Neat experience today.

I decided to stop by my local airport today (N38) as I hadn't been by in
a while. While I was there, a Cirrus SR20 pulled up to the pumps.
Never having seen one in person, I walked over and asked the pilot if he
minded me walking around and taking a closer look. He said, "how about
going for a ride?" I said sure.

He asked if I was a pilot, and I told him I was. After we buckled in
and he briefed me on the chute system (how much to slow down before
deployment, etc.), he asked me if I wanted to taxi out and perform the
takeoff. I said sure again.

The Cirrus was tricky to taxi for someone used to Cessnas and Pipers. I
don't know much about this airplane, but I'm guessing it has a castering
nosewheel and pusing the rudder pedals had basically no affect
directionally. You had to keep tapping the brakes to change course left
or right. It was pretty tricky at first, but I finally got the weaving
down to the "slightly less than embarrasing" level.

The rudder came alive pretty quickly on the takeoff roll, but
acceleration was sluggish compared to a 182, but probably similar to the
club Arrow I know fly, which I also consider sluggish. I don't know the
typical weight of the SR20, but it probably is nearly as heavy as the
182 with 30 less HP. The rotation speed is similar to the Arrow (65
knots was what the owner recommended) and a fair bit higher than the
182. Climb was sluggish, again much like the Arrow and at a similar
speed (90K). Once at 3500' I leveled off and the speed built up nicely.

The side stick would take some getting used to, but it wasn't bad. I
found the controls to be more sluggish than my 182, but less so than the
Arrow.

The airplane has the Avidyne EFIS and dual 430s. I could get to like
this setup very quickly. After tooling around for 10 minutes or so, the
pilot set up the GPS 28 approach into N38 and engaged the autopilot and
let it fly the approach. The moving map was amazing from a situational
awareness perspective. The advantage over the KLN89B in the club Arrow
was tremendous. It was obvious this setup would take some study and
familiarization, but its usefulness in the soup was eminently obvious.

The thing that struck me most about the airplane was its quietness, both
from engine noise and air noise. It was equipped with Bose ANR headsets
for all occupants so I don't know how much was due to the headsets and
how much was due to the airframe. I'd planned to remove the headsets
once at cruise to have a listen, but got so engrossed in the EFIS that I
completely forgot about doing that. The seats were also much more
comfortably than anything I've sat in in an airplane, other than those
in the corporate jets my employer operates. This is an airplane that
one could easily fly all day with little fatigue.

I'm still not sure I'd choose a Cirrus over a new Skylane with similar
avionics, but it certainly was a neat opportunity to get to fly one.
Unfortunately, the owner didn't have any business cards with him and I
can't now remember his name. I'm terrible with names and didn't write
it down before I left the airport. He said he'd call me when it was in
the area again (he's from Wellsboro and his mother still lives there) if
I wanted to take a more extensive ride, and he has my business card so
I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I suspect that flying an SR22 might change my opinion as the main thing
with the SR20 is that it felt underpowered, just like the Arrow. After
flying a Skylane for 6 years, I really miss the performance,
particularly on takeoff.


Matt