On The Glideslope

A Switch In Platforms

I made the decision earlier this week to do my IFR training in this SR-20. I had a flight in it last month, and another this week, and while it is more expensive per hour than the other airplanes I’ve been flying I believe it’s the right platform for me long term. As I’ve done more research on Cirrus I’ve been particularly impressed with the focus on safety and the very strong pilot community , embodied by COPA, the association for Cirrus pilots and owners. I’ve joined it, and have already learned a lot about general aviation just from reading its forums. I also very much like the tone of that community: everyone uses their real names, the disagreements are extremely civil, and folks are beyond helpful.

COPA also runs a series of proficiency programs, called CPPP’s, several times a year that include flight and ground schools and can count as FAA Wings training credit. There’s one in Lakeland, FL next weekend and I’ve enrolled in the ground school. I’m really looking forward to it.

Finally, I’ve configured the sim to model an SR-20 using Jason Chandler’s Cirrus package. I find the flight model excellent, and you get both SR-20s and SR-22s in the package. I tried the vFlyte SR-20 but it was difficult to remove cockpit objects so they weren’t visible in my monitors. That vFlyte package would be better for VR use, though. Air Manager for iPad has a basic Avidyne panel (which the SR-20 I’ll be flying uses) that I can run in the sim. It works well

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, but lacks a lot of the data the real thing presents, so this weekend I’ll be looking into building my own via the Air Manager desktop app. I’ll keep you posted on that experiment.

Basement Fly Guy

5 responses to “A Switch In Platforms”

  1. ROBERT T MCGRATH Avatar
    ROBERT T MCGRATH

    Congrats on the move to the SR-20. I’ll confess I have no experience in that aircraft, but it has been around a while and is viewed very positively. As long as it provides a stable IFR platform that’s the main factor. Best of luck. I’ll look for a Cirrus download in X-Plane or check out the package you mentioned.

    1. Basement Fly Guy Avatar
      Basement Fly Guy

      Thanks!

  2. Steve Williamson Avatar
    Steve Williamson

    Now that you are focusing on the SR-20 series aircraft, do you have any plans to change your home cockpit from a yoke and throttle quadrant to a HOTAS stick and throttle lever?

    1. Basement Fly Guy Avatar
      Basement Fly Guy

      No so far.

  3. Matt Avatar
    Matt

    I did my instrument ticket in a 172 and an Arrow 200. The first time a shot an ILS in a Mooney… I hated going back to Cessna and Piper. The Mooney handled like a sports car. Touch the yoke and think what you wanted it to do and it did it. I LOVED flying that plane! Nailed the approaches every time. The Piper and Cessna handle like a 1975 Buick Electra, sloppy and going nowhere fast. Hopefully Cirrus is more like a Mooney (or a Bonanza – love that one too).

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