New Owner/Pilot

We are very intrested in the SR22-GTS. We are non pilots and plan to purchase and train using the new Access program? Does anyone have any comments they would like to share?

Here is a suggestion:

Check out this article SR22 6 Month Lease w/ACCESS for auction.

Maybe you can be the high bidder on this item if it is as described and help the Boy’s & Girls Club and the RedTail Project at the same time. I would bid if I didn’t already have a Cirrus.

Smart folks!!! The SR22 is an awesome plane!! Have fun!

I don’t want to be a killjoy, but you might want to consider joining COPA as well as reading the lengthy posts on this board and the FAA accident reports, regarding new and low time pilots that start off in a very high performance airplane.

I would recommend to anyone I cared about that they get their license first, then get their instrument rating, while accumulating a few hundred hours experience flying cross country and dealing with weather and crossing weather fronts, before hopping into a higher performance airplane…especially if you intend to fly it any appreciable distances.

i’ll counter that. i got my private and instrument ratings in a cirrus sr20. it is not a high performance plane and i wouldn’t have traded that experience for slopping around the pattern in a 30 yr old rental 172. since that time i have experience in lancairs, mooneys, OMF’s, and a number of piper aircraft. there is nothing special about the sr20 other than it is newer and a little more aerodynamic than alot of the older planes. from looking at the members section it is obvious that the #1 cause of accidents in GA planes is the same no matter the type - it’s pilot error

Dave,

He should join COPA.

Since the new owner intends to buy Access, which includes a full time CSIP/corporate pilot your point does not really apply.

well, the posting mentioned a SR22, which is a high performance plane. If the SR-20 is not a high performance, it is only because it falls a fraction of a single horsepower short of the definition (A high performance aircraft (according to 61.31) is an aircraft with an engine of more than 200 horsepower.)

I do not suggest that one cannot learn to fly safely in an SR-20 or SR-22…only that there’s a reason thousands of pilots trained in planes such as cubs and 152’s and Diamond DA-20’s, and a reason they are called “trainers”, just as there is a reason planes with more than 200 hp are called high performance. There is a huge difference landing with an approach speed of 70-80knots, vs 50 knots or less, as there is a huge difference controlling a very slippery, very fast plane in turbulent IMC, compared to controlling a 172 or Piper Warrior. The accident statistics bear this out.

In reply to:


well, the posting mentioned a SR22, which is a high performance plane. If the SR-20 is not a high performance, it is only because it falls a fraction of a single horsepower short of the definition (A high performance aircraft (according to 61.31) is an aircraft with an engine of more than 200 horsepower.)


So, I’ll chime in. I purchased and did transition training and IFR training my SR22, starting from 65 hours and a two-day old private pilot licence. I’m convinced that it’s not the plane, it’s about the instructors and the pilot – careful limitations that enforce graduated experience seems to be a crucial factor.

In reply to:


I do not suggest that one cannot learn to fly safely in an SR-20 or SR-22…only that there’s a reason thousands of pilots trained in planes such as cubs and 152’s and Diamond DA-20’s, and a reason they are called “trainers”, just as there is a reason planes with more than 200 hp are called high performance. There is a huge difference landing with an approach speed of 70-80knots, vs 50 knots or less, as there is a huge difference controlling a very slippery, very fast plane in turbulent IMC, compared to controlling a 172 or Piper Warrior. The accident statistics bear this out.


Actually the Cirrus accident statistics do not support your theory.

Only 3 of the 23 fatal accidents in Cirrus planes were pilots who trained in a Cirrus or had the accident with less than 100 hours total time. All are still under investigation, but one looks like wind shear during emergency landing practice, one was a failed return-to-airport maneuver at low altitude, and the other was the Cory Lidle crash into the building in New York. All these accidents occurred with instructors on board.

Most of the fatal accidents for which we have factual reports (8 of 11) were pilots who did exactly as you suggest, get more than 200 hours in other planes before flying a Cirrus. My guess is that about 15 of the 23 accidents did what you suggest. Not a supportive statistic for your argument.

For prospective owners of SR22, I recommend that you seriously evaluate your instruction regimen. This applies to new pilots, low-time pilots and high-time pilots, although the considerations are different and the instruction strategies are different.

It has been done. It can be done. But not every instructor is up to the challenge.

Cheers
Rick

In reply to:


For prospective owners of SR22, I recommend that you seriously evaluate your instruction regimen. This applies to new pilots, low-time pilots and high-time pilots, although the considerations are different and the instruction strategies are different.
It has been done. It can be done. But not every instructor is up to the challenge.


Rick,

I agree completely but in addition to saying not all instructors are up to the challenge I would add that not all pilots are up to the challenge either.

Some pilots want to get (not earn but get) their certificate in minimal time. Others want to learn as much as possible about safe flying no matter the time or cost. the latter group can do well with primary training in the SR22. The former group is asking for lots of trouble.