I flew a Cherokee Six for 10 years. Nearly 5000hrs in it. Besides a few bad mags, elec fuel pump failure, spark plugs, and one cracked cylinder. It never let me down. I literally flew a few thousands people and thousands of loads of cargo in it. Amazing plane.
My partner and I had one for about ten years. No major problems and once I got the landing speeds down it was a great plane. My partner was big on Young eagles so every fly in we went to he would spend the day flying as many kids as he could. He passed a couple of years ago but I was able to fly with his son last year.
Hardest part of transition into a 6 for me was also learning how to land the flying brick! That's a great story thanks for sharing. I can't imagine what a great legacy he left.
We have been through a number of family haulers over the years. Mooney, C-182, C-210, now we are in a PA-46 Malibu. Every upgrade so we can haul more stuff and make the wife and dog more comfortable. All in the name of making family memories.
I'm so envious. My wife's view is it's too expensive. Take Southwest. I'm jealous you have the time too! Between work and my children's sports I won't even log 20 hrs this year. Blue skies my friend! Live the dream!
I live near Indianapolis and am in the middle of working on my PPL. Your channel is exactly why I'm getting my PPL with further plans to own a plane and take my own family on get-a-ways. I've used your videos as examples to my wife to try and help alleviate her fear of flying in a small plane. Keep up the great work.
That is awesome to hear, keep up the hard work, it's worth it. After 12 yrs my wife is still scared but with over 500 accident free hrs in 6ZeroAlpha, hopefully she's got some confidence in the bird & pilot by now!? Thanks for watching & the kind words.
Thank you for allowing me to vicariously experience flying a Cherokee Six! I learned how to fly in a Cherokee 140 while in college and also flew a 160 and 180. I was fascinated by the Cherokee Six, but never had the opportunity to fly one. Alas, I was not able to continue flying because I never made enough money. I still carry my pilot’s license in my wallet. Someday, I might find a way to fly a Cherokee Six with an instructor. I also enjoyed the views of St.Louis. Many of my college friends were from there. (I went to Mizzou.) I flew a couple of friends to St.Louis for fun. We landed at a small airport, the name of which I forgot. As part of my flight training, I flew into Lambert Field at night with my instructor. Thanks for bringing back these great memories! I do have a question, though: flying a private plane is a great way to go places faster than in a car. However, there’s the risk of being “socked in.” Certain weather conditions can ground even a proficient IFR-rated pilot. Anyway, thanks again for sharing your experience.
thanks for stopping by and the nice comments! Yes, even with an IFR rating, I have had to cancel a few flights due weather because it was below my personal minimums at the destination. One of our videos ("ICING") details a trip that was extended by a day because it became unsafe to continue and we had to spend an unplanned night in Smyrna TN. You just roll with it and plan contingencies when the forecast isn't ideal.
That is my home airspace, I teach out of all those airfields and do the Arch Tour a lot. I have been on the fence between the -6 and a Lance based on our families needs and the more I research and hear from other pilots we are leaning more towards the -6. Great videos as always. Let me know if your i nthe area again.
That's cool to hear! Done the CSX arrival so many years, decided to shake it up this time and got some great views. Lance is a great plane but not faster enough to justify the 30% increase in fixed operating costs IMO. Thanks for the nice comments, I'll keep making videos if you keep watching - Fly safe!
I've owned a couple 2 seat tail draggers, recently sold the last one... For the next aircraft I'll save up to get my long term plane which I want to comfortably carry 4 people and baggage for these types of flights. A Cherokee Six 300, Lance or Turbo Lance, or C206/210's all seem to be in the running for that kind of mission with solid IFR capabilities.
I'm a Piper guy any of those are solid choices for your mission IMO! I've been in 206's and 210's, also great planes but a little harder to get in and out of for the rear passengers. I also found them to be more expensive, on average, than a comparable Piper but that may have changed over the past 14 yrs since I was in the hunt. good luck.
The pa32-300 is a great aircraft. Just keep an eye on your weight and balance and air density. Very comfortable aircraft to fly. Great presentation. Looking forward to more
thanks for stopping by and your nice words. yes, we always do a thorough w&b because we are usually near MGW and the aft CG will get you if not paying attention. more content coming soon, stay tuned!
Thanks 👍 Make her watch the video! It took my wife some convincing but she has been a loyal trooper even if she still isn't fond of small planes. You may have to offer your wife something she really wants too for the deal to happen, like a pick up truck. Ask ask me how I know?
That "plush velour interior designed by Audi" was a Piper selling point back in the day. It still looks to be in good shape. I always thought the velour absorbed some of the in-cabin noise, a moot point when noise cancelling headsets were introduced. Excellent video!
lol, I didn't know the Audi connection, thanks for sharing. it is certainly nicer to your legs than leather in the summertime. I'd say it's a 5/10, showing it's age particularly around the windows, but as I said in the video, I don't care. Having a solid / safe airplane is more important than looks for us. thx for stopping by and the nice comment, fly safe!
ahh yes Logan College, otherwise know as "there's dead bodies in there" neighborhood lore when I was a kid. we had many a double-dog-dare-you to walk up the hill at night and peak in the windows. thx for watching!!
First time watching, I’m from Missouri. It was cool seeing familiar sights. Soon I’ll be looking to get my license and just punch some holes in the sky. Nice video, loved the music!!!!!
thanks for stopping by and the kind words. Go for it, best investment you can make is in yourself, and the memories you will make with it will be awesome - cheers!
Awesome video. First time watching. Definitely in my bucketlist to own a plane. Nothing like family time in your own airplane. Thanks for the price breakdown on your plane as well. Love to see your son helping with the cam, mom and daughter enjoying the ride, and moms reaction on landing 😂 Keep it up. New subscriber here.
Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, it was surreal reliving 10 years of my childhood collected at every one of those places in 10 mins from above with my own children making new memories!
Great video! I love to see down to earth people flying with their family. I love your humor! Fu** that sh** in the video made me laugh pretty hard. Keep it up!
Thanks! It's a great HP starter that has a lot of benefits. It took me 5 yrs to convince the wife and she still has trepidation because of the 'small plane' vibe. We test drove a few 6 places and the Cherokee has the most shoulder & leg room, minimizes the small plane vibe to the max, two doors, easy in & out, and room to spread our if just 4-5 of you on a 4-5 hr leg.
Awesome Video!!! Beautiful Family and an extremely informative breakdown, related to your specific cost analysis. I really liked how you highlighted all of the various landmarks and stated, “You don’t get views like this on the highway.” Can you do submit a video of how you completed your certifications when obtaining your license. Thanks Sir!!!
Glad you enjoyed it! great idea, problem is I don't have any GP footage from most of my training, it was done before GP was invented (yes I'm old). It would be a lot of still pix and gratuitous use of "ken burns pan & zoom" + a lot of voice overs of me to create the narrative. not exactly exciting exciting stuff for YT, would you wanna watch that? let me think on it to come up with something a bit more exciting, thx for the suggestion.
I'm looking at something with a similar useful load for family missions. What is the general price range I should expect for a plane like yours? I'd like one with similar avionics as yours, and upgrade that as I go.
not really an issue once you figure it out. Follow the POH and don't cheat on your first couple of W&B calcs because a fully loaded six handles much differently than in your training flights with only you and the instructor aboard. The the six likes to be loaded and is more forgiving aft so always fill up rear baggage and rear 2 seats first. At MGW and full of fuel you might not be able to put much in the nose due to the higher forward CG limit. I loaded our current W&B into Foreflight and have played with it enough to know how to load everything for most flights.
Great question! The Cherokee six platform was built to haul a ton (almost!), but it depends on model & Useful Load stated in your W&B. Older models typically have a higher UL in the +1400 lbs range, but 6 adults is a stretch for any 6-place GA plane. You are going to sacrifice most of your gas to UL limiting your range 2 hrs max. Add bags to that and the problem compounds. In our video, 3 of the 5 weighed way less than the 180lb avg adult so we had more room for gas but still had to stop.
How about OH cost? if the a/c had 500 hrs left on the engine, and OH cost (say) 50k, you need to add extra $100/hr to come up with 50k by the OH time...and then add 100 hourly and other little hidden costs.
as we said in the video, the engine had about 6600 hrs TTSN, and the base cost for the overhaul was $60k. It was very likely many very expensive components would have needed to have been replaced driving the actual OH cost up likely into the $75k-80k range, and you still have an engine with 6600 hrs TTSN. We opted to just do everything now to minimize labor costs in the end +significantly increase the value of the airplane.
Thx for the watching, glad you enjoy the visual parts. I do my best to select from the copyright-free music tracks that fit the mood of the scene/video. Nevertheless, always controversial no matter what! Would you prefer no music all? Would you watch a ~15 min video that has long gaps of silence vs being filled with music? thx for the feedback.
yeah it's a rough life back there a sprawled out, tons of leg room, getting a head massage from mom! actually they both hate to fly, doubly so in a small plane, hence the 6 place and club seating for a family of 4.
partially just habit from all my training over the years including retract time ("GUMPS" check), also reference for proper flaps setting for a fixed gear plane
I flew a Cherokee Six for 10 years. Nearly 5000hrs in it. Besides a few bad mags, elec fuel pump failure, spark plugs, and one cracked cylinder. It never let me down. I literally flew a few thousands people and thousands of loads of cargo in it. Amazing plane.
that is awesome! thx for stopping by and sharing. Other than our recent engine troubles, she's be very reliable for us, great airframe.
My partner and I had one for about ten years. No major problems and once I got the landing speeds down it was a great plane. My partner was big on Young eagles so every fly in we went to he would spend the day flying as many kids as he could. He passed a couple of years ago but I was able to fly with his son last year.
Hardest part of transition into a 6 for me was also learning how to land the flying brick! That's a great story thanks for sharing. I can't imagine what a great legacy he left.
We have been through a number of family haulers over the years. Mooney, C-182, C-210, now we are in a PA-46 Malibu. Every upgrade so we can haul more stuff and make the wife and dog more comfortable. All in the name of making family memories.
PA-46!! Now you are talking. thx for stopping by #bucketlist
I did the same now I’m in 1986 Malibu completely restored. Great airplane.
How nice your planes grew with your family. I’m at the beginning of the spectrum :)
I'm so envious. My wife's view is it's too expensive. Take Southwest.
I'm jealous you have the time too! Between work and my children's sports I won't even log 20 hrs this year.
Blue skies my friend! Live the dream!
This makes my heart smile. Even if it costs a little bit more than the minivan would, it’s so worth it!
no argument here! thx for stopping by
I live near Indianapolis and am in the middle of working on my PPL. Your channel is exactly why I'm getting my PPL with further plans to own a plane and take my own family on get-a-ways. I've used your videos as examples to my wife to try and help alleviate her fear of flying in a small plane. Keep up the great work.
That is awesome to hear, keep up the hard work, it's worth it. After 12 yrs my wife is still scared but with over 500 accident free hrs in 6ZeroAlpha, hopefully she's got some confidence in the bird & pilot by now!? Thanks for watching & the kind words.
I’m in beech grove working on my PPL as well I’m waiting on my check ride
Get your instrument rating as well before flying your family around. Way to many VFR private pilots killing themselves and their families.
Thank you for allowing me to vicariously experience flying a Cherokee Six! I learned how to fly in a Cherokee 140 while in college and also flew a 160 and 180. I was fascinated by the Cherokee Six, but never had the opportunity to fly one. Alas, I was not able to continue flying because I never made enough money. I still carry my pilot’s license in my wallet. Someday, I might find a way to fly a Cherokee Six with an instructor. I also enjoyed the views of St.Louis. Many of my college friends were from there. (I went to Mizzou.) I flew a couple of friends to St.Louis for fun. We landed at a small airport, the name of which I forgot. As part of my flight training, I flew into Lambert Field at night with my instructor. Thanks for bringing back these great memories! I do have a question, though: flying a private plane is a great way to go places faster than in a car. However, there’s the risk of being “socked in.” Certain weather conditions can ground even a proficient IFR-rated pilot. Anyway, thanks again for sharing your experience.
thanks for stopping by and the nice comments! Yes, even with an IFR rating, I have had to cancel a few flights due weather because it was below my personal minimums at the destination. One of our videos ("ICING") details a trip that was extended by a day because it became unsafe to continue and we had to spend an unplanned night in Smyrna TN. You just roll with it and plan contingencies when the forecast isn't ideal.
That is my home airspace, I teach out of all those airfields and do the Arch Tour a lot. I have been on the fence between the -6 and a Lance based on our families needs and the more I research and hear from other pilots we are leaning more towards the -6. Great videos as always. Let me know if your i nthe area again.
That's cool to hear! Done the CSX arrival so many years, decided to shake it up this time and got some great views. Lance is a great plane but not faster enough to justify the 30% increase in fixed operating costs IMO. Thanks for the nice comments, I'll keep making videos if you keep watching - Fly safe!
Great video edit buddy, you did life right
thank you!
Great video, Great adventure for the family and your wife did a great job of containing her excitement about being back on the ground...LOL
thank you! we've had a lot of fun, seen some amazing things, but she still is not a huge fan of "small planes"
Nice. Well put. I have a 79 also. It’s been an adventure
they are fun, memory-making machines for sure! fly safe
I've owned a couple 2 seat tail draggers, recently sold the last one... For the next aircraft I'll save up to get my long term plane which I want to comfortably carry 4 people and baggage for these types of flights. A Cherokee Six 300, Lance or Turbo Lance, or C206/210's all seem to be in the running for that kind of mission with solid IFR capabilities.
I'm a Piper guy any of those are solid choices for your mission IMO! I've been in 206's and 210's, also great planes but a little harder to get in and out of for the rear passengers. I also found them to be more expensive, on average, than a comparable Piper but that may have changed over the past 14 yrs since I was in the hunt. good luck.
This inspirers me to work harder on my license, keep at it my family and I love your content
thanks for the support & kind words. never give up on your dreams, persistence is the key. fly safe.
The pa32-300 is a great aircraft. Just keep an eye on your weight and balance and air density. Very comfortable aircraft to fly. Great presentation. Looking forward to more
thanks for stopping by and your nice words. yes, we always do a thorough w&b because we are usually near MGW and the aft CG will get you if not paying attention. more content coming soon, stay tuned!
Good times! Welcome HOME for a bit. Now to convince my wife that we need a Cherokee 6. If it works....... I owe ya! Cheers.
Thanks 👍 Make her watch the video! It took my wife some convincing but she has been a loyal trooper even if she still isn't fond of small planes. You may have to offer your wife something she really wants too for the deal to happen, like a pick up truck. Ask ask me how I know?
I'm very impressed with your journey .I promise to one furniture, yes that is great adventure.
Awesome! Thank you!
It’s truly a time machine. God bless.
thanks for stopping by!
That "plush velour interior designed by Audi" was a Piper selling point back in the day. It still looks to be in good shape. I always thought the velour absorbed some of the in-cabin noise, a moot point when noise cancelling headsets were introduced. Excellent video!
lol, I didn't know the Audi connection, thanks for sharing. it is certainly nicer to your legs than leather in the summertime. I'd say it's a 5/10, showing it's age particularly around the windows, but as I said in the video, I don't care. Having a solid / safe airplane is more important than looks for us. thx for stopping by and the nice comment, fly safe!
Love the PA32 - 300 Piper Cherokee six and it’s useful load carrying because I have a family of six people
sounds liek you have the right airplane for your mission, thx for stopping by.
Went to chiropractic school in Chesterfield and looking to start getting my PPL now down in GA… was neat to see so many familiar places
ahh yes Logan College, otherwise know as "there's dead bodies in there" neighborhood lore when I was a kid. we had many a double-dog-dare-you to walk up the hill at night and peak in the windows. thx for watching!!
First time watching, I’m from Missouri. It was cool seeing familiar sights. Soon I’ll be looking to get my license and just punch some holes in the sky. Nice video, loved the music!!!!!
thanks for stopping by and the kind words. Go for it, best investment you can make is in yourself, and the memories you will make with it will be awesome - cheers!
Awesome video. First time watching. Definitely in my bucketlist to own a plane. Nothing like family time in your own airplane.
Thanks for the price breakdown on your plane as well.
Love to see your son helping with the cam, mom and daughter enjoying the ride, and moms reaction on landing 😂
Keep it up. New subscriber here.
thank you, welcome aboard!
Great story. Congrats
Thanks for stopping by!
We live in Louisiana! And we fly a PA32 Lance hope y’all had a fun time in New Orleans did yall get any beignets lol
we had a blast and just talked about going back! too many, w&b coming home was a challenge.
@@6ZeroAlpha yeah did yall fly into lakefront
Love the story! Different angle to look at the city you travel. Super cool.
Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, it was surreal reliving 10 years of my childhood collected at every one of those places in 10 mins from above with my own children making new memories!
Great video! I love to see down to earth people flying with their family. I love your humor! Fu** that sh** in the video made me laugh pretty hard. Keep it up!
Insider - we used to be on that highway in our minivan pre-6ZeroAlpha. Glad you enjoyed it, thx for stopping by
nice video! Friendly Skies! Jason
thanks!
Let me know the next time you are in the Lou! I am based out of KCPS Great looking plane and great video!
Thanks, we love it and baby it. The PA-32 East Coast fly-in this summer is at KSUS, come on out.
@@6ZeroAlpha I might just have to!
Great video, wonderful family
You are so kind, yes they are!
Great video! Loved the commentary and the view!
Glad you enjoyed it!
The Cherokee six w/300 hp is the perfect and highly reliable choice as a single engine heavy hauler!
I would agree 1000000%
Nice landing, i currently rent a Cherokee six, great airplane. Trying to convince the wife that we should have our own plane too. 😊
Thanks! It's a great HP starter that has a lot of benefits. It took me 5 yrs to convince the wife and she still has trepidation because of the 'small plane' vibe. We test drove a few 6 places and the Cherokee has the most shoulder & leg room, minimizes the small plane vibe to the max, two doors, easy in & out, and room to spread our if just 4-5 of you on a 4-5 hr leg.
I'd love to see your plane if you're ever near southern Michigan. Looking to upgrade from my 172.
sounds good!
Awesome Video!!! Beautiful Family and an extremely informative breakdown, related to your specific cost analysis. I really liked how you highlighted all of the various landmarks and stated, “You don’t get views like this on the highway.”
Can you do submit a video of how you completed your certifications when obtaining your license.
Thanks Sir!!!
Glad you enjoyed it! great idea, problem is I don't have any GP footage from most of my training, it was done before GP was invented (yes I'm old). It would be a lot of still pix and gratuitous use of "ken burns pan & zoom" + a lot of voice overs of me to create the narrative. not exactly exciting exciting stuff for YT, would you wanna watch that? let me think on it to come up with something a bit more exciting, thx for the suggestion.
This was dope
thanks!!
like the video n plane also
thanks for stopping by, we're getting back to that real soon, stay tuned!
Great video. I lived in Warsaw and Flora IL. I know that drive. Don't blame you. How does the Cherokee do in cold weather?
thanks! just fine with a good preheat in the hangar, and climbs better, burns less fuel and gets a little better true airspeed in the cold air!
I'm looking at something with a similar useful load for family missions. What is the general price range I should expect for a plane like yours? I'd like one with similar avionics as yours, and upgrade that as I go.
Depends, but I have seen a few recently for sale $150-175k asking price, doesn't mean that's what's actually being paid in a sale.
love it!
thanks for stopping by an the nice comment
How tricky is the weight and balance and seating people as well as baggage?
not really an issue once you figure it out. Follow the POH and don't cheat on your first couple of W&B calcs because a fully loaded six handles much differently than in your training flights with only you and the instructor aboard. The the six likes to be loaded and is more forgiving aft so always fill up rear baggage and rear 2 seats first. At MGW and full of fuel you might not be able to put much in the nose due to the higher forward CG limit. I loaded our current W&B into Foreflight and have played with it enough to know how to load everything for most flights.
Hi grear channel, please rebuild the engine asap.
thx! Ha - yeas I agree, will be an engine update soon, and "it's not good"!
Can the Cherokee 6 handle 6 adults and bags or would you have to ditch bags for 6 adults?
Great question! The Cherokee six platform was built to haul a ton (almost!), but it depends on model & Useful Load stated in your W&B. Older models typically have a higher UL in the +1400 lbs range, but 6 adults is a stretch for any 6-place GA plane. You are going to sacrifice most of your gas to UL limiting your range 2 hrs max. Add bags to that and the problem compounds. In our video, 3 of the 5 weighed way less than the 180lb avg adult so we had more room for gas but still had to stop.
At some point will you downsize to something smaller and faster?
likely, although a pressurized would be nice, not many 4 place options for those
How about OH cost? if the a/c had 500 hrs left on the engine, and OH cost (say) 50k, you need to add extra $100/hr to come up with 50k by the OH time...and then add 100 hourly and other little hidden costs.
as we said in the video, the engine had about 6600 hrs TTSN, and the base cost for the overhaul was $60k. It was very likely many very expensive components would have needed to have been replaced driving the actual OH cost up likely into the $75k-80k range, and you still have an engine with 6600 hrs TTSN. We opted to just do everything now to minimize labor costs in the end +significantly increase the value of the airplane.
How are you doing ! Beautiful video, any chance we could chat privately. Am a bush pilot in Botswana with a commercial pilots licence 😊
thank you
Of driving THAAAAT!
?
@@6ZeroAlpha sounds emphatic
I would have flown it under the arch
ha! some have, and some went to jail!
love the videos hate the bed music
Thx for the watching, glad you enjoy the visual parts. I do my best to select from the copyright-free music tracks that fit the mood of the scene/video. Nevertheless, always controversial no matter what! Would you prefer no music all? Would you watch a ~15 min video that has long gaps of silence vs being filled with music? thx for the feedback.
I like the music - tidings of comfort and joy...
Tommy Emmanuel?
dave....is that you?
family don"t look to happy
yeah it's a rough life back there a sprawled out, tons of leg room, getting a head massage from mom! actually they both hate to fly, doubly so in a small plane, hence the 6 place and club seating for a family of 4.
@@6ZeroAlpha I was thinking that it's nice to know my kids aren't the only ones 😂
Eh the kids never really appreciate anything until they are older and looking back
Is there a reason you call under carriage during your check list on your fixed gear airplane ?
partially just habit from all my training over the years including retract time ("GUMPS" check), also reference for proper flaps setting for a fixed gear plane