Fellow Aviators,

I've been on the look-out for a small bush airplane that I could use up in my hometown of Yellowknife once I finish my training. I've read some fairly impressive reviews from numerous pilots who say that the Canadian-made Found Air Bush Hawk XP is at the top of its class, and have come to think that this would be my best option. Could those of you who are familiar with this aircraft let me know about any pros and cons, and if any other aircraft would be viable substitutes?
For those of you who are unfamiliar with this aircraft and would like to learn more, refer to this link: http://www.foundair.com/
Thanks ahead!

Regards,
Pierre

edit: I hope to purchase the aircraft with friends to cut costs.

You must have deep pockets Pierre!

If you can afford a new one, you should look into the price of a used Beaver. You'll get alot more for your money and it's the right time to pick one up. Prices are down.

ragbagflyer wrote:You must have deep pockets Pierre!

I don't actually have the money yet, but hopefully once I start work up north bush flying, and convince my parents to help me out, I could manage to buy one. Besides, I'll have the option to live with my family which will cut expenses down by about $1000 a month, which is fairly substantial.

Bandit: How much do used beavers usually go for? I have heard very good things about them, so you may be right.

ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, ... maybe that's my son, ... I shouldn't be laughing but, ... ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Starving low time pilot's don't buy aircraft made for working. Sometimes doctors and lawyers do, and then if they are lucky they don't kill themselves. If you are serious about buying an aircraft, get something small. You can cut your expenses all you want, shit, you could have none at all, but you won't be able to afford payments, insurance, and operating costs on a four hundred thousand dollar airplane.

Not everyone has holes in their pockets fellas. I'd just like some constructive advice on a potential bush plane I could purchase with a few of my friends when the time is right...

Hornblower wrote:ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, ... maybe that's my son, ... I shouldn't be laughing but, ... ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Uhhh, you are definitely not my father, and for god's sake, what the hell does this have to do with this thread? You should be banned from this forum.

ragbagflyer wrote:Starving low time pilot's don't buy aircraft made for working. Sometimes doctors and lawyers do, and then if they are lucky they don't kill themselves. If you are serious about buying an aircraft, get something small. You can cut your expenses all you want, @#$!, you could have none at all, but you won't be able to afford payments, insurance, and operating costs on a four hundred thousand dollar airplane.

When referring to small aircraft, are you referring to aircraft such as the Husky or the 172?

If you can afford it, it would make a great private A/C. I have acouple hundred hours on one. It can carry one hell of a load. its kinda in between a 185 and a beaver. travels faster like a 185 but has great lift capabilites and payload like a beaver. If travellnig a great distance with full fuel in a beaver and a found, you can carry more with the found becasue it doesnt reaquire as much fuel. the found is good for about 6-7 hrs and a beaver is good for about 3 hrs. The big doors on the bush hawk make it easy to load and without the wing stutes you can swing them wide open and walk up and down the float withouth a lift strut in the way. seats are easily removable and fit nicly in the flaot compartment. The new composite floats installed on the found are awsome, there very durable and travell smooth and fast on the water. You can be a little less cautious when tied up to old dock that may have nails sticking out and not worry about a nail puncturing them, same goes for beaching on a rocky shore. I wasnt impressed with the cowl flap, there ground adjustable only and seems to flex and bend from the sirflow over it. 3 adults in the back row is uncomfortable. the compass sits right in front of the pilot and blocks a portion of your forward visibility,you could probably move it tho. other then that the visibility is great and passengers lover the view from the back with the big windows. It is nice to fly and has plenty of power but with a heavey load it can be very pitch sensitve and tends to be a bit unstable and much trim adjustment is needed- the short fuselage could contribute to this. when on wheels it handles muh better on the ground then a 185 does. Its a great plane but very expensive personally i would look at a 185-less expensive and more fun to fly and there are more AME's that are familiar with cessna. If you got lots of moeny to spend on a plane and to pay for fuel then find a nice refurbished beaver. If you want something thats newer and has great passenger comfort then buy a bush hawk

I know a guy selling his Beaver for 275,000$

I think one thing you really have to consider is operating costs. As a young guy who owned an airplane (sold it) I couldn't believe how much cash I put into it. When you have a plane tied up at the dock on a nice sunny day, it's impossible to NOT fly it.

I always thaught friends would pitch in and help with the fuel costs but that's never the case because you end up inviting them to go up with you and they assume it's your treat.

As a first plane, I would go with something small and cheap to run. If you have money, get a clean Super Cub or Husky. It might be small but it's cheap on fuel. For the times you are 4 people, it's worth it to make 2 trips and alot cheaper to fly when alone or just 2 of you.

I flew Beavers and 185/206's commercially and I can tell you this. I would not want to pay for the gas or maintenance costs.

Think about it- A 300hp 6 cyl engine burns around 1 liter of gas every minute. I don't know what avgas is at now but do the math.

Anyway, hope that helps but whatever you decide, good luck. Just take into consideration that operating costs are usually more than your payments will be on the plane per month if you finance it and fly alot. That was my case.

Also, getting a new plane will only go down in value and an older one will most probably stay the same or increase.

Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated!

You’re right, I’m sorry for laughing but how you described your plan to live in your parents basement in order to be able to pay off a $300,000 dollar airplane on a bush pilots salary, … well kinda funny, … those other guys were helpful and I was just being an arsehole; … laughing at a sincere young lad trying to make his way in the world.

But I was laughing so hard my eyes were watering … ha ha. … live with your parents, … convince them to help you buy a plane, … ha ha, eat their free food while paying off an airplane that uses nearly $100 worth of fuel an hour, ha, ha that’s funny, … ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, … I still think you must be my son, … ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

300k?... who's paying for the other half?

Hornblower wrote:You’re right, I’m sorry for laughing but how you described your plan to live in your parents basement in order to be able to pay off a $300,000 dollar airplane on a bush pilots salary, … well kinda funny, … those other guys were helpful and I was just being an arsehole; … laughing at a sincere young lad trying to make his way in the world.

But I was laughing so hard my eyes were watering … ha ha. … live with your parents, … convince them to help you buy a plane, … ha ha, eat their free food while paying off an airplane that uses nearly $100 worth of fuel an hour, ha, ha that’s funny, … ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, … I still think you must be my son, … ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Dude, first of all, I wouldn't be living in their basement, and second of all, as I've already indicated, I'd be splitting the costs with a few of my friends. It's not like buying an airplane is an impossible feat - there's a simple way and it's called saving money. And you obviously don't know my parents, because they'd be more than willing to help me out. Lastly, I never said that I'd be buying an airplane right out of flight school, it'll no doubt take time.

The Found is a beautiful NEW aircraft ($600K + taxes) and every one on here dreams about sitting up front in a brand new shinny plane whatever the make and model. And I mean dream. Who wants to roll an old 45 gal. drum or two up against those leather seats or across the carpet. Or changing that "good new stink" into furnace oil smell. What about a couple hundred pounds of fish or seal fat.

For the price I would seriously consider buying three planes which would come in at less money. A PA-18 on floats/skis, a C206 on floats and a nice twin for commuting. This would cover most aspect of what might be needed in Yellowknife and all would be classed as good working aircraft. With these three, you would still have enough left over to just about buy a beaver. In any event, whatever you buy, there will always be another one that does something just a little better but not one will do it all.

And I am not trying to be a smart ss. If I had the financial ability to purchase a new Found, I really think that I would go for something more vertsatile. Which is three planes for the price of one. As well, it is a great time to buy. Or a bad time to be selling. Whichever?

Anyway, I think you're just yankin our chain. If not, we are all ready to help spend that money. Lots of ideas, lots of suggestions. Give us a hint on the use and we can even narrow the wish list down.

Who wants to roll an old 45 gal. drum or two up against those leather seats or across the carpet. Or changing that "good new stink" into furnace oil smell. What about a couple hundred pounds of fish or seal fat.

It was built for work in the bush, You might as well use it.

Gotta love it but why wouldn't you cape out the head?

sheephunter wrote:The Found is a beautiful NEW aircraft ($600K + taxes) and every one on here dreams about sitting up front in a brand new shinny plane whatever the make and model. And I mean dream. Who wants to roll an old 45 gal. drum or two up against those leather seats or across the carpet. Or changing that "good new stink" into furnace oil smell. What about a couple hundred pounds of fish or seal fat.

lol I know what you mean there, but I'll likely be using it simply for camping trips, and the worse thing I could imagine putting inside it would be a cooler of fish.

PC,

If it's just for camping get a Grumman HU-16B Albatross. One in TAP for $550K. Like a flying Winibago or Houseboat. The url is http://tappix.com/791192

Only joking, but once you get into that much money, you have a lot of options. Any chance you need a brother?

FKAC is Kind - A - Cute

sheephunter wrote:PC,

If it's just for camping get a Grumman HU-16B Albatross. One in TAP for $550K. Like a flying Winibago or Houseboat. The url is http://tappix.com/791192

Only joking, but once you get into that much money, you have a lot of options. Any chance you need a brother?

FKAC is Kind - A - Cute

aha that Albatross is a beast! It sure would work well for campers... it's almost like a RV with wings. Though, camping is always better the ol' fashioned way - in a tent that is. If by the word "brother", you mean someone I could split the costs with, I'd be more than glad to.

No, by brother I mean the guy that comes over to borrow your stuff, but I'll promise to keep the windscreen clean and burn my fair share of fuel.

Gotta love it but why wouldn't you cape out the head?

It was a charter for someone. THe head was been entered into the Cat lake annual moose derby

sheephunter wrote:No, by brother I mean the guy that comes over to borrow your stuff, but I'll promise to keep the windscreen clean and burn my fair share of fuel.

Fair 'nough.

Yeah, sometimes it's nice to finish up the caping at camp and just get in and out quickly especially in bear country. This way doesn't get you machine all messed up inside.

Im just going to say what everyone else is thinking.

You are a F@#$%*G RETARD

and if you actually think you can buy a damn plane, with the help of mommy and daddy, then you are seriously the dumbest person i have ever seen.

now STFU already!!!!!!!!!!!