I just picked up my new SR-22 in Scottsdale, AZ – and I love it! I thought I’d share my experience since it seems the trend is moving towards taking delivery away from the factory and there appears to be a lot of interest from non owners of the purchase process and how it is changing as the company evolves.

First of all let me share with you some background on me and why I chose the SR22. I am new to flying (started July 5th 2002) and have recently got my license. Right now I’m at 100 hours (30 in the SR22) and I’m starting my instrument training. I chose the 22 for several reasons: 1) Price - you can’t get more new plane for the money especially when you consider the avionics packages, 2) What you can do with it – you can really go places in a reasonable amount of time and in many cases you can get there faster than commercial air, 3) Power – where I live, Boulder, CO power equals safety especially when going west to get over the Rockies and 4) Chute – having an airframe parachute really eases the nerves of your non pilot passenger (e.g. my wife).

Before I purchased I spent a considerable amount of time flying taking demo flights in other planes. Specifically I test flew the SR20, the Diamond DA40, and two planes in the Cessna family 172SP and 182T. I was really focused on getting a new plane because I wanted the latest technology and a new engine to ease some of my concerns about costly upgrades and maintenance. The bottom line – the SR20 just can’t climb in the higher altitudes, the DA40 is a solid performer and I was very close to buying it but the cockpit is too small for me (I’m 6’2” and my head hits the canopy) and the Cessnas just don’t
have the maneuverability, visibility and avionics that I was looking for. If anyone wants more info on this stuff email me and I’ll share it.

I was first scared about buying the 22 because I thought it might be too much plane for me to handle – especially its higher operating speeds. I read through the COPA site and got the name of an experienced CFII, John Fiscus (www.theflightacademy.com), and talked to him about my concerns. I specifically sought out a CFI that did not work for
Cirrus because I thought all the Cirrus people would be biased. John eased my concerns and made me feel comfortable that with enough training I’d be able to easily master the 22. He was absolutely correct. I actually hired John to help me take delivery of the plane and then we spent one week training in the 22 (I received about 28 hours of instruction in
the 22 last week – more on that later). After my training I believe that the 22 is significantly easier to fly than any of the planes I trained in and test flew – with some caveats. The 22 flies much faster than the typical Cessna (I trained in a 172SP) and takes more planning to slow down especially when preparing to land. If you are a relatively low time pilot – extra training is a must. It wasn’t until my 4th day of training did I start to feel like I could handle the plane on my own. By the 7th day I felt safer flying the 22 than I ever did in the 172 simply because I was able to attain a higher level of “where I
was” via the advanced avionics and increased visibility. Although it is important to not rely solely on such modern tools, as a 22 owner you most likely will always have them at your disposal – if not something is going wrong and the plane should be in the repair shop not in the air.

I chose to buy a demo plane because of three factors: 1) Cirrus was offering a $25K discount on the plane (SR22 with Stormscope and “b” avionics) 2) Having 110 hours on the airframe I figured a lot of problems would have been worked out before I took delivery, and 3) I could take delivery immediately. Looking back I think I made the right choice. The plane went through a 100 inspection before I took delivery and it had several things fixed that I didn’t have to deal with (GPS2 replaced, starter replaced, flap relays replaced, attitude indicator replaced 2 times, and the engine was broken in). According to John Fiscus – it said it was quite clean – almost too clean. We did notice several things after delivery: 1) GPS2 has different software than GPS1 (3.00 vs. 2.26) and acts a little weird; I don’t know if it s/w related mismatch issue between #1 and #2 or if it is bad – the cross-fill isn’t complete and ranges on GPS2 are messed up and 3 times it rebooted in flight 2) Several screws on the inspection panels were loose – I lost one inspection panel in flight under the right wing and the left aileron trim panel was never replaced after the 100 hour 3) The pilot door handle pin mechanism isn’t working – the
door seals fine but you can’t close it and have it automatically latch in place 4) The prop had a minor nick in it but was easily filed out in 5 minutes 5) The transponder didn’t initially turn on automatically on our acceptance flight but worked fine ever since and 6) The fuel boost function works intermittently. Not bad when I read some of the other stories on the web site.

I chose Scottsdale for delivery because I wanted the greatest likelihood of good weather and the Scottsdale airport has a Cirrus service center there (Corporate Jets – which really didn’t matter since they couldn’t fix any of my squawks anyways). Additionally I had no desire to go to Duluth in December.

I chose to not take the Cirrus training and instead hired John Fiscus from The Flight Academy to help me take delivery of the plane and then train me in the aircraft. Something just seemed weird about getting advice on a new $300K plane from a CFI that is paid by the company I am buying the plane from – I just thought they couldn’t act solely in my best interest. On top of that the CFIs at the UND don’t seem to have that much experience in the Cirrus planes since their contract is relatively new. On the other hand, John has over 1500 hours in the Cirrus aircraft, he used to work for Cirrus, and he knows where every ghost is hidden.

It might be worth mentioning at this point that I chose the 22 based on the numbers and other pilots’ experiences and not on my salesman’s or Cirrus’s “propaganda.” Not that they were bad to deal with – but they want to sell planes, period. Out of all the companies I dealt with in my purchase process, Cirrus is the most sales focused – which I respect because that will help them build a better business – but don’t be fooled that they are concerned about putting you in the best plane for your needs, skills and budget. I feel very strongly about having someone with you who is on your payroll/side helping you
make the best decision.

The delivery process was very simple – almost too simple. I was shocked at how easy it was especially when comparing it to buying a car or house. Closing took about 12 minutes. The salesman flew the plane to Scottsdale the night before and had the plane detailed. We showed up, John and I, did the demo flight, handed the check over and the salesman left immediately. I was okay with that because I wanted to get to training right away. For the acceptance flight I was very passive. John did everything because he knew exactly what to look for, the salesman sat in the back seat and I simply observed. I recommend this method if your time allows for it since during the acceptance flight there
seemed to be a lot of tension. The salesman just wants to get out of there with a check and it is really not a good time to focus on learning the plane.

Once the delivery was complete the training began. We spent 2 days doing basic flying skills: landings, steep turns, slow flight, etc. and some ground school and stayed in the local area. The next 5 days we spent doing several cross countries (about 5 hours a day). On day 3 we did a cross country to Santa Barbara in the morning and the afternoon we flew to Mendocino, in northern California. During this trip we worked on all the GPS, MFD and Nav avionics. Essentially it was 5 hours of avionics training. Day 4 we flew to Henderson airport in Las Vegas via the bay area and Death Valley. During this trip we did more avionic training and the entire stall series. Day 5 we flew back home to Jeffco in Denver via Moab and worked on mountain flying techniques. Day 6 we flew to Rapid City and back at night reviewing all of the stuff we covered in the past 5 days. Day 7 we spent in the local area and John checked out my CFII that I am using for my instrument training and we also practiced emergency power off landings and finished some ground work. Overall it was an amazing experience. I became extremely familiar with my new plane, gained confidence in my ability to handle a high performance plane, and saw a fair amount of the country.

A word about John Fiscus: He is a fantastic instructor. He is one of those guys that teaches flying because he loves to teach – not because he is trying to build time to become an airline pilot. He knows the Cirrus planes inside and out – many things that aren’t mentioned in any manual – and he has a wealth of experience he shares about other pilots and owners of Cirrus aircraft. He is truly on your team and he makes you feel like you have the upper hand with dealing with the company – he knows what they should do, what they have done in the past and what they will likely do for each issue you may encounter. His flying skills are superb (of course this is based off my limited experience but he can make my plane do amazing things) and he is extremely safety conscious. I would strongly encourage anyone contemplating taking delivery or looking to get some more training to consider using John. John is based out of Seattle but he goes anywhere, he is extremely easy going and very accommodating. The money I spent for the training was nothing compared to the comfort he brought me in my buying process. Overall the whole experience was amazing and I’m looking forward to flying my new plane!

I’ll post when I get my squawks fixed – I don’t anticipate any problems.
- Paul