Where's a good place to see airplane prices?

[Frank N. O.]

I was wondering, is there a good site out there to give a picture of what used airplane's cost, maybe also a Blue Book site?

And how does the following planes compare in performance, equipment and price? (max 30 years old, and I'm not really knowledgable about Pipers so maybe I named the wrong models).
Cessna 172
Cessna 177RG
Cessna 182
Piper Arrow
Piper Cherokee
Rockwell Aero Commander 112/114

Frank

[Turbomallard]

Try www.aso.com. Trade a Plane is available online, but one must be a subscriber to their publication (which is cheap). For experimentals (though they have production aircraft as well) see www.barnstormers.com If you're an AOPA member, you can use the Vref section of their web site... it'll give you a blue book type of number.

TM

[Inept]

It won't give you a "blue book" sort of value, but www.aerotrader.com will give you an idea of what types of aircraft are selling for.   

Your Piper models are correct, btw.   You way want to look for Piper Warrior as well... another variant in the PA-28 line, like the Cherokee.

[Frank N. O.]

I see names have changed a bit, for instance it appears that the old straight-tail Skylane was called Skylark, and the 172RG was called the Cutlass.
Another observation: http://adcache.aerotraderonline.com/2/6/5/83302165.htm
It says 2004 but that panel-picture looks at least 30 years old (before the Basic Six) if it's even a 182, it could be more like a 150/152 perhaps.

Here are some nice looking planes so far:
74 Cardinal like the one I flew in but a US-made B-model (fixed gear) http://adcache.aerotraderonline.com/2/0/3/83318803.htm
Looks so clean and bright, and blue and red stripes remind me of a Thunderbird F16, the Super Tomcat and a special P-38 Lightning I've seen (I think it's one used as an avatar by Sleek).
75 Commander 112, man they do seem to have a lot more elbow-room than others although the cabins are smaller in width than even small european cars.
http://adcache.aerotraderonline.com/2/7/1/80060871.htm
But a big price-jump to this 76 114 Gran Turismo, I gotta try and check out the difference between the two to figure out why the price is so different.
http://adcache.aerotraderonline.com/2/9/6/79913196.htm

Ok I'll take a look again at Airliners.net to get some aircraft data to see the differences between the models.

Frank

[Frank N. O.]

Now I see it, the 112 is a 4-cylinder and the 114 is a six, and that 114 was refurbished to high std.

I can see that most planes are relatively similar in size and weight although there were some differences in range but of course that also depends on the tank-volume.

I was surprised to see there was a super high-power version made of one of the smaller Piper's, 400hp that's kind of wild. That would need some careful handling especially when changing the power-level wouldn't it?

Are there big differences between these planes in terms of frame-strength (stress-limit), rust-proofing, sound-proofing etc?

Frank

[Gulfstream Driver]

All of the airplanes you've listed fall into the normal category, which means they will take +3.8 G's and -1.52 G's (a G being 1xforce of gravity).  The 172, the Cherokee, and the Warrior will also fall into the utility category if you get them light enough.  That means they'll take +4.4 and -1.76 G's and will be certified for spins.  I don't know anything about the Aero Commander, but it looks pretty big.  I'm sure that would only be a normal category aircraft.

With any plane that you buy, you want to have a pre-buy inspection done by a mechanic that you trust.  That should catch any corrorsion, etc. 

I think all of those planes are going to be pretty noisy.  That's why we wear headseats.   

[Frank N. O.]

Thank you for the information, you really seem to know about every corner of aviation 

How safe is it to fly in various conditions in those planes with those g-limits? I saw a video of a Panavia I think it was (small high-wing twin) where the wings broke off at an airshow after making several manouvres that were described as having been done with the yoke pulled all the way out, the guys wife was he announcer there

I was googling and found a thread at another aviation forum about someone wanting to get a larger RG plane than the 172 he had now and they mentioned the 177, 182, Money Mark 20+21, Debonair and Commander 112/114 as good RG aircraft but mentioned that the V-Tail Bonanza the guy mentioned was a bad idea unless one had more than 300 hours since the plane was prone to easily overspeed when diving (this is why I'd like speed brakes and/or spoilers on a plane). I also took a look at the other planes but they look ultra-narrow in the cockpit, especially the Beech. I measure about 55 cm (about 21.7 inches) from shoulder to shoulder, with the arms pressed against my sides, and I know the Commander 112 cabin is 118cm and that's said to be wider than other planes in it's class. It doesn't look like I got much to choose from if I'm to be able to fly it.

Frank

[Gulfstream Driver]

Thank you for the information, you really seem to know about every corner of aviation 

I don't know about that, but thanks for the kudos.   

If the airplanes weren't safe, they wouldn't be certified.  It's up to the pilot to determine if the conditions are safe for normal and maneuvering flight.  As long as you're below V_A, you will always stall before you come apart if you throw in full control inputs.  You can fly in the yellow arc on the airspeed indicator, but only in smooth air, and if it's really bumpy, you should slow down to V_A (which changes with weight, remember).  If that Panavia came apart, it's most likely that the pilot did something wrong, not because the airplane was unsafe.

Personally, I loved the Piper Arrow for a retrac.  They also make the Lance and the Saratoga, and if you have a lot of bucks to spend, you can get a Malibu Mirage or Malibu Meridian.  Yay, Piper!   

[spacer]

Maybe you could check the 'for sale' sign in the windscreen?
 
I usually peruse Trade a Plane or Barnstormers, though it's just window shopping to me.
gotta keep my eyes on the prize comin' together in the garage!