Cliffs notes version:After a couple years of research, test flying and countless spreadsheets, this past week I took delivery of my first solely owned aircraft, a 2012 SR22T G3. In short, I absolutely love it and have already put ~20 hours on her since last weekend. Getting here has been quite a lengthy process and for those interested in the backstory, you can read further on below. Knowing the unwritten rule on BT of “pictures or it didn’t happen” I will appease you first with gobs of photos:
Delivery day:
Western NY Fly-in
Visit to Cirrus' new Service Center and Delivery Center in Knoxville, TN (photo with Dale Klapmeier):
Panel:
Interior:
The full backstory:I’ve been flying now for about 10 years and have taken a number of steps up the aviation ladder beginning with a flying club in a C172 and then renting late model G1000 C172s from a local flight school. Renting was a serious PITA, so I quickly opted to buy into a C182 partnership which was my main flyer for several years. My flying club also had a Cherokee Six which I began using and loved it for the room and UL capabilities. The C182 and Cherokee Six served me well for a couple years until I discovered the realities of icing in the Midwest.
After my first encounter with icing (it was only trace ice on the C182 but it didn’t matter as it scared the crap out of me), I immediately began looking for a FIKI bird and realized that the attractive FIKI single engine options (A36, SR22, Mooney) were VERY costly to acquire. I attempted to set up a partnership in an SR22 or A36 but couldn’t find enough interested parties, so I opted for a less expensive option, buying into an existing (2) person partnership in a Seneca II which has now served as my main flyer for the past several years. The Seneca was a fantastic upgrade and it handled the family trips even better than the Cherokee Six. It sheds ice like a champ and did all of my business missions quite nicely.
As the business has grown, my flying has also grown (I’ll have ~250 hrs in the logbook this year). At the same time, the reliability and dispatchability of the Seneca became an issue. Last year the Seneca was in the shop for over 2 months for a laundry list of issues. The more I flew it, the more time it spent in the shop.
I realized that I needed a FIKI backup to the Seneca and discovered a late model SR22 G5 located about 45 minutes from my home base that I could rent. The SR22 was REALLY, REALLY nice. Without a doubt, my flights in the Cirrus were the best and most enjoyable flying experience I had ever had among the (20) different aircraft I had flown so far. At the same time, my wife absolutely fell in love with it. She’s a reluctant flyer but she would grin from ear to ear when flying in the Cirrus. The problem was that it was so popular that availability was an issue. When I needed it, it was available only about 20% of the time.
I now needed another backup option. I looked further and found a C340 for rent in Cleveland, about 2 hrs away from my home airport. I worked out an arrangement to have a ferry pilot bring it to my home base where I would keep it for 2-4 weeks at a time and then he would come pick it back up and return it to the home base. So this past year, I flew a mixture of the Seneca, SR22 and C340 on both business and personal trips. Being able to use these on actual missions was fantastic in order to evaluate the realities of flying and owning them before stroking the big checks.
The pressurization, room and performance of the C340 had me hooked. I showed it to my wife and she liked the roominess of the cabin. It would easily accommodate all of my business trips and family trips and also offer a bit more performance and room compared to the Seneca. Renting it was becoming a real hassle and I decided to just buy one of my own. Soon after beginning my search, I noticed that the C421 wasn’t that much of a stretch from a C340. I joined the Twin Cessna Flyers group, began talking to owners and Twin Cessna shops and began shopping to buy a C421. I found several candidates and nearly pulled the trigger on a couple.
During the buying process (and extensive flying of the C340), I received a big education on the financial and maintenance realities of owning the legacy pressurized twins. In short, they are NEVER squawk free. There was something wrong with the C340 on every single flight I took. Worrying about this or that on every flight really took a lot of the pleasure out of the flying experience. In addition, $50K mx bills seem to lurk around every corner. The ability to accurately forecast maintenance and ownership costs doesn’t seem to be possible. You can take one to a reputable Twin Cessna shop and cough up $50K in maintenance and then take them to another shop and have another $50K in additional maintenance right behind it. As much as I ABSOLUTELY love C421s, I decided that I didn’t like the unpredictability of mx and just don’t have the time and patience to deal with the realities of owning one of these birds. Maybe someday but not today.
I looked briefly into T-props, including Meridian, Cheyenne, Conquest, MU2. Although the all-in costs of a T-prop may be not much more than a C421, I felt that I just wasn’t financially ready for that step. A T-prop is certainly the direction that I’m headed and my missions certainly scream T-prop, but it will simply have to wait for now.
I went back to the drawing board and considered the SR22 again. It wouldn’t do the overnight family trips like the C340 / C421 but it was nearly perfect for my business trips, which comprise 90%+ of my flying. Besides, I could keep the 1/3 share of the Seneca (it’s relatively inexpensive) and still use it for the family / multi-passenger trips or even use the C340 if needed. An SR22 Turbo would offer the same or slightly better performance than the Seneca and the reliability and dispatchability would be far, far greater.
I began shopping and looked mostly at 2010 – 2012 SR22 Turbo and SR22T’s. 2009 is the first year for FIKI TKS but I was advised to avoid those. I found a very nice 2012 SR22T with ~ 900 hours and (1) year remaining on the factory warranty. It’s equipped with just about everything: Turbo, FIKI TKS, A/C, built-in O2, ADS-B, XM weather, Garmin Perspective, IR camera and even an integrated satellite phone. Yes, I can make phone calls and send text messages directly from the Perspective panel from any altitude, anywhere in the world. It’s one of my favorite features, especially on long trips.
I took delivery last Saturday and have already had it to western NY state, Atlanta, Tampa and Knoxville. I absolutely love it and have the most ridiculous grin on my face everytime I fly it. It is truly the best flying experience I’ve ever had with any airplane I’ve flown so far. Everything just plain works. It is an absolutely rock solid IFR platform with the best integrated avionics system I’ve ever experienced.
My apologies for many of the Beechcraft truists here on this forum as I know your feelings towards brand ‘C’. I did highly consider an A36 but my wife has grown much more comfortable with the thought of me flying either a twin or a single with a chute and if I can make her happy and still be happy myself, well that’s hard to beat right there…
Finally, I'd like to thank everyone who gave advice and guidance in my process, including folks here on BT, Twin Cessna Pilots and Owners, Cirrus engineers and Service / Support, fellow pilots and friends. I hope to be able to make equal contributions to others who someday may benefit from my experiences.
enjoy!
