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I live in Jammu and Kashmir, in an area with an average elevation of 4,500m / 14,700ft MSL . I would like to know what would be a good and cheap light aircraft to carry 3-4 people for a 3-4 hour flight in that location for heights upto 23000ft as mountains are at least this high? Runway length is 3700ft and asphalt. Budget is aroung $1 million to 1.5 preowned

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    $\begingroup$ Welcome to aviation.SE! Can you tell us where you are? 4500m is over 14,000ft, which is very high indeed. We usually don't answer 'shopping' questions on this site because they're very subjective and a lot depends on your personal situation. But if you focus on performance and other objective measures you might get a useful answer. $\endgroup$
    – Pondlife
    Commented May 5, 2017 at 18:33
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    $\begingroup$ @Pondlife edited questions with details $\endgroup$
    – murmansk
    Commented May 5, 2017 at 18:37
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    $\begingroup$ I reworded your question a little, I hope I identified your location correctly but if not you can simply edit again $\endgroup$
    – Pondlife
    Commented May 5, 2017 at 18:43
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    $\begingroup$ First of all, from many if not most people's standpoint, there is no such aircraft that qualifies as "cheap" (though I'm guessing in my American English you perhaps meant "inexpensive" because "good" and "cheap" don't really go to together), but that's a relative judgment; you may be wealthy. Next, to provide an intelligent opinion, one would need to know the runway lengths and surfaces you want to operate out of. Also, I'm guessing that avgas in your area might not be readily available. If so, you might want to limit your consideration to aircraft that can use Jet-A. $\endgroup$
    – Terry
    Commented May 5, 2017 at 18:53
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    $\begingroup$ Your Google Maps link doesn't point to any part of Jammu and Kashmir; it points to northern Himachal Pradesh. $\endgroup$
    – Vikki
    Commented Sep 22, 2019 at 0:56

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Yeah that location is going to present you with a lot of problems, most notably with density altitude and mountain flying. This is also going to depend on the airports and runway lengths available as well as obstacle clearance altitudes for the area in question. Most likely it's going to be a turbine powered aircraft which is pressurized for comfort and features good Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) characteristics and soft field operations.

This question will probably be put on hold shortly, primarily because it is opinion based, but I would recommend a Quest Kodiak or a Pilatus PC-6 for the role due to meeting most of that criteria minus being non-pressurized. You would just need to provide supplemental oxygen for the crew and passengers during the flight. Another aircraft which would be recommended is a Pilatus PC-12 or the soon to be released Cessna Denali as they meet all of these needs albeit is a bit larger and less capable as a STOL aircraft.

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  • $\begingroup$ The Maule might also work. mauleflight.com/faq/M7-260C.html $\endgroup$
    – JScarry
    Commented May 5, 2017 at 23:23
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    $\begingroup$ You would have to, at the least, have a turbocharged engine for operations at those altitudes. $\endgroup$
    – Romeo_4808N
    Commented May 5, 2017 at 23:47
  • $\begingroup$ I was going to suggest a PC-12 as well but that's on the high end of your budget at best. $\endgroup$
    – Pugz
    Commented Aug 6, 2017 at 2:08

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