Stefan wrote:
The instructors in my club don't solo students who can't nail the
approach speed to -0/+2 knots and touch down within 150 feet of the
designed point (weather permitting, of course).

There is a fairly significant difference between holding -0/+2 kts in a
training glider with spoilers available for glideslope control and
doing it at 40-50 kts, and doing the same in a slippery airplane at 80
kts with no spoilers. The realistic standard for such an airplane is
-0/+5, and not at the student pilot level (not that a student pilot is
even insurable in such a plane). I say this having instructed both in
training gliders and slippery high performance airplanes (Bonanzas,
Mooneys, Twin Comanches, and even the odd Cirrus).

The Cirrus DOES NOT require -0/+2 to land well. It doesn't even
require -0/+5 (though this is entirely attainable). What it requires
is that you not put it on the ground until the excess speed has bled
off. If you simply hold it a few inches above the ground in the flare,
continuously increasing back pressure, the speed will bleed off
eventually and a good landing will be made. Interestingly enough, it
is closest in this regard to the Mooneys, the later Mooneys being more
critical in that regard. I find it interesting that Mariash reported
problems there as well. Probably a technique issue with regard to the
flare - most likely allowing the plane to settle onto the runway at too
high a speed due to insufficient backpressure as the elevator forces
get heavier. This is none too rare on the heavier airplanes, and
something an instructor won't catch unless he is specifically looking
for it (as he should be). My personal solution for the problem (what I
do and teach) is the use of electric trim in the flare (most such
planes have it) to relieve control pressure and allow for more precise
control.

By contrast, almost every Cessna I've flown (including the 310, but
excluding the 140, the only tailwheel Cessna I've flown) can make
decent landings at a wide variety of touchdown speeds so holding it off
the runway isn't terribly critical. Same for all the Bonanzas. Thus a
technique issue that is really minor for some airplanes can bite the
Cirrus pilot on landing.

Michael