Since my aircraft was in maintenance last week, I gladly said yes when a friend invited me to fly with him (VFR) from LOAV to LOWS in the SR20 of his flying club. It was the first flight in a Cirrus for me.
From the beginning, I was impressed by the roominess of the cockpit. Especially in height, there’s quite a difference to my trusty ST-10 
. My friend (who also is a CRI) had me sit on the left side. I liked the easy, straightforward handling and the stability of the aircraft. Using the sidestick was intuitive, just the trim system seemed a bit akward to me. 10 minutes after take-off, I was doing steep turns and stalls and felt absolutely comfortable in the aircraft.
We averaged a cruise speed of 140 to 145 KIAS with about 10 gph, if I remember correctly. That was 10 knots more than I achieve with a similar powersetting in my ST-10, which has the same horsepower, but retractable landing gear – talk about aerodynamic improvements.
Quite disappointing was the climb performance. The SR20 seemed at least 200 fpm weaker than the ST-10. The aircraft is also much heavier (EM 960 kg versus 740 kg). Common wisdom would suggest that composite aircraft with fixed gear are lighter than metal aircraft with folding legs, but obviously that’s not the case … How heavy is the CAPS installation?
All in all, I much prefer the SR20 to – say – the DA40. Roominess and stability are the decisive factors for me. However, compared to a PA-28R or ST-10, there’s just too little to do in the Cirrus. No prop control, a pre-landing checklist that basically consists of „landing light on“ and „flaps down“ – that’s a bit like driving a car with automatic gear …
Since it was a wonderful day, I thought I’ll share some photos.
2 generations of aircraft …
The flown SR20 was one of the early examples with analogue flight instruments and a (big, but not very informative) Avidyne display
The Ötscher, a prominent mountain in the northeastern part of the Austrian Alps
The fortress of Salzburg on climbout from LOWS, rwy 15
The Dachstein area from the Southwest
Enroute in the upper Enns valley (sorry for the reflection)
Entering the Gesäuse valley
It’s very rare to have that little snow in the Alps in March/April
The massive iron ore deposits of Erzberg
Close to home again
Closer to home
At home
Common wisdom would suggest that composite aircraft with fixed gear are lighter than metal aircraft with folding legs, but obviously that’s not the case … How heavy is the CAPS installation?
Composite is not necessarily much lighter, except when using the very expensive carbon fibre. As for the ballistic chute: microlights are allowed a 22,5 kg increase in MTOW, but most are a good deal lighter so that installing one actually allows the (legal) carriage of more stuff. For double the MTOW, the chute installation must be sturdier too but it will not weigh double – 30-40 kg at a rough estimate?
Thanks for sharing the photography, I truly envy those who can fly there with an unburdened heart!
As for cabin room: the more reports I read, the more I suspect I am very well off in my humble microlight in this respect. I was once offered a ride in the right front seat of a PA32 and remember how cramped it felt, especially heightwise though I am not tall above average.
All in all, I much prefer the SR20 to – say – the DA40.
That from someone based at LOAN! 
Nice photos! I recognised Erzberg right away. I took the tour there in their big yellow trucks
