Plane & Pilot 2021 Buyer‘s Guide: Single-Engine Piston Planes

Newcomers, upgrades, and old favorites: 20 piston singles for 2017.

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The market for piston singles offers a diverse range of aircraft, from newly updated models and all-new Part 23-certificated designs, encompassing everything from 120-knot taildraggers to pressurized six-place screamers.
  • Modern piston singles are characterized by significant advancements in avionics, with many featuring sophisticated Garmin G1000 NXi or G3000 touch-controlled suites that enhance safety and user experience.
  • The Cirrus SR22 G6 remains the best-selling piston single, known for its updated avionics and whole-airplane parachute, while competitors like the Piper M350, Cessna TTx, and Mooney Acclaim Ultra offer specialized features such as pressurization, higher speeds, or improved cabin comfort.
  • Enduring classic models, including the Beechcraft G36 Bonanza, Piper Archer, and Cessna 182 Skylane, continue to be produced and updated, balancing their proven reliability with modern technology for various personal and training niches.
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Mooney M20 Ovation
Mooney M20 Ovation

Mooney M20 Ovation

The other Mooney reemerging in the company’s lineup is the Ovation Ultra, with the same high-end treatment as the Acclaim Ultra, which will give the Ovation an extra door, improved visibility and far better passenger comfort. The Garmin G1000-equipped Ovation is powered by a 310 hp, naturally aspirated engine that’s more powerful than the turbocharged engine in the Acclaim, which makes use of just 280 hp to reach its top speed of better than 240 knots. The Ovation is really fast itself, the fastest normally aspirated production piston single at 198 knots. It’s a great climber, too, 1300 fpm, and with long-range fuel of 100 gallons, it has a maximum range of better than 1800 nm, or around 1400 nm at more typical power settings. With performance like that, the Ovation, the Ultra model, with two doors, big windows and greatly enhanced interior, will be a formidable competitor even against some turbocharged models.

Niche: Premium retractable-gear

Base Price: $689,000

Competitors: Cirrus SR22 Cessna TTx, Piper Matrix

Mooney M20 Ovation Specifications

Learn more at Mooney.

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