Comparison between Cirrus SR20/22 and Columbia(Lancair) 350/400

OK Larry:

How large is your family, both in number and weight?
3 family members or friends, not too very large - european average,
about 240 kg max


What is the distance of the average business trip?
Min: 250 km - local
Max: Bucharest, Romania - London,UK

How do you rank
the desirability of speed, style, and comfort?
Speed - Very important
Comfort - Important
Style - Important


What is your budget?
500.000 USD


Where are you located?
Bucharest, Romania, Eastern Europe

Matt, I need a plane easy to flight, because I'm a beginner VFR pilot,
for cross
country trips, for me and my family. In the same time, I need a plane
suitable for business trips.

Get a 172 or an Archer. It's a bit slower but it won't kill you as
easily. As a beginner VFR pilot, that is very important. A 172 or
Archer is quite suitable for business trips.

Jose
--
"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where
it keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

"Drakkar" wrote:

Matt, I need a plane easy to flight, because I'm a beginner VFR pilot,
for cross
country trips, for me and my family. In the same time, I need a plane
suitable for business trips.

Don't take this personally but we may be seeing the starting point of
another Cirrus parachute deployment incident (or deadly crash).

"Beginner VFR pilot wants sleek fast airplane."

There is nothing wrong with you wanting a sleek fast airplane but you
should make sure that you have the training and experience to handle
that plane AND just as important the judgement to know when not to
fly.

Ron Lee

Drakkar,

In the same time, I need a plane
suitable for business trips.


You may know this already, but the kind of business trips you have in
mind will be severely impacted by weather in central Europe (I fly out
of Hamburg, Germany). You will often not be able to do these flights
VFR. However, you may often be able to do them IFR - but you need to
gain experience VFR first, to get your IFR rating.

There are different schools of thinking in this. One is that it might
make sense to do your training from the start in an advanced aircraft
like the Cirrus or the Columbia, and if you proceed to use these
aircraft in accordance with your (growing) abilities and fly with an
instructor often, even after getting the license, you might be flying
safely. The other way of thinking says that it is an unacceptable risk
to start in an aircraft as advanced as that. It all depends on a lot of
factors, like the amount of time and "mental dedication" you can make
available for your flight training. E.g. Lufthansa's basic flight
training is in Beechcraft Bonanzas - a plane comparable in complexity
to the ones you mention. But these students do nothing but learning to
fly, all day long. The average student learns in simpler aircraft.

Have you looked at the Diamond DA-40 TDI? That might be a good
compromise between simplicity and the other factors you mention.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

"Drakkar" wrote in message
oups.com...
OK, I understand your point.
So, according to you, which airplane is the most suitable for me and my
needs?


You didn't mention your current experience. Piper Archer or a C-182 if you
need more hauling capacity. Then in a few years when you have more
experience move up to either of the fast planes you mentioned.

"Drakkar" wrote in message
oups.com...
Please, need help!
I really need a good advice:
Beetween Cirrus SR20/22 and Columbia(Lancair) 350/400, which is the
best choice? And, of course, for what reason?

Thank you very much for your help

Vlad


Honestly, either of those planes could do a real good job of killing you and
your family. You need to crawl before you walk. Start out in a Cessna 172 or
something similar. The Cirrus and Lancair are not beginner planes.

---------------------------------------------
DW

On 2 Nov 2006 04:55:14 -0800, "Drakkar"
wrote in .com:

OK Larry:

How large is your family, both in number and weight?
3 family members or friends, not too very large - european average,
about 240 kg max

What is the distance of the average business trip?
Min: 250 km - local
Max: Bucharest, Romania - London,UK

How do you rank
the desirability of speed, style, and comfort?
Speed - Very important
Comfort - Important
Style - Important


What is your budget?
500.000 USD


Where are you located?
Bucharest, Romania, Eastern Europe


As you are doubtless aware, most four-place aircraft won't carry four
people, full fuel, and baggage for four. One remarkable exception is
the Piper PA28-235 (or 236) which has a useful load of about 1,500
lbs, so if you fill it with 85 gallons, it will still carry nearly
1,000 lbs.

A Piper PA32 Cherokee Six(fixed gear)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_Cherokee_Six or a Piper Lance or
Saratoga http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_Saratoga meets most of
your criteria also, but you'd probably have to acquires some minimum
number of hours in-type before you would qualify for insurance
coverage.

You'll find information about new ones he http://www.newpiper.com/

Is there anyone here who would suggest a Cirrus airplane because it has
a parachute rescue system? Perhaps the OP's wife would feel better if
the airplane had a parachute.
Gerd

Drakkar wrote:
Please, need help!
I really need a good advice:
Beetween Cirrus SR20/22 and Columbia(Lancair) 350/400, which is the
best choice? And, of course, for what reason?

Thank you very much for your help

Vlad

"gwengler" wrote in message
oups.com...
Is there anyone here who would suggest a Cirrus airplane because it has
a parachute rescue system? Perhaps the OP's wife would feel better if
the airplane had a parachute.
Gerd


I think that getting the plane, mainly because it has a parachute is the
WORST reason to choose it and I have nothing against the Cirrus if I could
afford one there would be one in my hanger right this second. If you are
buying the plane because it has a parachute odds are you are going to have
the mind set that the parachute can get you out of anything.

The OP, his wife and children would be way better off with him buy a plane
at half the cost and getting a bunch more training.

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Drakkar" wrote in message
oups.com...
Please, need help!
I really need a good advice:
Beetween Cirrus SR20/22 and Columbia(Lancair) 350/400, which is the
best choice? And, of course, for what reason?

Impossible to answer. Even if you had carefully defined and explained your
own mission criteria, the answer would be full of "ifs" and caveats. Without
that, it's impossible to say.

Both makes of airplanes represent a solid evolution of aircraft technology,
providing what I feel are excellent values for the money. Which specifically
is the one for you depends on your own specific needs and desires.

AND skills. How many hours total does the OP have, and how many in fast high
performance, and what type?

Ratings?
--
Jim in NC