Cirrus Life

schmookeeg

schmookeeg

En-Route
Joined
Nov 6, 2008
Messages
4,836
Location
Alameda, CA
Display Name
Display name:
Mike Brannigan
Hello. :)

My flight review expired this morning while I slept. I like to get new ratings or learn new planes when I do these, and I'm in Phoenix on business for the rest of the week.. so my options seem to lean to Cirrus planes. They're everywhere down here. (at least in/around Scottsdale)

I have zero time in any Cirrus. I do have copious G1000 time and am IFR current.

Is it reasonable to think I can get a flight review in an SR series done in a few hours? I don't want the one-and-done pencil whip FR, but I don't want to end up on these canned Cirrus online training 9 or 17-hour (!) standardized checkout marches either. I'd be fine up to about 4 hours I think.

I know Cirrus does things a little differently, so not sure if I'm over-thinking this or not, while I wait for the replies from these platinum certified triple magic star cirrus pilot centers to reply to my inquiries, I figured the group here would know how this works.

A dude sometimes just wants a flight review, not a whole lifestyle. These FBOs don't make it obvious if that's possible or not. :D
 
I would just look for a place that rents a Cirrus and talk with the pilot that does the checkouts and ask if they’ll do a FR along with a checkout. Sounds like a fun way to try a new airplane.
 
Renting a Cirrus for a flight review? I hope you brought your checkbook....
 
No Cirrus info but have done a very enjoyable sightseeing flight out of Chandler. Nice 172, great CFI. Very neat area to fly over - some red rocks, some canyons, and some genuine wild horses! Fun morning and this instructor would have been great to do a BFR with: knowledgeable and enthusiastic.
 
Ryanb said:
Renting a Cirrus for a flight review? I hope you brought your checkbook....
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Checkbook? Platinum certified triple magic star cirrus pilot centers don’t take something as pedestrian as a check. :rolleyes: You need a platinum AMEX card or better, baby! :D And if they have an SF50 you’ll need a titanium card, or AMEX Black Card. ;)
 
I'm getting checked out in Scottsdale tomorrow in a 22, I'll let you know how it goes.
 
PaulS said:
I'm getting checked out in Scottsdale tomorrow in a 22, I'll let you know how it goes.
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Thanks! Yeah, I dunno why I feel like "can I get a FR in your airplanes" feels like an odd question. I think the mystique of the Cirrus marketing is working on me :D
 
schmookeeg said:
Thanks! Yeah, I dunno why I feel like "can I get a FR in your airplanes" feels like an odd question. I think the mystique of the Cirrus marketing is working on me :D
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I don't know why not, but yeah sometimes the Cirrus renters/CFIs can be a be different. I own a share a SR22 and I love flying them, but sometimes....

Now, if you want to rent it outside of training you'll have to do the full Cirrus Transition training. Some of that is now a part of insurance requirements/preferences. But for a flight review I don't see why they wouldn't be good with that. Plus it gives them an opportunity to sell the Transition program to you. ;)

Do the places around you have newer Cirrus planes with the Perspective avionics (you mentioned your G1000 experience)? Most of my Cirrus time has been with Avidyne and Garmin 430s. The Cirrus model/plane with most hours for me was a G1 with a six pack. So, several possibilities on the avionics.

The Perspective with synthetic vision is like cheating when shooting approaches. :) I was wearing foggles shooting and ILS and the runway looked off to the right on the display, but the needles were centered. I asked the CFI, is the runway really that far off to the right? Yep. So I peeked. Dang that thing is accurate.
 
If the flight school is a Cirrus training center school, you’ll probably have to go through their 15 hour-ish course to get signed off to rent the plane. If you’re just going for a flight review, I don’t see why they can’t spend a few hours and go over maneuvers and landings and sign you off for a flight review. I doubt they’d sign you off to rent the plane without you competing the Cirrus coursework.
 
schmookeeg said:
Thanks! Yeah, I dunno why I feel like "can I get a FR in your airplanes" feels like an odd question. I think the mystique of the Cirrus marketing is working on me :D
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Flew this morning, I'm renting. Flight went ok, but I was planning on a 22 NA G5, decided to check out in a 22T G3. They fly pretty much the same except for power settings, which I screwed up a little on final too much power and you never come down, too little and you drop like a rock so you need to be on with the settings and the % power for the turbo are markedly different than the NA. I decided that I wanted another flight with the instructor then hopefully good to go in the Turbo. Pretty sure if I had stuck with the NA we would have been done. Flap speeds are different too, 50% at 119 knots versus 50% at 150 for the G5 make speed management a little more interesting, been awhile since I've worried about getting to 119 for first flaps.

Scottsdale is a busy place with interesting airspace (under the PHX bravo) plus good sized mountains. I think flying in from somewhere else IFR would be pretty uneventful, but multiple flights around here I'd like another go with an instructor at my side.

There was weather that was supposed to come through later this afternoon, that came by early. It was acting convective and right on our route home, so it was nice to have someone familiar with the mountains as we maneuvered around the precip in conditions that would have produced ice.
 
Would love to fly a Cirrus - they look like it would be a great plane. I don't think it would ever be in my budget however. A Skyhawk or Tiger goes for $150 wet, while a Cirrus SR 20 goes for $420.

BTW - If I ever start loosing the rental rates I have, it might make owning that much closer to something I could talk myself into.
 
WDD said:
Would love to fly a Cirrus - they look like it would be a great plane. I don't think it would ever be in my budget however. A Skyhawk or Tiger goes for $150 wet, while a Cirrus SR 20 goes for $420.

BTW - If I ever start loosing the rental rates I have, it might make owning that much closer to something I could talk myself into.
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Sr20 G6 $299 wet around here
 
WDD said:
Would love to fly a Cirrus - they look like it would be a great plane. I don't think it would ever be in my budget however. A Skyhawk or Tiger goes for $150 wet, while a Cirrus SR 20 goes for $420.

BTW - If I ever start loosing the rental rates I have, it might make owning that much closer to something I could talk myself into.
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There's a G2 SR22 at PDK for $320/hr wet, plus sales tax.

The newer spiffier planes at Aero Atlanta go for more.
 
About $365/hr or so for a Cirrus here in Sarasota/St. Pete area as well. Can't remember if they are dual-only, but there's a turbo arrow here that is. Kinda stifles renters when you have to take a CFI everywhere you go.
 
wayne said:
Checkbook? Platinum certified triple magic star cirrus pilot centers don’t take something as pedestrian as a check. :rolleyes: You need a platinum AMEX card or better, baby! :D And if they have an SF50 you’ll need a titanium card, or AMEX Black Card. ;)
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VenMo works too, but there's a weekly cap VenMo allows (don't ask me how I know):oops:

schmookeeg said:
Hello. :)

My flight review expired this morning while I slept. I like to get new ratings or learn new planes when I do these, and I'm in Phoenix on business for the rest of the week.. so my options seem to lean to Cirrus planes. They're everywhere down here. (at least in/around Scottsdale)

I have zero time in any Cirrus. I do have copious G1000 time and am IFR current.

Is it reasonable to think I can get a flight review in an SR series done in a few hours? I don't want the one-and-done pencil whip FR, but I don't want to end up on these canned Cirrus online training 9 or 17-hour (!) standardized checkout marches either. I'd be fine up to about 4 hours I think.

I know Cirrus does things a little differently, so not sure if I'm over-thinking this or not, while I wait for the replies from these platinum certified triple magic star cirrus pilot centers to reply to my inquiries, I figured the group here would know how this works.

A dude sometimes just wants a flight review, not a whole lifestyle. These FBOs don't make it obvious if that's possible or not. :D
Click to expand...
Cool way to try a new plane.
If a club or rental outfit tries to rope you into some 20 hr transition then that's nonsense and they just want your $$. Honestly a competent and proficient pilot should have no problem flying the plane. Much of that transition is training on the G1000 anyway, and reminding pilots not to fly the approach at 65 knots and learning to land without porpoising. If you are good at speed and power management it's really not a hard plane to fly, it goes exactly where you point it. It's just much tighter on the controls than what someone coming from a 172/182 might be used to. But Tigers are a little touchier too, and Mooney requires speed discipline as well. The difference is very few (if any?) clubs offer Mooney rentals, and those with Tigers usually require a specific Tiger checkout..

Either way, it'll be fun, hopefully you'll enjoy it!

Caramon13 said:
About $365/hr or so for a Cirrus here in Sarasota/St. Pete area as well.
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There's one turbo G5 in the San Diego area that's rentable, last I checked it was around $350/hr, dry.. but it's turbo with Fiki and O2 and it was *not* dual only.. IE, you could rent it at whim

Caramon13 said:
dual-only
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It's frustrating, and I totally agree. I have to think the dual only stuff is strictly to train someone, someone who ultimately has their own plane or after an instruction period is going to fly somewhere else.. (or just wants to try something different)

**honestly, the prices aren't cheap.. but a lot of places are charging around $160/hr now for a non-POS Cessna.. and even the 40-60 year old POS rental planes are getting up towards the $140/hr mark. If you want to rent a plane you can actually depend on and take for 300-500 nm legs, that has *some* weather capabilities, I would say (for some applications) the Cirrus is at least 2X-3X superior to travel in than a 172 (it's not twice as fast and can't carry twice as much, but when you add everything up?)

Mind you, if people were actually buying new Bonanzas, new Mooney, and new Stationaires, these planes would also be renting north of $300/hr and have strict requirements around rental policy. I'm sure any outfit offering TTx for rent would also be expensive and have strict checkout requirements

Cirrus isn't the only expensive new planes, it's the same as any new Bo, high performance Piper, TTx, Mooney, etc., the difference is it's the only one anyone is buying, and the one who's manufacturer hasn't abandoned (I'm looking at you Cessna/Beech) or struggles to stay in business. To that point, Piper deserves more credit than it gets. You can train in a PA28 and go through the move up ladder until you're in a Meridian.. that's pretty cool!
 
Heard from one of my two FBOs this morning, seems that my fears were unfounded -- Elite Flight Training in Scottsdale was more than happy to do a FR in their planes, and assured me that it would be a likely 4-hour session (ground+flight) or so, depending on me, and NOT depending on their canned syllabi.

So at ~$450/hr for dual, I should be out for about the cost of a conti cylinder or two. :D
 
5C1 has 2x SR20s available for $280/hr and $320/hr. Both are G3, the cheaper one is an 08 model and the other is a 2015.
 
Just not in my budget, but I'm thrilled to be at a point in my life where the C172 and Tigers are affordable for me. Won't stop me from admiring the Cirrus though. I wonder if folks with the older ones are pulling out the dual G430's and updating with the 650's or whatnot?
 
WDD said:
I wonder if folks with the older ones are pulling out the dual G430's and updating with the 650's or whatnot?
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A mix of things. Many still sport 430s, but with ADS-B most have at least one with WAAS. Some have dual 650s or dual IFD 440s. Others have a remote transponder to make room for a 750 or IFD 540 or 550 over a 650 or 440.

You might think with the MFD that a 750 or 500 series IFD would be needed, but I know at least with the 750 that the touch keyboard is much nicer than on the 650. Plus, can you really have too much screen realestate? ;)
 
schmookeeg said:
Heard from one of my two FBOs this morning, seems that my fears were unfounded -- Elite Flight Training in Scottsdale was more than happy to do a FR in their planes, and assured me that it would be a likely 4-hour session (ground+flight) or so, depending on me, and NOT depending on their canned syllabi.

So at ~$450/hr for dual, I should be out for about the cost of a conti cylinder or two. :D
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May not be the cheapest but sometimes you just have to view it as paying for a new experience, part of what comes with trying and experiencing new things. More expensive than a 172 flight review? Sure, but is it worth the experience, only you can decide!
 
My experience with Cirrus was that I was able to get a checkout on a Cirrus SR20 done in about 1-1/2 hours. Nothing too difficult for an experienced pilot and the instructor knew me well. The SR22 checkouts at different places were both with guys who were (IMO) a little too excited to show off their fancy SR22. The same guys seemed to be hungry for rental hours on their expensive aircraft... I like the plane, but not a fan of the way some instructors treat it as a special beast that only they understand. Took me about 5 hours to be comfortable in the SR22 and that was before I had much time in higher performance aircraft.

Thinking further though - you're asking if you can get a flight review completed in a Cirrus - I'd say sure you can. I'd bet you can pretty quickly adapt to the airplane. You have plenty of time in fast planes that weigh more than a 172. If you are on top of the systems knowledge and the speeds for each phase of flight as you arrive or depart from the airport area, then I'd bet you're not going to have a problem. The plane handles well and the panel won't be hard for you to adapt to. Getting a sign off to rent the plane might require a bit more time because of insurance requirements at the place renting it, or perhaps they have other special criteria that needs to be met before they hand you the keys to fly it solo. Go for it.
 
I know the premier Cirrus school at my field will bend you over and take every cent. I have heard of a few people had line used at least.
 
Ryanb said:
Renting a Cirrus for a flight review? I hope you brought your checkbook....
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Whats the going rate for renting one? SR20 SR22? I see them when I visit near Richmond, VA they have a place that only trains in Cirrus for PPL and IFR, etc.
 
Apollo_334 said:
Whats the going rate for renting one? SR20 SR22? I see them when I visit near Richmond, VA they have a place that only trains in Cirrus for PPL and IFR, etc.
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I’ve seen prices range from $350-$500hr depending on the year and model.
 
Ryanb said:
I’ve seen prices range from $350-$500hr depending on the year and model.
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Well, for all that I'll just fly my Cherokee 180. I'd love to go up in one if someone offered. I see SR20's and SR22's out at my hangar all the time. Always knew they were expensive to own...but just to rent they want that much of a rate? Think i'll pass for the time being. Maybe one day.....
 
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