N254CD is back

In reply to:


but I from reading these posts I am seeing a pattern of failure rates higher than seems to be experienced by other planes using the same components


Art, stipulating once again my gratitude to you and your partner Tom for the ride to Lancaster last month, still I don’t think the evidence supports your claim. Consider:

  • There are now almost 400 Cirri in the fleet;

  • As the fleet reaches this size, even problems that affect only three per cent or five per cent of the fleet become noticeable in absolute numbers;

  • We naturally don’t hear about planes and systems having no problems. (I never mention trim motors, auto pilots, Garmins, wheel shimmy, vibration, etc because I’ve never had problems with any of them. I never mention starting difficulties because, since having the new intakes installed, I never have trouble starting the plane. We don’t hear “these planes are hard to land” very often, because with any familiarity people realize they’re easy to land. etc)

  • Even a single-digit-percentage pattern of recurring problems is unacceptable in the long run. If the GA industry is to become more than a niche entity, it needs to learn from what auto makers have done to improve reliability since the 1970s.

  • BUT I bet you that any 400-plane sample of the current GA fleet would lead to many more complaints than we’ve heard here. Anecdotal data point: during my days as a renter, I had to scrap exactly 50 per cent of my planned trips for mechanical problems. (Total 10 planned trips, not training flights, with rental planes. Five scrubbed at last minute - alternator failure, radios went bad, etc.) In 300+ hours in my own Cirrus I’ve scrubbed exactly one trip for mechanical reasons.

  • Again, everyone sympathizes with your bad luck, and everyone agrees that airplanes need to become much more reliable. But in my view it’s a real stretch to think that this is on the bad side of industry trends.

Thanks for the ride last month!

I got a call today from Cirrus’ Customer Service RE my post about my service center not doing any more warranty work because they weren’t getting paid. According to Cirrus, that excuse isn’t true. Cirrus says they checked the records and the service center in question has always been paid within a couple of months.

So, at this point, I’d ask that folks ignore my original post on the subject. Evidently I got bad information from the service center. I have no idea why they would tell me that, but for now I’m going to let Cirrus investigate and get back in touch with me.

As for my having trouble getting into another service center to get my roll trim fixed, the Cirrus rep. was very apologetic on the phone, and asked that in the future, I simply contact them at the first sign of service problems. They would be very happy to coordinate everything and it would save me the time and trouble, plus keep me from getting aggravated and blowing up at everyone.

So, I guess the lesson learned bottom line is, if you’re having trouble with service, go directly to Cirrus for help. Give them the chance to fix everything first…

Yes we have been paid in a timely manner. No complaints.

Does anyone know of any other service centers who are not being paid in a timely manner by Cirrus? Airways in Lancaster,PA. has had no problems. Is the above problem just an isolated incident or what? Ask your service centers and report back please.
Brian

We naturally don’t hear about planes and systems having no problems. (I never mention trim motors, auto pilots, Garmins, wheel shimmy, vibration, etc because I’ve never had problems with any of them. I never mention starting difficulties because, since having the new intakes installed, I never have trouble starting the plane. We don’t hear “these planes are hard to land” very often, because with any familiarity people realize they’re easy to land. etc)

A genetic predisposition for a disease does not mean everyone in the family will get the disease only that the incident of the disease will be higher in the predisposed group. A number of times someone mentions a problem and then someone else says, I had the same thing. Even the happy ones indicate they had some minor problems. The question is, were they the same problems as everyone else. It is clear that the landing light and over heating were design problems which were corrected in later models, but that does not help the earlier purchasers. It is also clear that the CAPS has basic flaws in the deployment mechanism which they claim will be fixed but hasnÂ’t yet. I would suggest that everyone go through their logbooks and post all of the repairs they had and then we could see if a pattern of specific failures is emerging.

Glad to hear that Cirrus is taking care of you. They are an excellent company and jump through hoops to take care of there customers. Like I had mentioned in a previous post, it sounds like there was a problem with the owner, Not Cirrus…

Jim

Evidently I got bad information from the service center. I have no idea why they would tell me that, but for now I’m going to let Cirrus investigate and get back in touch with me.


William,

Thanks for the update. I was happy to hear that Cirrus is continuing to do the right thing (as they always have done, in my experience). Please pass along what you hear from Cirrus — I think we’d all like to know whether there was simply a misunderstanding at this particular service center.

Cheers,
Roger

Nice gesture that you went to the trouble to get the updated story out.

Andy

Bill:
Truly an example of the old adage: “There are two sides to every story.” It seemed odd that Cirrus dedicates itself to customer service only to not provide service to its vendors? This seemed odd from the beginning. My limited poll so far has shown no evidence of other service centers having this issue with Cirrus so this is an isolated case and not Cirrus’s fault. Thanks for the information.
Brian