I have been here before about transitioning to a SR 20. It’s official now as the DA 40 XLS I have flown for the last 80 hours is leaving the FBO 12/31. I am the guy who everyone keeps trying to scare me a way from Cirrus. I have found a reputable authorized transition in Atlanta and plant to start after the holidays. Dilelemma. Most 20’s locally are either far or $300 per hour. There is a 2002 steam available close by but I am spoiled with the G1000 and the GFE 700 autopilot in particular. There is a nice Saratoga close by retrofitted with ASpen avionics which rents for the same as the 20 steam. Am I nuts to consider getting checked out in this with 125 hours in the log book? Talk me Off the cliff please
Toga is a great plane and who knows u might fall in love with it. I almost bit at one. Avionics are fun but steam is fine unless perhaps hard IFR until your in the groove. I’d fly them all and enjoy them just keep safe limits. Not sure if u have a family or fly with others but the Toga feels like a bigger plane to the kids!
Since, I fly an SR22 with 6-pack, MFD, autopilot and dual Garmin, this might be comparable – although I have never been spoiled by the more advanced avionics as you say you have been! [;)]
Are you nuts? No.
However, your choices may be influenced by several factors, for which I suggest you sit and think a bit.
costs – will higher prices keep you from flying often? training often? enjoying personal air transportation?
avionics – will you need the advanced avionics for your typical missions? will you be flying mostly VFR or hard IFR? what is your training plan to stay on top of the advanced avionics?
mission – obviously, typical VFR jaunts for training or $100 hamburgers differ significantly from longer trips to visit family with wife and/or friends aboard, so what do you need the plane to do for you?
passengers – once I got in a Cirrus with my partner Molly, I realized that I never wanted her to go back to the ugly rental planes available without the extraordinary safety features – windows for visibility and avoiding motion sickness, comfortable seats with four-point seat belts, side-yoke away from poking either of us, legroom, headroom, elbow room, large display on the MFD for her curiosity of where we were flying, etc.
future plans – do you want to own your personal air transportation aircraft? do you have business or personal needs for air transportation? do you have people with whom you want to share the experience, such as your wife?
parachute – from the very beginning, I knew this was a showstopper for me, as I wanted to have an ultimate out if I screwed up. Since then, flying about a hundred non-pilots, the parachute definitely changes the experience for people, even those who express enthusiasm but especially the combination of large window visibility with the confidence of the parachute for queasy folks.
Have fun deciding! Feel free to come back with more questions.
Hey Jim…what part of town are you in? Aero Atlanta - Kennesaw/RYY – is where I did my transition training…Ben is a very good instructor as is Neal…I don’t remember how much they rent an Sr-20 for but I don’t think it’s anywhere near $300 an hr. I enthusiastically recommend them. I bought my sr 22 from the owner while he was a cirrus sales rep…feel free to contact me if you want any other info…
Thanks John. I do like Aero Atlanta a lot and plan to do the transition training there. I will be renting unil I can by buy. The 2004 20 they have is affordable and well taken care of it just takes me forever to get to KRYY. I live over in the Sugaloaf area. Ironically enough I was on the phone with Aero today :). I am much closer to LZU and PDK. Thanks for reccomending them because I believe they are one of the only legit Cirrus centers in town. The rest claim to be. I paid a visit a while back and they seem top notch! PS the $300 deals are at PDK…2011 G3’s. I much prefer the Cirrus over the Saratoga but the options at LZU are almost non existant and PDK is not much better. I will listen for your tail#. I am flying my wife and mother into Elevation Chophouse New Years Eve:)
We have an opening in our 2000 SR20 partnership if you want
to make the drive to KCNI. It is not as close as LZU; but, it is probably about
the same distance/time as going to RYY. And, we have lower cost self-serve fuel
and hangar. I make the drive up from Alpharetta. Before the Cirrus, I was also
renting over at LZU.
I have a few hours in the DA-40. I enjoyed flying with the
G1000. But, I have found that our Aspen PFD + WASS GPS is really nice too. The
only thing I miss is the Garmin autopilot. That was a great unit. Our Cirrus
has the 55X which has similar features, but not as smooth or precise as the GFC700.
10-4! I tried all the usual suspects at PDK…let’s just say I didn’t find them compatible with my notions of service and quality…aero Atl on the other hand is my kind of place!
As I said, Daniel sold me my plane and has since served as my flight ops center, as we jovially describe our relationship…he has never, not once, refused my call! He helped me with dispatch decisions early on; maitenace issues and recurrent training. Not on holidays, nights, weekends nor when he’s on vacation has he ignored me… I’ve tried never not to take advantage of his generosity over 6 years!
I have some ideas for you, never short of advice, is you are interested. 404-432-2322…I d be happy to meet for lunch.
Jim
I looked at a Saratoga a great deal before getting SR22, as I have 2 kids (and wife). Saratoga did not offer much more passenger options. If you are considering 20, I imagine your typical mission is similar to mine, and perhaps less kids.
The 22 fuel costs were going to be less (lean of peak). So I would suspect the 20 to be even more so. Also fixed gear tends to guarantee no “gear up” landing. I also like the parachute for the “incapacitated pilot”(aka dead pilot ) as I could never get my wife to learn how to fly/land my archer.
If you go the 20 route right now, you may find in the future you want to purchase a used 22 , and since the 22 has been such a sales leader, used 22s are abundant and seem to be the best plane on the used market , especially early TAA models. Call anytime and if you fly down to LaGrange I will buy you a burger.
