Seaplanes or Amphibious Aircraft for Caribbean Adventuring and Logistics

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

A WW II training aircraft would probably be vintage enough and defintely faster than a Cub. Actual warbirds with multi-seat capacity are rare as hen's teeth. anything but P-51Ds is rare. The Mustangs are just expensive without being quite "rare".

I have no idea if you can still get OV-10 "Broncos" (which are statted up in Gurps Seals in Vietnam).

https://www.aircraftcompare.com/airc...-ov-10-bronco/

Okay, maybe.

The "similar aircraft" links on the page shouldn't encourage you though. No one is going to sell you an XB-70 "Valkyrie". :)

Those are good points. LeBlanc would probably enjoy flying a Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star, North American T-6 Texan or a Douglas A-1 Skyraider, but those are probably not useful for shuttling passengers. Well, the trainers might be useable for it, but the limit of one passenger makes them probably marginal in that role compared to a more typical civilian light aircraft.

Still, doesn't prevent LeBlanc from belonging to the Commemorative Air Force and spending some of his leisure time learning to fly old fighter aircraft, especially those with a proud Marine Corps history.

That still leaves a 'need' for a light airplane that is easier to take up on a short notice than the Renegade and expends less fuel when dropping off a guy or two in Beaumont or Houston.

[Daigoro]

Not knowing much about the subject, my inclination would be to go for something used by various aerobatic teams, such as the Red Arrows, the Thunderbirds or the Roulettes. These all seem to be 2-seater trainers with good handling, and the T-38 Talon is supposedly extra economical.

If you need more than 1 passenger though, you could browse this list of light transports by passenger capacity.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

Not knowing much about the subject, my inclination would be to go for something used by various aerobatic teams, such as the Red Arrows, the Thunderbirds or the Roulettes. These all seem to be 2-seater trainers with good handling, and the T-38 Talon is supposedly extra economical.

LeBlanc would absolutely love a T-38 Talon. It is, however, about twenty times the price of a Cessna 172, the typical light aircraft that would be used for this sort of job.

I'm willing for him to convince his bosses to buy something significantly nicer than the basic Cessna. I think that a supersonic jet that costs twenty times more, however, is just the tiniest bit overkill for the job he'd be using as the justification for why he needs it.

Originally Posted by Daigoro

If you need more than 1 passenger though, you could browse this list of light transports by passenger capacity.

Thanks.

It might be enough to get a trainer aircraft with space for one person aside from Mike LeBlanc, as long as there was a Cessna 172 in New Orleans as well. Certainly, a T-6 Texan and a Cessna 172 combined are a lot cheaper than a T-38.

[Daigoro]

Ahh, well if price is an object, then this comparison site seems quite nifty:
https://www.aircraftcompare.com/airc...ce=0.19%2C1.19

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

Ahh, well if price is an object, then this comparison site seems quite nifty:
https://www.aircraftcompare.com/airc...ce=0.19%2C1.19

Price is always an object, no matter how much money you have.

If only because there's always something else you can buy that is also awesome.

Thanks, that's a good list. Does anyone have opinions on what kind of light aircraft are fun to fly? They can cost anywhere up to five times a Cessna 172 (so, up to $1 million or so), but can't cost more to operate than a LA-250 Renegade.

[Kale]

Vietnam era Mini gunship/light cargo aircraft:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helio_AU-24_Stallion
It packs a 20mm tribarrel on the door and five external hardpoints, but can also be used as a light transport aircraft and is optimized for STOL. It also mostly looks like a typical civilian monoplane so wouldn't raise any eyebrows at first glance.

Similar plane with the same style door gun:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairch...-23_Peacemaker

[Celjabba]

A Stearman PT-17 is a two-seater, common, cheap, and will fly in the worst magic-aspected area you can find :)

You won't go anywhere fast, that said. Or in any comfort. But for true aviation fan, it could be a fun choice.

The modern best seller would be a Pilatus PC-12 or variant. Not exactly cheap, but reliable, polyvalent cargo / passenger, and capable of very short landing, including on grass fields.

[copeab]

May I suggest the Beech Model 17 Staggerwing? Many are still flying and prices are around $300000 to $500000. Not fast, but a classic.