If you want CAPS and FIKI then your choice is made You will lose some speed, short field performance, and maybe useful load, but IMO youâll gain comfort. Also, as to not worrying about the gear, I have understood the Bonanza gear system to be very reliable. And as I mentioned above, do your homework on ownership costs: Cirrus annuals at a CSC start at a certain base price, you have obligations around the chute and line cutters, etc.
FWIW your Bo sounds very modern and nice, given that itâs an older airframe.
I can certainly understand the sentimental value of the Bonanza. And there is no question that the Bonanza is a great airplane.
Youâre 66 (Iâm 82) and the older we get the more important certain things become. CAPS, for example, is a wonderful thing to have in case of pilot incapacitation. While very rare, I think the older the pilot, the more likely the possibility of incapacitation. I think your wife is correct in wanting such a feature.
In case of an accident, the second door is a major safety feature. I always worried about sliding across the front seats if I needed to evacuate an aircraft with only one door on the right.
I personally donât have FIKI although I understand why a pilot might want it. My personal feeling is that if youâre flying a piston single itâs far better to avoid weather where FIKI might be needed.
As usual there isnât a simple answer. Both the V35 and SR22 are great airplanes. I think the Cirrus provides safety benefits and like the fixed gear simplicity, but I understand the sentimental attachment you have to the Bonanza.
BTW, do you know Chuck Sheaff - he used to have a really ratty P210 at Jacksonville and lives down there.
I definitely agree the chute replacement and line cutters are substantial costs that would be new to a Bonanza owner. However, as far as other maintenance costs, Iâm not sure itâs all that much different. Some CSCs are expensive but many of us donât use CSCs - once youâre out of warranty you donât have to, and really 90% of the plane is pretty typical stuff that most A&Ps are familiar with. Some Cirrus specific parts are expensive (though some are very reasonable), and although Iâve never owned a Beechcraft, my understanding is that some Beech parts are also very expensive. In both cases, some salvage parts may be available to help with the cost - probably more so for Beech than Cirrus, but possible for both.
Not sure how fast a v-tail is but I flew SLC to Boulder yesterday to pick up a used Subaru for my youngest after she had a boo boo in her 2012 Toyota FJ. (Sad storyâŚbut nobody hurt). We were doing 190 true at 17500 at 76%. Dealer as 5 mins from the airport. I was just amazed at how quick and easy the trip wasâŚand the marvel of GA.
Back to the OPâŚ. I think the first time you take off and are flying after sunset, look around a bit, and realize you now how CAPS if its not your dayâŚ.any wistfulness for that lovely Bo will be gone. I played with the Subaruâs cruise control on I-80 passing the time. It controls the speed based on traffic in front of you (old news I knowâŚ) Its not a Tesla, but it also has lane assist which will steer the car to the middle of lane using the onboard cameras. You still need to be engaged, but I had several hours to think about how all this tech will make my daughterâs drives a little safe going up and down Parleyâs canyon on I-80 for her job/school commutes and the impact the upgrades have on safety. Nowâthe FJ had a lot more character (I still have 2 that I love). But the Subaru is 13 years newer, and the improvements in road safety are obvious. I think youâll find the G1000, the autopilot, the CAPS system, and FIKI all give you similar comfort. Like JerryâIâm not a huge advocate of a lot of flying in ice in piston powered planes, but having it beats not having it when you are needing to get through some clouds here or there. I think I was a pretty good military pilot, and hand flew a lot of approaches, but I do love the Garmin autopilot now when Iâm single pilot IFR. Iâm 60, fairly active, and in good healthy but I like knowing if its my day to have a medical event, I didnât just condemn my non pilot friends or family to a bad fate.
In shortâif there is something better about the Bo than the Cirrusâyouâll miss it. But you will appreciate the other stuff-especially CAPSâso much I doubt youâll ever go back.
If I didnât go to a CSC Iâd want a place that maybe used to be one or knows Cirrus well. I know people whoâve had work done at otherwise very reputable non-CSCâs and essentially paid for the shop to learn on their plane and had stuff done incorrectly. I know one guy who went to a very well known non-CSC recently and left with an almost $20k annual during which the replacement of the NLG pucks was done incorrectly (discovered by the CSC that did the next oil change).
Iâll provide a counter point. Iâve had two shops take care of my G1 and neither were Cirrus Service Centers. I was never AOG and never had any MIF from any of their work. I likely spent 1/3 on maintenance compared to those that used Service Centers. I also had each shop out to my hangar to look at things that I was uncomfortable flying to them. I was not charged a call out fee. The purchaser of my G1 had Hillsboro do the prebuy. They found absolutely nothing â airworthy or otherwise. From the DOM: it was the cleanest G1 they had seen. And it had never seen an SC other than chute and line cutters.
Itâs the shop and the mechanics â not CSC thatâs important.
I donât disagree, but with a CSC at least you know that they know the type. I donât doubt that there are great non-CSCâs that know Cirrus. But homework is required.
I owned a very nice 1966 C33A Debonair IO520. Flight planned 160 Kts at around 13 gph LOP. Nice flying airplane. I sold her in 2006 for a G2 SR22. I flight plan 170 Kts at about 14 gph LOP between 6-10,000 MSL.
Safety was my primary concern. CAPS and fuselage âcrashworthinessâ were major factors.
The Bo hand flies better but in cross country flight on autopilot the Cirrus flies perfectly and departures, patterns and landings are no issue if flown by Cirrus instructor standards.
I havenât seen anybody mention it but G3s T TN and earlier with full fuel and full tks are essentially one person planes from a useful load perspective. If you need more useful load you need to go G5 or newer
Yes of course - I didnât mean to say just pick any random shop out of the phone book** and drop your plane with them. I simply meant that using a CSC isnât necessary and that, on average, being very general here with full knowledge that there are exceptions to this generalization, a non-CSC is likely to be cheaper than a CSC.
But no matter what, you need to make sure the shop is familiar with the type and has the appropriate manuals, etc.
**I used this same phrase âpicking a company from the phone bookâ not too long ago with my kids and then had to go into a digression explaining what a phone book was and how listings were placed. Sheesh!
I didnât realize the T or TN added so much weight. My NA G2 with air conditioning has 334 lbs of extra capacity with a 200 lb pilot, full fuel, and a full TKS tank (TKS only, not FIKI).
Our G3 TN, with full fuel, a full non-FIKI TKS tank, and a full O2 tank, still has enough useful load for me, my wife, and 92 pounds of luggage (easy to remember because itâs the same as gallons of fuel at full tanks), in addition to my standard âtoolsâ of extra oil, sump cup, chocks, tie-down ropes, etc.
We also have the Kelly ThermoCool AC, which adds some weight and shifts the CG rearward, helping a bit with cruise speed.
Steve, I went from a 1963 Debonair with an IO-520 to a 2004 SR22-G2 with Keith A/C and TKS (non-FIKI).
Nothing flies like a Bo. Itâs a pilotâs plane. With the IO-520, the Deb would jump off the runway in what seemed like 600 feet and climb at 2k+ FPM with only me. It was a rocket.
I always hated flying single-piston IMC or at night. Few options if something goes wrong. The SR22 makes those flights much safer with CAPS. I avoid ice liket he plague in a single-piston, but some Cirrus drivers with FIKI say it handles ice pretty well.
The Keith A/C system works very well and I use it far more often than I ever thought I would. Both planes are pretty close on speed, fuel flows, etc. My SR22 is 170-172 TAS at 8k-11k on 13.5 - 14.5 gph LOP. Highest Iâve had it is 15k feet, and wasnât a problem to get there and I donât have turbo. A climb to 12k is easy.
CG is another comment. Most Boâs have aft CG issues, especially as fuel burns. SR22 GG isnât usually an issue.
Iâd consider what avionics package you want and if you want to upgrade. G2âs are great, but the original Avidyneâs are getting a little old. An upgrade to all the latest Garmin glass is about $140k for a G2 (I have a quote). Thereâs lots of cheaper options as well (partial upgrade, recent Avidyne options, etc.)âbut as the G2 fleet gets upgraded avionics, there could be some really nice older planes flying around with a nice panel for a lot cheaper than a G5 and newer.
When I was looking at G3s. I learned perspective T models with AC and TKS often have a useful load of approximately 900 lbs. Full fuel and TKS leaves 300lbs for passengers and bags.
Others may have further details but the perspective avionics and larger Alt 2 seems to add 50lbs with T adding anothe 50lbs. We ended up finding a G3 NA with 1060lb useful.
We do longer flights so a G3T means cutting fuel. That negated the benefits of the T and going high as we would need an additional fuel stop. Everyones mission is uniqueâŚ.
I had a A36 Bonanza and a B58 Baron, both had beautiful Garmin panels and new paint and interiors. Great airplanes, but 2 months ago I took a SR22T G7+ Demo flight, and I was completely blown away by what Cirrus has done. I ordered two of them! There is a reason that Textron isnât building the Boâs and Barons anymore, because everyone wants a Cirrus.
You will lose some speed, short field performance, and maybe useful load, but IMO youâll gain comfort. Also, as to not worrying about the gear, I have understood the Bonanza gear system to be very reliable. And as I mentioned above, do your homework on ownership costs: Cirrus annuals at a CSC start at a certain base price, you have obligations around the chute and line cutters, etc.