I currently fly a piper archer and have been for a few years…I am leaning towards buying a cirrus and have been told by everyone that I shouldn’t…Am I missing something because they all give me differnt opinions and none of them ever flew one, I guess they are all stuck on older models and so forth…?..They tell me to buy another piper but looking at the cirrus aircraft I can not help but wonder what it is like to fly one of those, it looks like so much fun and the look of the plane itself is oustanding…
My personal aviation journey reads Archer/Seneca/SR22. I miss the Archer’s stone-cold simplicity, but the SR22 is a traveling machine, and you get used to 170 kts. on 13.5 gph vs. the Archer’s 120 on 10 gph. Also, it’s a much, much more comfortable plane IMHO. It’s performance is a little better than the Seneca with one engine and fixed gear, and I’ll go out and practice with this plane, where I wouldn’t with the twin. More complexity and fewer years on the market means more to break and fewer bugs worked out, but I’m glad I’m where I am. And the parachute really does give me and my passengers (usually only the wife) a real sense of security for situations that are unavoidable and potentially deadly (engine-out over hostile terrain, etc.). It’s not a get-out-of-jail free card, and this site should convince you that you can still hurt yourself in one (like all other airplanes), but it is a comfort.
I could never afford one until the market tanked, and there are some very good buys out there right now. And to paraphrase you, it is so much fun and the look of the plane itself is outstanding. And the folks on this website are unparalleled in their support and knowledge.
I owned two Cirrus, which I bought new, before owning two Pipers, the Mirage and now the Meridian. The first Cirrus had its normal amount of new plane problems and were taken care of by Cirrus, slowly, as they always seemed to not have the part, but at the same time they were delivering lots of brand new airplanes every week. The second Cirrus had way more than normal problems and Cirrus was very slow in providing the parts needed to keep the airplane flying, it was grounded for different issues waiting on parts for four of the first six months of ownership, absolutely ridiculous customer service. Both of the Pipers have had very few problems, and the problems that I did have were taken care of immediately with no hassle or delay of parts, great customer service and a plane that was delivered ready to fly. So my advice, if you are going to buy a Cirrus, buy a used one that someone else has already debugged for Cirrus, after the debugging, they are nice planes.