New Pilot looking at 337’s

[Flyingcoyote225]

Hi guys! I’ve been poking around the board for some time and I wanted to ask a few questions and maybe get some more recent answers to see if anyone’s opinions about things has changed.

I’m a student pilot currently with about 45 hours and I’m looking for my first plane. I’ve always wanted my pilots license since I was old enough to walk and it so happens my daughter is going to school at Northern Michigan this fall and my wife said “wouldn’t it be easier to fly up there?” And it got the whole ball rolling. The flight would be from KPTK Pontiac to KSAW Marquette, about 400 miles with a water crossing. Anyway, I’m training in a cirrus sr20 which is a great plane but the cirrus planes are ridiculously expensive even used they command 400k+, and I don't see the value in a used cirrus and definitely not in a new 1.2 million dollar one. Not what I want to spend on my first (maybe last) plane. My wife and I also want to start exploring the country in our off-season since the kids are now grown. We own an asphalt paving company so we get quite a bit of time off in the winters Someone recommended a Skymaster to me because they were relatively easy to fly and insanely capable planes, especially in the winter months if you find one with boots/hot prop.

So that’s where I found the board. I guess I wanted someone’s honest opinion on the plane and if anyone in Michigan had one they’d be willing to show me an my wife and maybe a ride? I know it’s a retractable and a twin with all the increases expense there and that’s not an issue. Does the plane handle well? Is it easy enough to fly for a low hour pilot? Is there anything you see wrong with the mission fit? Is there any CFI’s around in Michigan? Are parts hard to come by?

We found a plane were really interested in but it’s in Colorado so we were trying to see if anyone was closer by to dig into the plane a bit deeper prior to heading out to Colorado. I was also going to post the same questions on the board.

I fly out of KPTK.

Thanks again in advance!