It’s been a while but did want to respond and let everyone know that I did fly the SR 20 and I love it to say the least. The FBO just picked up a 2002 steam and I am working on the check out process. Not a whole lot different than the DA40 just need to think further ahead of the plane. The comfort for flights over an hour or so is stellar. Thanks again for everyone’s encouragement and suggestions.
I had right at 100 hours, non instrument, when I got my SR22 after asking almost the same exact question on this board about 1.5 years ago. I now have nearly 400 hours (300/yr so far) and am glad I made my purchase, absolutely. Good training is key. I do have my IR now, got it this spring, and that helps a lot, but I flew a ton without it as well. I honestly find it easier, once you get used to it, to fly than a DA40 (which I did a lot of my initial training in) The DA40 is a handful in any crosswinds. In the cirrus, you won’t even notice the crosswinds that would scare you in a DA40, lets put it that way. I’ve landed in 20+knot direct crosswinds without breaking a sweat. In fact, they are actually enjoyable and rewarding in a cirrus.
Bottom line, if I can do it, you can do it. The only thing I watch more carefully in a cirrus is airspeeds near landing. Just stay coordinated and on your speeds and you’ll never have a problem.
Jim,
For what it’s worth, I put 1700 hours in an SR20 with the steam gauges, then went to a 22.
While I love the 22, I think the 20 with steam and vacuum has better redundancy. Never a mission for on the 20 that was cancelled but could have been flown with an advanced 22.
Enjoy and fly safe…I think you’re off to a great start.
Andy Bresler
Jim, let me encourage you to join COPA and see what useful and valuable information that members share on that side of the forum. If you liked the CDM, then the forums are daily doses of the same zest for life, flying and safety!
Cheers
Rick
Jim, The fact that you are concerned enough and conscientious of the pit falls of your situation is a good start. The CIRRUS is no different than any other airplane in that if you fly the airplane by the check list and stay within the “numbers”, you should be able to operate the airplane proficiently and safely. However; most CIRRUS pilots - new and old - get in trouble when they get low, slow, and distracted (which is easy to do in this airplane). The airplane was never designed to be a trainer. It is an up and down, point A to point B, personal small craft. Slow flight, stalls, pattern work and other primary training maneuvers are verging into danger territory because of the high stall speed and inability to recover from a spin. Just remember: as a CIRRUS pilot, slow and low has the potential for trouble. Keep your eye on the airspeed and and your hand on the throttle and avoid going flight to “flight idle” and the airplane is manageable. Good luck and safe flying.
It may not have been particularly designed to be a trainer, but the Air Force Academy and several university fight programs have chosen to use it as such. I keep reading that it is best to learn in the aircraft you intend to fly. So, if you want to fly a Cirrus, why would you train in something else? The vast majority of fatal general aviation accidents are pilots who are low time in type.
Daniel, since this thread appears in a public forum and your signature indicates you are a Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot, please let me clarify a couple of subtle points in your reply.
Sorry, but “inability to recover from a spin” needs clarification. Proficient pilots with spin training have and can recover a Cirrus SR2X from a spin. A Cirrus test pilot did 60 spin recoveries to satisfy the European civil aviation certification agency. A few COPA members have reported recoveries from inadvertent spins. Every Cirrus airplane does have the ability to recover from a spin. Most pilots do not have that ability; I know that I am unlikely to demonstrate that ability. Fortunately, when I fly my Cirrus, I have the CAPS parachute system as a recovery option, yet another ability to recover from a spin! [;)]
Perhaps you intended this remark as an incentive for Cirrus pilots to manage the aircraft slow and low. Certainly, flying slow and low is what is needed for every landing – roundout low to the runway and slow to near stall speed before touchdown.
If you meant that the Cirrus SR2X airplane is trouble for pilots to handle when slow and low, then I strongly disagree. The airplane handles well and responsively when slow and low in the hands of a proficient pilot. Of course, low means that your margin for recovery is vastly reduced. Therefore, Cirrus pilots should become familiar with the edges of their envelope of safety, rather than avoid slow and low flight. Better to recognize this than be surprised by this.
Thanks for the opportunity to clarify.
Cheers
Rick
I hope I infer incorrectly that you do not teach full-stall landings.
D., welcome on board!
While I would argue against touch and goes, what is dangerous about pattern work?
I do practice (not often) stalls and pattern work and go arounds with the eclipse without a parachute (sigh) and even with it being an “A to B” plane.
Thanks JIM,
Had I known my opinion would have been such a disruption at the CoolAid Bar, I would have been more specific. Now, I’m just glad there are so many experts that my opinion is not relevant. Thanks Jim Jones. Happy landings.
Actually, since you’re a CSIP, it is. Very. Which is why so many people here care. It would be, hmm, peculiar to ignore this wonderful opportunity for exchange of views, opening of the mind, increase of safety and so on.
And yes, that S in CSIP stands for “standardised”, so you either drink this particular CoolAid or you aren’t. That’s at the very core of the (voluntary, I might add) program. Sorry for being brutally honest. No offense meant.
Daniel, welcome aboard.
Testy bunch, but the interplay is educational. Sometimes it looks like a food fight…and sometimes it is.
Stick around.
??? A few people start a cordial dialog with you to discuss and understand your views and you go off? [:|]
D.,
I do not see where the disruption is. A couple of members welcomed you on board, a couple have asked you fair questions, I do not see anybody saying that your “opinion is not relevant”… On the contrary, your opinion is extremely relevant, especially with you being a CSIP! (on top of being a fellow aviator!), I would respectfully invite you to stay engaged in these conversations.
P.S.: Who is Jim Jones?
Jim Jones was a cult leader that induced his members to kill themselves drinking cool-aid laced with arsenic as I recall. A terrible tragedy. Very questionable analogy to use, when people were merely engaging in a constructive discourse.
Andy
Got it.
(we ignorant Italians!!!)
think Medici.
Coming from a Doctor!
I am late getting to this, My first cirrus was a new SR20 and flew it to vegas 2 times from Detroit area there and back. Two stops out One stop coming back, but that was when I was a young man of 51, LOL , as others have said treat any plane you fly with respect for its performance has or does not have. Don