Cessna and Cirrus brought one of each to the Angel Flight fly-in at PNS
yesterday, and I got the sales pitch from each rep. No test flights,
alas.

Both are highly desirable airplanes, of course, but I was surprised at
how closely I rated them as a potential buyer:

* Speed: Cirrus wins big: 40+ KTAS faster. The Cessna rep. claimed 135
for the Skylane, which seems a bit pokey for an airframe that has
supposedly had an extensive aerodynamic cleanup.

* Cost: 182 wins big: ~$100k lower sticker price and $3.5k insurance
premium vs. $8k(!) for the SR-22. The Cirrus guy said mine might be as
much as $1.5k lower since I have 1,000 hours, an instrument rating and
600+ hours of retract time.

* Useful load: Slight edge to the 182; 1213 lbs. vs. 1150 lbs.

* ROC: Cirrus wins big; 1,400 fpm vs. 923 fpm.

* Takeoff/Landing performance: 182 wins big. Although they are pretty
close on takeoff, the Skylane is 1,000' better landing over a 50'
obstacle.

* Interior: Very slight edge to Cirrus. It's a bit roomier, and the
accessibility of controls and switches without a yoke in the way is very
good. The 182 was very nice inside, too. The redesigned instrument
panel puts the switches easily to hand, and they have nice big handles
and labels. The no-nonsense metal panel is a great improvement over the
old plastic crap - overall, the interior gives the impression of utility
and durability. With the seat at max. vertical adjustment, the view
over the glare shield seems a bit better than in older Skylanes.

* Avionics: A tie. The displays looked terrific in full daylight. The
182 does not have XM weather on the Garmin MFD yet, but Cessna says it
will be added at no cost when it's available. For now, 182s are
delivered wit a B/K KAP-140 autopilot; later models will have a new
Garmin ap built into the G-1000.

So if I were of a mind to plunk down a few hundred large for a new
piston single, I might have trouble choosing between these two very nice
rides. The SR-22 is more airplane, but it's a lot more money, too.
Cessna has done a fine job modernizing the 182, IMO, and I'd be very
happy to own one.

--
Dan
C172RG at BFM