Last Fall, I asked you Owners about suggestions for my "family" (wife, 2 labradors, some luggage) weekend plane. Typical cross-country from Virginia to Rhode Island. I have not bought a plane yet, though I am whittling it down to the venerable Dakota, the Arrow, or the Beech Sierra. Right now, the Sierra is "winning" due to its huge cargo door, and the easy to remove two rear seats to turn it into a flying 2 seater pick-up truck.
I can't determine the accessibility of the rear cargo area of the Arrow and Dakota, and need advice as to whether the rear seats can be removed in a jiffy (without filling out a host of Federal forms).
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Dakota: useful load from 1150 to 1350 lbs, cruise at 135-142 kts. It's Cherokee 235 predecessor only came with a fixed rear bench.
Arrow: useful load 930 to 1050 lbs, cruise at 133 to 140 kts. Only 1977 and up came with removable rear seats standard, 1973 to 1977 were optional, 1968 to 1972 models may have them as a conversion.
Sierra: useful load 830 to 950 lbs, cruise at 130 to 135 kts. Prone to nose gear problems when not expertly maintained. Rear door is a huge bonus but you pay for it with slow cruise and low useful load. Rides better than the Pipers though, and better visibility.
Later Arrows and all Dakotas have separate rear seats that come out in a minute, with no special paperwork either. The baggage doors are all the same size on the Pipers and you do have plenty of room with rear seats removed.
The last time I looked, (Before buying a PA28-235 about 5 years ago) Beech Skippers and Sierras were pretty good values but I wanted a station wagon and although I would have liked a Dakota, the price difference from an older 235 was substantial so I settled. Bill of Aircrafters at F70 has a nice STC that takes advantage of some space under the normal baggage area for additional storage and You can convert the rear bench seat to the newer, easy to remove buckets found in the Dakota's. I built a plywood cover for the area that is exposed when the rear seat is removed and recently put the rear bench seat and the 60-40 front buckets from a '96 Buick Roadmaster, along with a 6 ft. roll of upholstery material, a 6 ft. roll of foam padding, a large duffle bag with 2 weeks worth of clean clothes, my normal duffle with tie-downs, wheel chocks, manuals, Plexus, terrycloth towels etc. and a laptop computer in the plane and flew it all up to Kernville Ca. Had quite a crowd of onlookers while I unloaded the last items and stacked them in a pile besides the plane before putting it all in the back of a pick-up. A Dakota's cabin is even longer (about 7 inches) than the older 235's, so if You don't mind removing one end of the cabin door stay so the door can be strapped fully open, then remove the right front seat (Takes about 2 minutes), You won't find a plane with better load hauling potential than a Dakota (or a 235).
Not to throw a wrench in your conversation, but my 1967 Six (PA32-300) has 1600 lbs. of useful load, a huge rear cargo door - actually like a double door - an additional storage compartment between the engine and the cabin, and easily removable rear seats.
With the seats removed, it's still a 4-seater with a ton of room for stuff - I have people rent the plane from me who carry full size bicycles with the rear seats out.
The book says 151 kts cruise, but I see closer to 140 on a typical trip.
For that matter a Caravan would be nice too! Admittedly, a Cherokee six is probably as practical as a six place plane gets, but between insurance and fuel, that's a pretty big class jump.
