Most of you know I have been on this
site since the beginning. I can not
believe the amount of traffic that
has developed on the site. Many people
are checking in and alot of them get
Cirrus paychecks. They are listening!
I ordered my plane 15 months ago and
never was able to get my demo ride.
Well, today was the day. The company
that I fly for happens to own a whole
lot of iron ore. We go to Hibbing and
Duluth several times a year. The guys
in the paint shop at Hibbing just smile
and open the door when they see me coming.
BTW number 47 was there today being buffed.
So I’m cruising in to Hibbing and Duluth
Approach Control was talking to Cirri all
over the place. Training in progress I
guess. Before I left Pittsburgh in my
trusty G-III, I called Bruce Gunter to see
if I could wangle that elusive demo ride.
He managed to have 205CD, the same plane
I had sat in so many months befor, brought
up for ride. Our G-IVSP also arrived in
Hibbing so we had several interested
pilots. We were all impressed. Me all over
again. After a too short 30 minutes and
one landing I was convinced that I had
done one of the smatrest things in my life
buying this airplane. As it sat there
between 60 million bucks worth of heavy
iron it really held it’s own. The avionics
in our SR20’s is in many ways comperable
to what we have in the brand new Gulfstream.
The SR20 flys like a dream. I really liked
the trim system. Being an ex fighter pilot
my thumb wants to move in all four directions.
It is so easy to trim. The side stick takes
no time to get used to. I mean no time. You
pull your left hand back ever so lightly and
you are aviating. It never enters your mind
after that. It will take the rest of my life
to learn all the displays and I’ve been
practicing. It is a little overwhelming and
I fly with dual FMS’s and autothrottles in
my day job. I have some neet pictures of
the SR20 sitting between our Gulfstreams that
I will get to Clyde somehow. I brought up
the idea of an owners association a year
ago and we all decided it was too early.
Well, maybe the time has come. It is better
to speak with one loud voice than many
little ones. May of next year can’t come
soon enough for me.