For people who are well healed the Cirrus is an excellent choice. It gives them the opportunity to throw away money on the purchase and the maintenance! For the rest of us unwashed slugs, we'll continue to purchase our old 1947 to 1980 Bonanzas, Cessnas, Pipers, etc. for purchase prices from $20K to $200K. The VAST majority of the airplane market is in this price range and will be until inflation takes us up some more. So saying Cirrus is the "future" of GA ignores the fact that 90% of the GA population can't afford to buy them or maintain them.

Having hundreds of new SE GA planes entering the fleet each year is good for ALL of us.

I've always believed Beech should have updated the F33A to have the same controls and panel as the 1984, and later, 36 models. This would have given Beech a directly competitive model when Cirrus started making the SR22. They would have been ready with a panel easily adaptive to what was in the SR22's panel. Even with Cirrus selling SR22's like the proverbial hotcakes, it took Beech five years to get the glass panels and change their only single engine model from A36 to G36.

Selling small four-seat airplanes was Cirrus' only business and they concentrated on marketing them, and did so aggressively, selling as many as 700+ planes per year for a while, as Beech was selling less than 100 Bonanzas.

Piston airplane manufacturing was a small percentage of Raytheon's total business in the 1990's and early 2,000's. That is one big reason, in my opinion, why Cirrus had such great success. Raytheon could have buried Cirrus early on with aggressive advertising and pricing of F33A's and G36's, but remained old-fashioned and watched their piston sales dwindle to a mere trickle.

+1.

Timothy, do you really not see the difference?

I don't buy new cars, or airplanes, or boats, or homes.....but I understand why some do and understand that without them, the rest of us don't get to play.

You can already buy a nice used Cirrus for $200K. Your Baron is $1.2M new now.

I didn't say it was "here now". I said that Cirrus will take aviation to that level. Cirrus will make it so you don't need a pilots license to own and fly your own airplane.

Anyone young men interested in becoming pilots for a living right now better go find a new career path.

Great point Graham.


When I was @ SNF this year, I spent some time talking to the BeechCraft folks. Sadly enough I could tell that the majority of them didn't want to spend much time speaking to me, once they discovered that I was just an ol bo bro, flying a 48 year old antique beech.

However, there was a younger guy there that spent some time asking about my plane and what mods I'd done to it. Especially after he found out I was a BT member. He seemed somewhat bemused that I wasn't flying a garmin stacked, glass paneled bo.

Be that as it may, once we got to talking I asked him about what Beech really had coming down the line for their GA fleet, besides newer paint, interior and panels for the same airframes they've been selling for eons. What he shared next was encouraging, I just hope it wasn't pipe dreaming. In no certain order, here's what he had to say.....

1. He thought that Beech would build a PC12 contender. (like the one on the cover of AOPA a while back) That there was quite a bit of activity in this direction.

2. He thought we would also have a G36TC in the very near future.

3. He also said that they were discussing bringing out a pressurized 6 place single engine turbine built on a 58P chasis. Much like the Typhoon model built by Wendell down in SC. (something to contend with the meridian)


He discussed a few things on the horizon for the KA's, but being as I really don't know much about em, it was lost on me.

So, here's hoping that the Sales and Marketing, as well as the Design folks at Beech are finding their way to the 21st century.

I for one hope they make the transition and actually do Embrace Change.

They should pay you to post here. You are the master of the 20 page thread.

Anyway, one of my co-workers has been pushing me hard to buy one rather than go the twin route (my wife doesn't want to fly single engine anymore, the co-worker says the chute keeps his wife in the plane). Your perspective on it is very interesting.

Well put. I think J.C. Makes these posts then sits back and reads while making his tea as everybody gets worked up.

I haven't quite figured him out yet, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't actually live what he posts all the time. I think he gets a kick out of getting everyone worked up.

Kinda funny at times I have to admit.............

Cirrus isn't trying to attract "The GA Population". They're trying to attract the guy flying first class sitting at Atlanta airport right now miserable being treated like a number.

I was that guy. I never "dreamed of flight". I got sick of dealing with the BS. I knew I could afford an airplane so I went and did it.

When Cirrus launches a $700K airplane that flies itself and doesn't need a pilot......... They will sell a million of them. That's the goal at Cirrus.

I'm standing right here. Why you writing like I can't read or something?

I believe what I'm writing. What I want to know is why does what I'm writing get SOME people so worked up? I'm speaking the truth. Do you not see what I see?

*snore*




*snore*



Huh? What? Who? I'm sorry Jessie, I missed your story about your "twin engine airplane and how safe it is" or something or other.......