ok good advice gents, i will look into owning 1/4 in something decent :)
You won't get a properly IFR capable (meaning Eurocontrol i.e. high altitude IFR) plane for £30k. Sure you can hack around at FL100 in a PA28-161 (I did my FAA IR in that in Arizona) but in Europe, most of the year, you will just be collecting ice much of the time, and flying long winded routings. Loads of IFR flights need FL140 to get up on top of the muck, enroute.
If your budget is £30k and you want decent IFR capability then you need to look at a syndicate, and while some work brilliantly the pattern tends to be one of problems, because (in the UK especially) most people want something for nothing. You need to find several people with compatible objectives and enough money to just get on with it.
I'd agree a TB20 would be even more desirable, though your probably not going to more than 1/8 share for £30k (just a guess).
My TB20GT would go for about £150k, so not so bad.
However shares are priced at more than the value divided by the # of shareholders. Why? Apparently because a share is more affordable than the whole 
It's a bit like 1000 sq ft business premises cost far more per sq ft than 5000 sq ft premises, even if the actual setup is just one big floor with dividers.
take your flight training, get your license, rent a few aircraft, start reading pilot magazines and slowly arrive at a conclusion on what you want.
I don't agree
The problem, I found, is that the whole flight training scene
The pilot mags are handly better, because they have to play for the main market which is the £30k hardware and below, plus a lot of "traditional" flying.
If going places, the best way to progress one's flying is to collect the bits of paper and get out of the flight school scene ASAP, and hang out with experienced pilots.
and the yearly cost alone will be 20-30k.
If you buy something not too old, that figure would include a LOT of flying.
Which aircraft have you flown so far?
I agree very much with achimha: don't be in a hurry if you're only just coming up to your PPL. Rent a few aircraft first, do different kinds of flying, then see. You might get a taste for a taildragger, or maybe some aeros...:)
Happy landings, Jojo
You've got a lot of good advice above.
I will differ a little with recommendations for legacy PA-28's. They are fine planes, however, I have been a first hand witness several times to Piper completely abdicating their moral duty to provide parts.When I once personally inquired of Piper Tech, I was told: "Sir, that's a 40 year old plane and we [Piper] have not seen it in 40 years, and we really don't want it flying". That's enough to make me really worry about parts support for the future of legacy Piper aircraft.
Cessnas are by no means perfect for parts either, but there are many less specialized parts (extrusions) in their designs. You have a much better chance of making a folded sheet metal part for a Cessna, than A Piper PA-28.
I agree generally about buying into a group rather than outright - but I also agree about getting away from renting as soon as possible. Most flying school aeroplanes are abused, poorly maintained, and the school won't let you rent it for more than a few hours at a time. Apart from the obvious financial benefits, the other big advantage of being in a group, especially early in your flying career is that you are surrounding yourself with people who already know quite a lot about aircraft ownership, so you can learn from them.
(I've owned outright and in groups - for the time being, I've given up sole ownership - it's too much cost and aggro that I can't share). Large groups are great, because the fixed costss get much smaller but you'll find that the majority of members never fly it.
Regarding types, the bigger engine/tank PA28s are good touring aeroplanes, as are the newer C172 and most C182 aircraft - I prefer the handling and payload of the 182. However, for your spec, and looking for something reasonably inexpensive, I'd look hard at the Grumman AA5b Tiger, which has ~600nm range, good payload, and adequate performance for most purposes. Most AA5s you're likely to find second hand in the UK are ex school aeroplanes, so usually have a good instrument fit that will take you into instrument flying. An ex-Cabair AA5 that's been well looked after in private ownership for a few years can be a good buy, and surprisingly cheap for what you get.
But do get a good panel mounted GPS put in (then don't rely upon it too much).
G
Hi Nate,
unfortunateley there are NO 4 seaters in ths category. You will find many aircraft in the 4 seats category but be sure that none of the lighter ones are real "4 seaters". In the 150 to 180 hp category (Warrior, TB9/10, Archer, C-172) you MIGHT be able to fill 4 seats for shorter trips and/or in the winter time - and that has to do with experience as well, but in general I think it is valid to say that all of the a/c are great 2-3 seaters.
I learned to fly in my own 150 hp Piper PA-28-151 Cherokee Warrior, and I liked that airplane so much for it's simplicity and robustness that I decided to upgrade the avionics and NOT buy a more powerful plane with bad avionics. After 15 years I ended with a 39 year old Warrior with a full Garmin 430 stack, a 2 axis autopilot with GPSS and a nice fuel computer, and I do not regret taking that road. For the same money I could have bought an older Mooney, even a Bonanza but with OLD avionics and with 3 times the maintenance cost.
The Warrior took me me Spain, Sweden, to Crete, to Morocco. It flew slow (105 to 115 KTAS) but it also has a low fuel consumption (29-33 liter/h on average) and it will fly on autofuel without ANY modification (true for the 150 hp version only, the 160 hp DOES need some mods)
It took forever to climb on top to cross the Alps (and that was possible only with 2 people on board when the tanks were full) - but I didn't care. It is a VERY SAFE and easy to fly airplane, and oce you have developed a litte flying technique you can practically use EVERY airfield. I take mine to 350 m utralight fields, no problem.
Of course all this is valid for the Cessna 172 (even better on short fields due to the more efficient flaps), the TB9 or similar airplanes.
If you can find a 180 hp version of the PA-28 - that's even better. The Cherokee 180 (short fat wings) or the PA-28-181 "Archer" are both very good aircraft in this class. The TB10 also has 180 hp (same engine) and flies just aswell.
If you're looking for something faster: The "Tiger" (first built by Grumman) is my favourite. About 140 KTAS with 180 hp, and very nice handling
Before I got into the TB20 in 2002, I seriously looked at buying a reasonable condition PA28-181 (Archer) and doing it up for full IFR.
It would have cost maybe 40k+30k, back then.
I was renting a 181 for ~ 50hrs post-PPL.
Today's aircraft prices are lower, but quality still commands a good price. I think the Archer is still in production, though numbers sold are awfully low. In one recent year, 2011 I think, they sold about 15 worldwide.
One cannot buy a more advanced type of plane of that standard (mechanically good, and absolutely everything in terms of avionics and a full autopilot) for 70k. A good pre-GT TB20 on which everything works etc will be over 100k, though admittedly the capability is in another league.
The PA28-181 can do FL140 which is good for PPL/IR (Eurocontrol IFR) type of flying, including most Alps crossings where this kind of thing
is completely doable in the type.
You need oxygen for any practical IFR in Europe (many people disagree with that 
) but a portable oxygen kit is cheap. This is what I use (go to the Sept 2012 update at the end).
As Alexis says, there are no 4-seater 4-seaters The only plane that you can load 100% and full fuel is a 737 or above. Everything else is designed to offer a range v. load tradeoff, which is very useful. Unfortunately many people new to flying want to fly e.g. a family of 2 adults and 4 teenage kids and think a 6-seater will do it, but it won't unless you go for something big like a Cessna 421 and the operating costs of that are in a whole another league.
As Alexis says, there are no 4-seater 4-seaters The only plane that you can load 100% and full fuel is a 737 or above.
Aehm, there is exactly one: Cessna 182. Mine has 516kg of useful load, 7h of fuel take 240kg which means 276kg left for passengers and luggage which is 70kg per seat. With 4h of endurance it would be 95kg per seat. The fixed leg versions should have a few kg more useful load.
Welcome Alexis!
The PA28 and C172 are both safe alternatives in the basic category, but they are oh so boring. Add the single door of the Piper and the rubber band ailerons of the 172 and you're ready to move on before too long. Not worth buying one in my opinion, just get some time, save some cash and buy a decent airplane instead.
The C177RG or C182RG comes to mind.
