Ben,
There is another option. Buy the plane now without Skywatch and later, when you’re ready, install a Ryan TCAS system.
A few Cirrus owners have done just that and report loving it.
I have Skywatch and I think it’s wonerful. You can’t see traffic at 6 miles, but Skywatch does. And you know where traffic is in relation to you, and generally the altitude difference between you and them. I guess you know that if the traffic doesn’t have altitude encoding but does have a transponder signal, Skywatch assumes that traffic is exactly at your altitude. I find that I can see planes at about 2 miles if I know where to look. Of course if you had a perfect scan for traffic, or better yet everybody in the plane scanning maybe you could pick up traffic further out, even without TCAS. The thing out here-and now my normal commute is Las Cruces, NM to Tucson, AZ and then up to our condo in Durango, CO, where airways intersect there is a tendency for traffic. Going direct over the hills if you see anybody it is rare, but today, coming back from KDRO over Outlaw MOA I did pick up a VERY fast moving target 2000 feet above me, then I heard center give “Cactus 5” authorization to climb to flight level 45, and he was gone. I love Skywatch. It is a huge safety advance. I would encourage everyone to get it, especially if you are anywhere near me in the air.
I have Skywatch in my Cirrus, and the Garmin 330 TCAS in my 310. The difference is night and day, the Skywatch does not have the lag time of the 330, you can better trust that the target is where it says it is, and you don’t have to worry about coverage. That said, it is more expensive by a long shot.
In reply to:
Ben,
There is another option. Buy the plane now without Skywatch and later, when you’re ready, install a Ryan TCAS system.
A few Cirrus owners have done just that and report loving it.
I have, and I do.