Matt Barrow wrote:

"xyzzy" wrote in message
...

Thomas Borchert wrote:


Matt,



Also, the Cirrus uses "Big Name" Garmin, while the Lancair
uses small shop Avidyne (even if Avidyne is, IMNHO, superior).


They both use a combo of Garmin GNS transceivers and the Avidyne Entegra
displays. Exactly the same, though Lancair installs them in portrait
orientation, while in the Cirrus they are in landscape. Both do NOT use

the

Garmin G1000.



According to some, Lancair is very stable, while Cirrus is,

comparatively,

somewhat unstable.


Huh? Never heard that..


That impression may be driven by the fact that the only approved way to
recover from a spin in a Cirrus is to deply the parachute. Cirrus has
not, to my knowledge, demonstrated spin recovery capability any other
way (not saying it's not possible -- just hasn't been demonstrated or
approved)


IIRC, only their test pilots could recover and at that only after several
turns. A Lancair can recover in one turn. Also, IIRC, that's two turns
faster than most others.



Maybe so but the Cirrus is supposedly "spin resistant." How hard did
those test pilots have to work to get into the spin in the first place?
I don't recall hearing of any non-test-flight Cirrus spin incidents
resulting in either crashes or parachute deployments.

Personally, I'm not in the market for a $400K plane so I haven't put
much thought or research into it. However I do know that another
"feature" of the Cirrus chute is that you have to have it overhauled
every 10 years, the price is projected to be around $10K. How much
longer until lots of Cirri out there start reaching that time? It'll be
interesting to see what it really ends up costing and how hard it is to
get done.