[roeme]

> They are also dirt cheap to buy ($20 - 30K) but they burn A LOT of fuel.

She does. However, given a well-maintained engine, and 10 to 12 passengers, cars are easily rivaled, and given favourable conditions, even undercut. We did the math, briefly said, the plane has a higher cruise speed, and can fly in a straight line between destination, etc. pp.

> I'd always day-dreamed about getting one but I can't imagine it's practical.

Well...I co-own one with some other crazy blokes. While a 3.5-ton dry mass can't be put into the bike rack in front of your house, it hardly affects your daily life. I.e. she's next-to-none more inconvenient than owning a small Cessna or the like.

Edit: Judging from your user name, there's a different story though. From what I've heard, the U.S./FAA doesn't really like this soviet plane, and you've got some artificial prohibitive rules on it (compared to Europe).

[TylerE]

Basically, you can own and fly one, but can't do anything commercial, even sky diving ops or banner towing.