Recent content by dtaylor

Please don't do that. What if you leave your company or are fired? The loan is do in full. 401k loans should be the absolute last resort.

They work well. They've been installed since the very first 400 came out, in 2004.

Hi All - I have two openings for contract pilots starting as soon as possible. Expect about 15-20 days a month delivering single engine aircraft all across the United States & Canada. Looking for pilots with relatively fresh commercial pilot license and CFI. The applicant should have 350-400...

No. The FIKI TTx (Columbia) does not have protection on the gear.

Not quite!

Lean of Peak performance is very similar. The Cirrus will get off the ground a little faster and the Cessna will out climb and cruise slightly faster than the Cirrus. I always tell people to run the 400 at 67-70% in cruise and where I like to fly (17000' ish) it will true out right at 200 KTAS...

Someone earlier in this thread posted a marketing sheet from Cirrus that said that the Columbia didn't have a fault resistant electrical system. This is why I don't trust marketing info from either company. The 400 has two independent electrical buses and an essential and avionics bus that...

I have 3000 hours in the Columbia/Cessna line and a couple hundred in the Cirrus. I am biased but I do strongly believe that pilots who have flown both understand that the 400 is a better handling airplane. Those that don't think that probably don't have a good grasp of handling or just used...

http://flyevolution.com/blog/entry/10-steps-to-a-successful-return-to-service-flight

Excluding the TTx, there are only about a dozen of them built in Kansas. I typically don't buy the Kansas ones.

I have about 15 at any given time you can look at!

That's sad. I'd sure like to know why they think that. I've had my hands on about 75% of the fleet and we see 120 of them a year and I've only seen two gear problems. Both of those related to the gear bushings slipped out due to improper maintenance. There was even a bulletin back in 2007 to...

Mid 2007 Sure, sometime in late 2009 they switched to the new style hinges. All Columbia/Corvalis aircraft are required by AD to have the new hinges on by now. The AD forced the need to redesign the hinges, not the other way around.

2008 is probably the pinnacle year, but 2006 and 2007 are very close. 2008's do have WAAS standard and about 35 extra pounds useful load. They have redesigned gear bushings that prevent them from walking out. The rudder is the same on all 400's and no 400 ever built has a yaw dampener. You...

I've had great success transitioning pilots with under 300 hours into the airplane. It really is quite easy to fly. Maintenance costs aren't too bad, where it gets ugly is when shops neglect maintenance on an aircraft then it adds up. There are only a half dozen shops that I'd consider...