You and I both know that flying a light jet is easier, for many of the reasons you cited. I don’t think the type rating is any “harder” than having to deal with all the stuff we had to deal with in piston singles or especially piston twins, or for that matter in SETP’s.
Or they have a misconception of what the type rating entails. You don’t need to be Joe (or Jane) super-pilot. You can be a geezer like me and do it. We have several sub-500 hour PPL’s who have done it. And it can be done in a better way than it sometimes is done.
(BTW, it is 12,500 pounds, not 15,000, that necessitates a type.)
There is another side of this not being considered. You are looking at this from the standpoint of a dedicated pilot. A very significant percentage of people interested in jets and turboprops are acquiring these planes for far different reasons than purely “piloting” them. Many do not fly them at all.They hire pilots to fly them around.
These are busibess machines being used for the purpose of commerce or convenience and not for the purpose of pure flying. The airplane is utility to them. The actual thought of who flies it and what is required is often secondary to having the plane.
It does take a lot of money to fly these machines. Many recapture that cost in the business they use the aircraft. Costs matter to a business so operating costs, which include training, are part of the equation.
Many folks just do not have the desire to be as good as they can be as pilots. They just want to be able to get somewhere fast and covenient. So those folks would naturally take the path of least resistance. This also explains why there are a lot more boats than airplanes out there. You do not need to train much to operate a boat.
Yes, I do believe the type rating is an issue for stepping up because it’s one more thing that needs time, attention, scheduled and paid for. Personally I would have no issue with it but for my mission of up and down the east coast and out west to ski a few times a year, the Eclipse is just too much airplane. My back seats have 3 dogs and certainly wouldn’t need more empty space to hail around. Flying 200 hours a year now in the 22 would cut that in half in an Eclipse.
Since I’m tall, the Evo hit the sweet (or G) spot. What else has those speeds and a parachute?
Would it be worth COPA creating its own unofficial TYPE RATING for a Cirrus. Lots of professional organizations recognize their members for achieving some kind of on-going professional training that may or may not be recognized by the Feds. Maybe COPA could do something similar. I have no idea how this would work but maybe it could use the existing CPPP/CDM structure with additional Sim training or mentoring to create an unofficial Type Rating, just a thought!
I’ll leave it to Trip to cover the details but we are going in a direction like that. Not a type rating but an educational level achieved more like academia. It’s in process.
No. Educational levels achieved with corresponding verification (aka tests) for knowledge retention. Like a Masters in Cirrusology. My name not Trips. He has said some of this in some forums. In the infant stage right now.
i love the idea of a Masters of Cirrusology, being challenged to learn the specifics of the aircraft and its nuances. It seems many Copans are instrument ratEd but the commercial rating seems a little redundant so this might be a better option for continued learning.
It could be like many professional ratings that have to be annually maintained with continued learning (just like a real rating). It would further encourage members to attend the numerous teaching opportunities across the country and they could add MSc Cirrusology to their list of qualifications.
And in many cases, pilots, too. How many times have we seen the second engine just take the pilot to the scene of the accident? Too many. I can think of some horrific piston twin accidents that befell former COPA members.
I respectfully agree to a certain extent but Cirrus singles had a high fatality rate as well until recently, training will fix a great deal of issues in this situation. I didn’t want this to become a single vs twin debate but there quite a few hospitable places in the U.S.A where a twin would do quite well. Of course twins don’t sell as well as singles not many manufacturers are making them but the demand is there.
Be cool to see another push pull configuration with the front engine running a prop and generator and the rear engine full electric. that would solve the heat issues in the rear. Not sure how much drag on the engine the generator would cause.
Revisiting this thread has been fun. Was Cecil the first one with an accurate prediction? [:P] I guess we’ll know more soon. It looks like the big upgrade is the SR20.
Pretty lame question but I am curious: are we upgrading generations for the sake of upgrading or is there a considerable difference warranting the new generation of SR22? I am a little bit concerned about the devaluation of the previous generations for the sake of a new wingtip? Is this a real concern?
The GTS model has gone up almost $100,000 since 2014…as long as they keep up the price increases, they sure seem to be propping up the used market rather than devaluing it.