About a decade ago, when I first considered the possibility of owning an aircraft, I consulted a friend—an agricultural applicator pilot in Kansas with about 30,000 hours in his logbook. He had earlier suggested that I learn to fly at a small airport, preferably in a taildragger. That advice served me well, so I looked forward to hearing his thoughts about finding the right airplane.
I thought I might look for a 185 like the one he flew in his spare time. That model had the interior space, load carrying capacity and short-field performance I felt my family of four needed for traveling to northern Maine and other remote destinations. I also figured I could easily mount skis when the snow got deep. We were destined for backcountry adventures, after all.
