My New-to-me Cirrus

[dstclair]

I know this is neither light sport nor sport pilot eligible but given I've been a member here for 11 years thought I post a bit about my trip to pick up my 2002 SR22 G1 from Portland, OR this past weekend. I posted earlier that my mission changed such that I needed an IFR traveler. Well, N810PT showed quite well on Saturday! Took off in 1/4 mile vis, 300 ft ceiling with fog, tops at 1200', then proceeded to the SE at 15,500 for a 1500nm trip to the Dallas. Cruised at 168-170 KTAS at 11gph and made the trip in 8.1 air hours. The SR22 is serious traveling machine and a very comfortable ride. Here are few pics of the plane and crossing the Sierras:

N810PT3sm.jpg (82.24 KiB) Viewed 18728 times

N810PT InteriorSm.jpg (39.58 KiB) Viewed 18728 times

Mnts.jpg (78.92 KiB) Viewed 18728 times

For most part I 'flew' the autopilot and learned a lot of the avionics on the flight with my ferry pilot. Interesting that the Cirrus training is very much an airline approach of cockpit management. I have a Cirrus Embark transition (24 hrs of ground/air) training scheduled over the next couple weeks before the insurance company will let me take the training wheels off.

[Wm.Ince]

I know this is neither light sport nor sport pilot eligible but given I've been a member here for 11 years thought I post a bit about my trip to pick up my 2002 SR22 G1 from Portland, OR this past weekend. I posted earlier that my mission changed such that I needed an IFR traveler. Well, N810PT showed quite well on Saturday! Took off in 1/4 mile vis, 300 ft ceiling with fog, tops at 1200', then proceeded to the SE at 15,500 for a 1500nm trip to the Dallas. Cruised at 168-170 KTAS at 11gph and made the trip in 8.1 air hours. The SR22 is serious traveling machine and a very comfortable ride. Here are few pics of the plane and crossing the Sierras:N810PT3sm.jpgN810PT InteriorSm.jpgMnts.jpg

For most part I 'flew' the autopilot and learned a lot of the avionics on the flight with my ferry pilot. Interesting that the Cirrus training is very much an airline approach of cockpit management. I have a Cirrus Embark transition (24 hrs of ground/air) training scheduled over the next couple weeks before the insurance company will let me take the training wheels off.

Outstanding . . . and congratulations, Dave. Beautiful airplane . . . and panel!

Is that Mt. Hood, off to the right, in the airborne photo?

[dstclair]

I took off from Aurora (the home of Vans) so my route was a bit south of Mt. Hood. I'm pretty sure that this particular peak is Mt. Jefferson.

[Warmi]

...
Cruised at 168-170 KTAS at 11gph and made the trip in 8.1 air hours.
...
.

So , hmm.. gallon for gallon your old Sting was actually more efficient after all ... about 110 KTAS at 5.5gph

Of course, savings in time and comfort provided by the Cirrus cannot be so easily quantified ..

[dstclair]

In this case, the total fuel would've been about the same. The route I took in the SR22 would not have been practical or safe in the Sting. A more prudent route for the Sting would've been more southerly down through CA then through southern AZ and NM to avoid the much higher terrain. With similar winds as my trip, the Sting would've taken 15.1 hrs for a nearly 1800nm trip and burn around 82 gallons. Pretty much identical to my fuel consumed in the SR22.

That being said -- yeah, I'm going to miss burning 5gph.

[FastEddieB]

Congrats on the new bird!

They really are marvelous traveling machines!

[Wm.Ince]

Congrats on the new bird!

They really are marvelous traveling machines!

Have you ever regretted letting yours go?

[chicagorandy]

Kudos - great looking airplane - enjoy being able to meet your new mission in style and comfort.

Safe travels/

[FastEddieB]

Have you ever regretted letting yours go?

Not really. But not the plane’s fault, so much as a change in my priorities, mission profile and, yes, financial situation.

There are downsides to Cirrus ownership, but this is not the place to outline them, and I think dstclair went in with open eyes and realistic expectations. For anyone even remotely considering Cirrusg ownership, $65 for a COPA membership and drinking from the firehose that is the COPA forum, is highly, highly recommended.

[foresterpoole]

Great looking bird! Congratulations!

[MrMorden]

So , hmm.. gallon for gallon your old Sting was actually more efficient after all ... about 110 KTAS at 5.5gph

Of course, savings in time and comfort provided by the Cirrus cannot be so easily quantified ..

That's predictable. Force required to overcome wind resistance goes up by the square of the speed, IIRC, so it requires a lot more power to get to 170KTAS than 110KTAS. You can't make more power without burning more fuel. The Cirrus also carries more "stuff" for that 11gph.

This trade was not about efficiency, but about traveling speed, comfort, and carrying capacity.

[CharlieTango]

To us light sport guys this is a to-die-for airplane.

[FastEddieB]

To us light sport guys this is a to-die-for airplane.

Have you all seen this???

https://www.flyingmag.com/cirrus-michel ... ition-sr22

"$1.1 million price tag includes dining experience at Michelin-rated restaurant."

Sheesh!

[dstclair]

Yeah -- the 3-star Michelin dinner almost convinced me to go for the $1.1M Turbo SR-22 versus the 15 year old NA SR-22 I went with...

[FastEddieB]

I almost got a nosebleed!

For a historical perspective, in 2003 a well-optioned SR22 was $369k IIRC. My factory demo with about 150 hours was $330k.

Of course, in a similar timespan I've watch Light Sport prices roughly double as well.