Vulcanair Vr (P68R)
You might not be familiar with the name Vulcanair, but you should be. The company builds some great performing and great handling airplanes that you might remember from when they were built by Partenavia. The top of Vulcanair’s piston lineup is the Vr, a retractable-gear, all-metal, six-seat twin with fuel-injected 200-hp Lycoming engines. The plane looks a lot like a slightly scaled down version of the Aero Commander and it has many of those same qualities, rugged build quality, competitive performance, great visibility (with its high wing configuration), and a comfortable cabin. The new Vulcanair also has late-model avionics: the all-digital Garmin G950 avionics suite with the STEC 55X autopilot. Performance wise, the P68R ain’t no slouch. It can cruise at 170 knots, land and take off in less than 1,000 feet and, with a useful load of nearly 1,400 pounds and a full-fuel payload of 521 pounds, operators can configure the plane to do shorter trips with the seats full or flights of up to 966 nm with four aboard.
Niche: Transportation
Base Price: $985,000
Competitors: Beechcraft G58 Baron, Piper Seneca V, Diamond DA62
Learn more at Vulcanair.