Cirrus and Lancair Make Bonanza Obsolete?

There is insufficient time-in-service to really be able to say much about
Cirrus accident rates. The Concorde went from having the best airliner
accident rate to the worst with one accident. That's the problem with new
airplanes - insuffiicent experience with the fleet.

My gut is that they'll be better than a Bonanza over time because it's a
newer design and because the fleet will be much younger - there are an awful
lot of Bonanzas flying around with lots of hours, lots of owners, lots of
mods, and lots of mechanics who have worked on them. That being said, the
Bonanza is a very proven design with excellent type-specific training
available through ABS.

The only reason I might select a Cirrus over a Bonanza for safety reasons is
if I were flying a lot of IFR - some of the available panels and autopilots
in the Cirrus are really nice and there is better backup and redundancy. A
new/modern electrical system is also a safety plus for IFR flight. And
everything else being equal, fixed gears are also safer airplanes in clouds.
In non-professional service, the weakest link in single-pilot IFR is the
pilot and anything that reduces workload and covers for errors is a safety
plus.

- Mark