After some very careful consideration, I finally broke down and bought an older, very well maintained 1969 Cessna Skylane 182M. The exterior paint is within the last 5 years. The interior is a little older, but is still in very good shape.
Click HERE for photos of the first flight.
For avionics, she has a Garmin GNS530 (unfortuantely, not WASS enabled... yet) which is coupled to an STEC-50 Autopilot. She will steer the GPS course, track a VOR, or follow the heading bug. The Altitude, is only a hold, but so what... I can handle that!
Why a 182? Well, I do love flying the Grumman Tiger, but unfortunately the service ceiling on most low-wingers is a little low. I want to be able to take her over to Denver and the Grumman wouldn't make it on summer days. The service ceiling for this beast is 18,900' and I think that's theortical. The owner has claimed to have it higher and the POH charts go to 20,000'. 14,000' will do nicely.
Come see us in Colorado and we'll take you up to see the mountains!