listings on AircraftForSale, reveal a number of models with prices that make them approachable. In some cases their prices are lower than pilots might expect and represent good values while in others the low “cost of entry” might lead to expensive maintenance costs.

Here’s a look at some of the models that offer a lot of performance at relatively low prices and some of the factors that might lead to higher and lower prices in today’s market.

We often find many PA-24s on the market, and while their prices vary widely, typically between $75,000 and $150,000, they tend to be inexpensive compared with some other high-performance, four-seat retractables such as Beechcraft Bonanzas and Cessna 210s. Part of the reason might be that even the newest Comanches are more than 50 years old, as Piper ended production after a flood at the company’s Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, factory in 1972 damaged the PA-24 assembly line.

Do not let the aircraft’s advanced years deter you, though, as a well-kept PA-24 can be a good traveling aircraft and a joy to own and fly. If the Piper does not quite suit you, the Beechcraft V-tail Bonanza can be a surprisingly economical alternative. 

Shoppers can find nice examples of this classic Cessna two-seat taildragger for less than $40,000, though freshly restored versions might fetch more.

These small, lightweight, and relatively slow aircraft are better suited to short hops to nearby airports for lunch or fly-ins than long-distance travel, however, you can take longer trips in them if you are not in a rush. In most cases they will still get you there faster than a car.

The same goes for most of the Cessna’s vintage contemporaries, including Luscombe 8s, Taylorcrafts, and Aeronca Champs, which will perform the same antique-aircraft missions as the 140 similarly low prices.

Pilots looking for a six-seat, single-engine family airplane on a budget face an uphill journey. Often the first model that comes to mind is the Beechcraft A36 Bonanza, but powerful demand has driven prices beyond many shoppers’ limits.

The Cessna 210 Centurion is another option, but their prices too have risen out of reach. Piper’s Saratoga is similarly steep, but its predecessors, the Lance and Turbo Lance, typically offer six-place cabin space at prices between $100,000 and $200,000 but often lower than $150,000. The turbo models give pilots the option of flying at higher altitudes than practical in most naturally aspirated singles. The Lance’s roomy cabin gives it the feel of an airborne SUV, which many passengers like.

Beechcraft’s four-seat, low-wing trainers and personal utility aircraft, including the Musketeer, Sundowner and Sierra, were late to the lower-cost airplane party and could not match the sales of category rivals such as the Cessna 172 and Piper PA-28.

Today many buyers are giving the Beechcrafts another look, and some have found the rather obscure machines have features that set them apart from the Pipers and Cessnas in a positive way. More spacious cabins and better fit and finish give the model a higher-quality feel. Many prefer the 180 hp Sundowner to the lower-powered Musketeer and the more powerful and complex Sierra because of its combination of performance and price—often less than $50,000.

Speaking of 180 hp airplanes, the long-running Mooney M20 series includes many models that used such modest power output to outrun aircraft with larger, more powerful engines, all while sipping less than 10 gallons per hour.

The basic model was on sale for decades, so there are a lot of them in circulation, and it seems that there is always a decent selection on the market. Those built in the 1960s and ’70s often cost less than $100,000 and provide a solid, economical path to aircraft ownership for pilots who want a good cross-country airplane. The type also has an active and supportive owners’ group that can make having a so-called orphan aircraft less daunting.

Some part of me has longed for a Cessna 310 since childhood, and I still love its looks, whether we are talking about an early straight-tail “tuna tank” version or the later, long-nose R models that I spotted over my elementary school’s playground during the 1970s.

I can still make the case for one, because when it comes to getting a lot of airplane for the money, the light twin market is fertile ground as long as buyers do their homework, arrange thorough prebuy inspections (a rule for any aircraft purchase) and realize that the cost of ownership might be considerably higher than the cost of acquisition. I have seen many 310s lately for less than $150,000—sometimes much less. At such prices the buyer can find one with lower-time engines but will almost certainly have to deal with shortcomings like older avionics, dull paint, or worn interior. If you come across a combination that suits you, though, you could enjoy many years of cross-country bliss.