I flew a new Cirrus 22T today. List price about $795,000. It’s a nice fixed gear aircraft. Nice avionics, nice appointments and finish in the interior. The wings are glassy smooth. Good performance—190 ktas at 12,000 and below on 17.5 gph—same speed as my Baron on about 7 less gph. The salesman said he’s gotten 223 ktas at FL250. Forward visibility was not very good. It was not as responsive in pitch or roll as my Beechcraft, and didn’t have that tight, rock-solid flying feel of a Beech. I’m no aerospace engineer, but common sense says Cirrus had to trade-off some positive design features to get 190 ktas (and more) out of a fixed gear aircraft on 315 h.p. A lower roofline (than Beech) gave lower drag and lower visibility/headroom. It has noticeably small ailerons and elevators---good for less drag, but not good for responsiveness. It doesn’t have controllable trim tabs on the ailerons and elevators, but uses a more complex electronic trim system on the ailerons and elevators themselves.
It’s innovative. The GA industry needs that. I admire its strongpoints, and just note for the record its other attributes. “I come to praise Caesar, not bury him (sic).”

800k for a cirrus????

This is an excellent review. You can clearly see why inexperienced pilots who have not flown a Beechcraft gravitate to these aircraft.

Yup. For this top-of-their-line bird...

It's a pretty nice airplane, and they sell a lot more of them than other plane manufacturers sell...

I´ve never flown one, or in one. I´ve only sat in them at a show and I think they are very cool. But 800k? Not that cool. My hangar neighbor has a really nice 2008 SR22TN GTSX. I love it.

The fact that they sell more than any other manufacturer doesn´t really mean it´s the best plane, they have (had?) the best marketing campaign. Their target demographic is new pilots with lots of money. No doubt cirrus is the best thing that´s happened to GA in a while, they brought in lots of pilots.

I think I prefer the 400 though.

RP:
I think they fly a little funny. Too twitchy in pitch, too ponderous in roll, decorative flaps, weird trim button, and they seem to be the only airplane keeping the local FBO maintenance shop busy (broken nosegear struts, cracked "structural" plastic, blowing plugs in the turbos, etc etc). Beech design from 1947 has this 21st century cruiser beat by miles. The parachute is cool, though.
Robin White

+1 to Robin and Rudolfos' comments. They have a parachute for a very good reason; it's the ONLY way they could get it certified. I have the Bob Hoover philosophy myself, 'I ain't gonna' jump, I'm gonna' fly the thing as far into the crash as possible!

I rode as a passenger once, I prefer to never again.

I know it's real popular around here to bash the Cirrus, but c'mon guys, it's actually a pretty nice plane (my second-favorite plane after my current one). I loved the way it flies, it's very well equipped, and it's fast. Ours was a NA G2 model.

Oh, and the parachute was installed for many reasons, but NOT because that was the only way it could be certified. If interested, read up on ELOS.

The reason I wouldn't want to pay 800k for one is that you can find a G3 with the TAT-TN, 500hrs and 3 years on the clock for less than 1/2 of that. Even if you throw in the inadvertent TKS and a top overhaul, you could buy a second one just for spares and still be ahead.

It was installed because they decided to go that route rather than demonstrating either spin resistance or the ability to recover.

What I remember most from my two-hour ride in an early SR20 was that it needed air conditioning more than any other small plane I'd ever flown in. It wasn't available at first, but I'll bet they sell very few without it now.

I'm not saying it's not good or anything of the sort. I'm saying I, personally, (having ZERO experience with them) don't think they're worth 800k, that's all. As florian says, you can buy a barely used one for 350k.

I'm not saying it's not good or anything of the sort. I'm saying I, personally, (having ZERO experience with them) don't think they're worth 800k, that's all. As florian says, you can buy a barely used one for 350k.

If I was rating an aviation "best buy" it'd have to be a late model Cirrus...you can get one 25 years newer than a Bo for equal money with perfect cosmetics, glass panel, 10-15kts more speed and a parachute...if I didn't need 6 seats I'd give'm a good look...love the A36 though for balanced performance and utility. Most fun flying ever award from me goes to the Pitts SC2, not real practical though.