In reply to:
As for the amazing achievements of Alan and Dale and the entire team at CD, all I can say is that I appreciate it all every time I fly my 'plane.
Mike: An excellent point! Based upon these stats, there are about 900 other happy Cirrus owners out there that would be very disappointed if they were still waiting for a Columbia.
This is not intended to bash the competition because I think the Lancairs are wonderful planes, and in some ways better than our beloved Cirrus, but there are many things at least as important as designing a great, groundbreaking plane and they include attracting the capital and building the means of production. In some ways, and I think Alan might agree, the designing of the plane was the easiest part! Until you have all three in place and working together, all you have is a dream.
And just putting those pieces together isn’t the entire story. There are the ancillary services such as customer service, communication and parts that all contribute, or detract, from our owner’s satisfaction. Cirrus isn’t perfect, and I have often complained about the areas that aren’t, but if we stop and look back only 4 years, there was no need for parts, warranty service or some of the other things that we now speak about. Pretty amazing job to build it all from square one.
When I look at the Lancair Pilots Board and see the complaints about slow deliveries, poor customer communication, and the few posts doubting the company’s future, I only need to think back about 3 years and realize that I, and many others here, were in the same boat, reading every post, word for word, from the few among us lucky to have an early “number,” searching for some vicarious flying pleasure. Now the folks, me included, who have the “antique” Cirruses drool over the posts from folks like Scot Prinz, Mike Murdock and Gordon Feingold who speak about their TKS & PFD equipped marvels.
Again, this is not to disparage the Lancairs, or their customers, as I think most of us are quite empathetic to their situation, but to highlight the achievements of all of those at Cirrus Design. Thanks for the great plane and 400 great flying hours.