Dan Luke wrote:
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.

The Stearman flies slowly enough that one has time to enjoy the view as
the world slips by at 100 mph - The Stearman wins!

* 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.

One could buy a Stearman for the $100G's. The Stearman wins again!


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


The Stearman is a load unto herself. I've cracked a rib trying to move
her around on the ground (really, and it was stupid and it *hurt*!).
In a previous life, she was fitted with a huge hopper to spray crops.
I'm not sure what a few hundred gallons of insecticide weighs, but...
The Stearman wins AGAIN!


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

Swinging that beautiful wooden prop and with 220 roaring HP... uh, go
back up and reread about enjoying the view again. You'll be very close
to it for a long time.


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


The Stearman has a wing that kinda gets in the way when you land.
Since one can't even see the 50' obstacle, why worry about how close
you can land to it?


* 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.


What's an "interior"???


* 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.


The "display" is viewed over the nose and is framed by airplane wings
and flying wires. My "autopilot" is really cute and sits in the front
cockpit. No contest on either point, boys.

A few other important things you forgot to talk about:

Landings - In the Stearman, everyone and their grandmother will flock
to watch when you enter the pattern, and the Stearman has a
not-undeserved reputation for being... interesting.... when she comes
back to Earth. You will absolutely, positively, concentrate during
every landing to polish-and-shine your landing technique. Or else.

Engine Starts - What's it take to start a Cirrus? Punch a few buttons,
wiggle a knob, and it rolls over and runs. Bah! The Stearman requires
priming the engine (it's at the front of the plane, about 12 feet
forward of the cockpit, btw), then running around to the cockpit to hit
the starter before that gas all boils away. One good chug, then BAWHAM
and CHUGG and POOOFF! and a humongous cloud of smoke announces that
real aviation is about to take place. Unless you miss something a
little bit and she doesn't start. In that case, you get to unstrap and
climb back out and walk back around the wing and prime her again....

Then there are the bugs. OK, you might win on that one. :-|

-Dave Russell
N2S-3