Lines that work on spouses...

Guest Discussion
1

Re Paul G’s inquiry (under “GNC300XL”):

I didn’t have to say much of anything. Luckily for me my wife loves to fly; she is a “visual romantic” like me and flying in Northern California offers enough to sate than even the most die-hard visual romantic.

The “convincing” was in fact accpomplished by the following experiences in flying club aircraft over the last year and a half: an engine failure–fortunately just after liftoff on a 6000 foot runway–which stranded us and our baby overnight in East Drainage, CA; a complete avionics failure just before launching IFR; several other avionics failures or suboptimal performances; INOP autopilots for IFR flights, dirty magnetos due to improper operation by indifferent or ignorant club members; broken seat adjustments; a sudden, arbitrary 25% rental rate increase on the one plane she really liked in the club; shoddy paint jobs and torn upholstery. Tina virtually never complains about anything, but these experiences made her wonder, “…SO WHAT EXACTLY DOES ‘AIRWORTHINESS’ MEAN, ANYWAY?”

These were so convincing we decided to get our own plane, interim or replacement, because of the long wait for the SR20. It’s completely refurbished and has a new engine to start with, and we have complete control over the maintenance. It cruises at 150 and stalls at 35, so performance is competitive. We get our hands on it in just a week or two.

I think safety, both actual and perceived, was the main issue for her (me too); secondary but also significant factors being comfort and enjoyment of the vehicle itself.

I also wearied of taking friends or colleagues flying in rattletraps (at least compared to the SR20). After an enjoyable and beautiful local flight some would ask, perhaps reflecting an embryonic interest, “…so how much does one of these cost?” The reply of ~$90,000 for a dowdy 182 or ~$60,000 for a dowdier Arrow or Cutlass would be greeted with an incredulous stare, shake of the head, and likely extinguished embryonic interest. Even though the SR20 is 2X-3X more its perceived value to such folks is not so disparate from the price.

2

My experience strongly resembles Kevin’s. The problem wasn’t convincing my wife. It was swinging my own mind around to considering by far the biggest non-house purchase I’ve ever made:

I also wearied of taking friends or colleagues flying in rattletraps (at least compared to the SR20). After an enjoyable and beautiful local flight some would ask, perhaps reflecting an embryonic interest, “…so how much does one of these cost?” The reply of ~$90,000 for a dowdy 182 or ~$60,000 for a dowdier Arrow or Cutlass would be greeted with an incredulous stare, shake of the head, and likely extinguished embryonic interest. Even though the SR20 is 2X-3X more its perceived value to such folks is not so disparate from the price.<

Exactly. For me the logic chain was:

  1. If I was going to get serious about flying, the rental fleet was increasingly frustrating. Not available when you want them, subject to extra vagaries (beyond those inherent in flying), showing the wear and tear.

  2. But if I was going to buy something, what the market offered just didn’t seem worth the money. The really fancy new planes were $350k and up. The used ones that cost $100k and below were too cruddy for me to imagine my wife actually enjoying. (She is sold on the practicality of small-plane flight, in the right circumstances – but she doesn’t instrinsically love it enough to relish sitting for three hours in an 25-year-old Skyhawk with stained upholstery and an antique radio panel.)

  3. The Cirrus costs about twice as much as I’d imagined myself putting into a plane, but as Kevin says, nothing costing much less seems worth it. And so I talked myself into this as a lifetime investment, which has the veneer of practicality but seems satisfying and fun.

  4. My wife has not resisted, but her enthusiasm has been mightily bolstered by the safety features (not least the parachute) and the NICENESS of the whole experience. Using a plane to visit her parents or our kids is a lot more appealing when it’s this kind of plane.

NOW A FOLLOWUP question for current owners. My most recent rental-fleet frustration happened two days ago. Planned an all-day business trip from Seattle to Portland. Had to scrub the trip when the plane I’d booked for the day proved, on run-up, to have a broken alternator. (Or, all the symptoms of same: constant negative-current flow, constant low-battery light, neither of those affected by RPMs or turning the ‘alt’ switch on and off or checking the circuit breaker.)
Here’s my question: if you had a SR20 with dual alts, and if one of them was broken on run-up, would you take off? On the one hand, you hate to take off with a known defect. On the other hand, one broken alternator leaves you in the same situation (one functioning alt) as a Skyhawk pilot with a “perfect” plane. What’s your call?

Thanks jf

3

I am not a current owner but I am a Cirrus flyer. I would say no. The question is- why is it not working and can whatever the problem is lead to more problems. Is there any electrical arcing going on, is a belt or shaft broken, is it loose in its mounting etc? I have read too many NTSB accident reports where what appeared to be a minor problem was either a symptom of a major problem or the defect caused an additional problem. Now , your question was would I take off after detecting the problem on runup. At that point I say no. But, if you have a mechanic check it and determine the cause and that cause will not lead to future damage then I would fly it somewhere VFR to get home or to the shop for a repair. IFR?-maybe over Kansas. I guess the question would be why? You are going to get it fixed anyway. Why not get it fixed before you fly IFR? Because you have to get home or you don’t want to disappoint your spouse, friend or boss? Sounds like the tailend of a NTSB accident report. (Maybe I have read too many NTSB accident reports. Every time I get a weather briefing -which they seem to record you know- I wonder how the accident report will sound if I run into a thunderstorm or hit turbulence or too much crosswind. In April in Illinois it is hard to get a weather briefing that doesn’t descibe something that you should watch out for.

NOW A FOLLOWUP question for current owners. My most recent rental-fleet frustration happened two days ago. Planned an all-day business trip from Seattle to Portland. Had to scrub the trip when the plane I’d booked for the day proved, on run-up, to have a broken alternator. (Or, all the symptoms of same: constant negative-current flow, constant low-battery light, neither of those affected by RPMs or turning the ‘alt’ switch on and off or checking the circuit breaker.)

Here’s my question: if you had a SR20 with dual alts, and if one of them was broken on run-up, would you take off? On the one hand, you hate to take off with a known defect. On the other hand, one broken alternator leaves you in the same situation (one functioning alt) as a Skyhawk pilot with a “perfect” plane. What’s your call?

Thanks jf

4

My experience strongly resembles Kevin’s. The problem wasn’t convincing my wife. It was swinging my own mind around to considering by far the biggest non-house purchase I’ve ever made:

It has been easy for me so far. I haven’t told my wife I’ve ordered one yet. She knows I want one, but her practical side wants me to find a partner. I’m an only child and don’t want to share. What to do…

Anyhow, the problem I am trying to overcome is that her mom lost a good friend in an GA accident and has convinced my wife that only a base jump off a tall bridge would be more dangerous than flying in a small plane.

The situation has changed a little for the better since we left the rental world and started flying a well equipped, well maintained 210. It’s bigger, quieter, and lo and behold, stuff works!

My trick has been to indulge my wifes favorite hobby, shopping, by combining it with flying. She now compares an av chart with all the known outlet malls in the Southeast and we have a full summer of trips planned. (Whatever works, right?)

Just came back from PDK in Atlanta after a weekend of shopping. The trip there was very bumpy in the terminal area, but flying home on Easter was smooth and traffic free. With a tail wind we were cruising along at 184 knots(GS)which got us home to Charleston in 1hr 15 minutes. Compared to a six hour drive, it was wonderful.

( plus I’m a decent stick and rudder pilot and I’ve managed some landings smooth enough not to wake her up from a nap. Got to love the 210’s landing ability!)

My wife is starting to take to the small plane pretty well now. Talking about a trip to the Bahamas and the Mountains.

So we take baby steps. She is liking it more, still freaks out at the sound of the gear warning horn when I back the MP off too much though. I gently remind her she won’t hear that sound in a Cirrus…

Mark

Ps - Saw the potential for a nasty accident at PDK in Atlanta. An A36 was cleared to taxi to 2R along Alpha. He decided to take a short cut accross 2L, crossing the hold line (with blinking lights!)

Made for an interesting convesation with the ground controller.

Fortunately no harm done. A 172 was taking off from the runway and was airborne before the intersection. Just wonder what a twin might have done to the A36. Ya’ll be careful out there!