Jay Honeck wrote:

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.


That's the first time I've ever heard that before, Matt. I've not flown a
Cirrus, but in the magazines SR-20 handling is usually described as "crisp"
and "responsive".

I haven't read many magazine tests on the SR20, but that is how it felt
to me. Part of it may be that I was flying from the right seat using my
right hand, whereas I'm used to flying with my left hand normally. It
just didn't feel like I had the leverage I do with standard controls,
especially in roll. Rotating the wrist isn't one of the strongest
actions a human can do. I have much more strength with the rotation is
combined with an up or down action so that your biceps and triceps can
get into the action along with the rotation from your forearm.


If the controls are more sluggish than your 182 -- one of the most stable
aircraft every built -- I don't think I'd like a Cirrus much.

Actually, I don't see this as being a bad thing at all. And don't
confuse sluggish controls with stability. The good thing is that it as
less sluggish than anything Piper has built, other than the Tomahawk.
It seemed to have a fair bit of stiction in the column like most Pipers
have unless you have just lubed the control column. It certainly wasn't
like the RV-6 I flew many moons ago. But then I'd not want to fly that
in IMC. Whereas the Cirrus felt like it would be a good IMC platform.

Thanks for the PIREP.

It was really a hoot to get to fly one. Never thought it would happen
this quickly. Some times you are just in the right place at the right time!

It will be hard to be happy with steam gauges again, that is for sure...


Matt