Six-Seated SEP club aircraft?

I second the OP’s point that sometimes, a 172 is restrictive for making a “social” event for young (single ) adults.
I only plan for 3 POB for more than local trips, and that is definitely to few to attract people.
Hiking, train or boating trips are definitely more prone to socialize.

And there you’re back at dreaming of a Bo

Rational POV : even a 172 is not too cheap, a 182 very expensive, so a Bo, forget it

But jujupilote, the OP was talking a about a club aircraft. Clubs tend to have much more financial resources, putting a used Bonanza in financial reach.

Not sure about the clubs you know or are a member of. The ones that I have some insights in are just geting by… and/or not daring to ask for higher fees lest members quit – which would exascerbate the problem…
Been in more than one discussion about selling one plane, because it had not seen enough use over 12 or 24 months.

One of the few a/c that can do what you want is a C210. I’m lucky to be in a club that has one (I joined because of it), but there aren’t many clubs around that operate them.

@ch.ess
Admittedly my sample number of clubs where I have greater insight into their resources is 1. It was a club in a poorer part of NW Germany and they bought a new Aquila A210 (200k€) to replace the (still decent) 2010 one during my training (2016). I’ve heard they consider buying another one because of the heavy usage. They also own a 70s C172 and an SR20.

CharlieRomeo wrote:

Another point came to my mind, unfortunately it’s one against a larger aircraft.
A lot of our elderly (and some younger ones, too) have recently downgraded to LAPL because it’s easier to keep alive.

They are not the ones who would want to fly a larger SEP anyway, but I’m afraid they might be against such an aircraft nevertheless.

They can still fly it on the LAPL as long as they don’t take more than three pax. Most four-seaters won’t do that (for any reasonable amount of fuel and luggage), so they could have use for a PA32 anyway.

While the 206/210 are very fine it may be useful for passengers to compare the third row seating of the PA32 with a 206? The carburettor PA-32-260 may even enjoy a Mogas STC making it about the cheapest to operate. It also has a better useful load than the -300. As long as you don’t plan to fly above FL80 I understand they are an honest six place 125KTAS tourer. A lot of charter operators used the PA32, although the 206 was tougher in the bush – the 208 came along.

The club that owns an Elixir told me they sold their only 4-seater (a 172) because it did on average 7 flights per year with 4 POB.
They now only have 2 and 3-seaters (Elixir and APM20/30), 100% rotax and burning only mogas.
Some complained but the club flight hours stayed the same.

To me, it looks like the future of clubs instead of six-seaters

I have many friends with two or more children, and have repeatedly been asked if I could carry families of four or five in my plane. A six seater would certainly come in handy for that, especially as three adults and three Kindergarten age children should not bust MTOW usually.

We are also part of a group of friends who spent a yearly holiday week together, typically with between six and eight families. This year we were 24. I have also been asked several times if I could charter (and fly) a plane big enough to carry all of us…