but you can’t fly around looking for some runway and spot it when almost on top of it and then call final and plummet down
Actually you can.
As an earlier post said the “trick” is to get the speed under control early, so you are not fast in the circuit. As long as you do that drop full flaps, use the three blades as a brake if necessary and it will drop well almost like a stone – really close low level circuits work just fine AS LONG as you dont let the speed get away – that is when you will have problems slowing it down.
Obviously barn door aircraft and / or with dropping carriage do this a bit better still but the Cirrus is fine.
As an earlier post said it is all about thinking well ahead and making sure the speed is undercontrol before you even join the circuit to start with and then the aircraft will not get ahead of you. For a new pilot on type just ask them to make sure they join the circuit at 100 knots and it will work out fine, whereas most will end up turning downwind at 120 knots (or more) and then they are going to struggle.
Well, you have to reduce the power earlier in the SR22, and if you’re still too high/fast you fly a circle … at least that’s what i do.
An SR22 can land in any 500-600 m field, just ask Bosco, he takes his to Ultralight fields …
The only thing I could imagine as being more difficult in a Cirrus is the descent planning because the aircraft is more aerodynamic than the flying cupboard Bonanza.
I don’t agree that a Cirrus is more aerodynamic than a Bonanza, although they are similar. The SR22 and my V35A both have the same maximum GW of 3400 pounds. The SR22 uses an engine with 310 HP verses the 285 HP in the V35A Bonanaza. From the POH for an SR22 under the following conditions, 2900 Pounds, 75% HP, ISA Temp, 6000 Pressure Alttiude, the TAS is 176 Kts and fuel flow is 17.7 GPH. From the V35A POH under the following conditions, 3200 pounds, 75% HP, ISA TEMP, 6000 Pressure Altitude, the TAS is 172 Kts and the fuel flow is 15.2 GPH. This means that the V35A uses 19 less HP, carries 300 more pounds, and uses 2.2 GPH less to get essentially the same speed (4 knots slower). If the Bonanza has an IO550 with 300 HP, it is faster than the 310 HP Cirrus and will use less fuel while carrying more weight.
Hello All, new poster here. There is a competitor to the SR22 – the Columbia 400 (or Cessna 400, or now the Cessna TTx). Faster, very solidly built (certified by FAA in utility category), proper side sticks and prop control, G1000 integrated avionics. No parachute (I saw this as a plus). Performance >200 kts up to FL250 with >1,100 nm range at around 14.5 gph LOP.
It has speed brakes which can be deployed at any speed for an “expedited descent”. Despite forward planning, I have found this feature to be extremely useful in the real world….
NC,
not that it would be important, but I think that is generally not true.
The “real” aerodynamic test is this: take two aircraft with the same hp rating, load them to identical weights, climb them to the same level and set them up LOP, at identical fuel flows (i.e.: identical horsepower). Compare TAS.
Take a Beech G36 and an SR22 (300 vs. 310 hp, close enough) and fly them at say 10.000 feet and 13 GPH. An NA Cirrus will end up somewhere between 170 and 173 knots usually. From what I know, 36 will end up a few knots shy of that. Again, this depends on a lot of factors.
However, they are very close aerodynamically. The difference: one has much wider cabin and the gear hanging down. The other, admittedly, is a six seater.
Two reasons:
-LOP vs. ROP. In a clean aircraft with a big engine like the Cirrus, going from ROP to LOP saves siginificant amounts of fuel and costs very few knots
-the POH takes 6000 feet as a reference (in order to allow 75% power), vs. FL110 (12-12.5 GPH is more like 55%). 5000 feet altitude difference make a big difference in efficiency, as you know
Bosco that’s hardly a comparison an A36 has way much more loading capability then a SR22. I think an F33/V35 would be more appropriate. But take the one equipped with an IO550…..Room is also open for interpretation. The cabin of Bonanza is quite hi with plexi all around so you really have a quite a spacious feeling..
I do an honest 162 TAS at FL100 (WOT-2350RPM) and burn 11.5 Gph (peak EGT). It’s with an old IO520…and the good old flying V antenna on top
No, I think one has to compare apples with apples, that is: factory standard new aircraft with factory standard new aircraft. All else ends up in a mess. Also, a 4-seat Bo with an IO-550 never existed from the factory.
It’s still a mess, because, as I said, one (the G36) has the (minimal) added drag of a six-seat cabin. But at least they have almost identical engines, so that’s as far as I can think in terms of apples to apples.
The cabin of Bonanza is quite hi with plexi all around so you really have a quite a spacious feeling..
Sure, it is high and the visibility is indeed good. But width-wise, it is tight.
On useful load, the current G36 and NA SR22 are very close.
Nice Bonanza, well equipped other than the AP. 13k would buy and install(?) you a S-Tec 30 AP, I’d think a 55x would be more appropriate for this kind of plane with the other equipment it has. Costs about 20k to buy and 5-6 k to install.
The original “doctor killer” was the V Bonanza, but that is almost archeology these days. The V-Bonanza was quite revolutionary and also had some initial problems with the structure of the V-Tail in the wrong hands. All issues long and thoroughly addressed by strenghtening that tail and by creating the 33 Bonanza with the conventional tail.
Runway performance can be an issue if you are planning to operate into small and uneven grass runways, in which case prop clearance and landing gear construction can be a factor. If you have hard surface, it becomes less of a factor as long as you know what you are doing. Most SEP’s can operate into and out of 500m concrete without too many problems. In Switzerland, we have plenty of such runways and I’ve been to most of them. For my airplane I regard 500 m concrete or 700 m grass as the no brainer lenghts where I can operate into without too many restrictions. I know of one guy who has a Ovation and another who has a Mooney M22 Mustang, both are stationed at Wangen Lachen which features a 500 m runway. I go there regularly and usually exit the runway at the taxiway when landing on 26 and am airborne well before that taxiway when taking off. Actually, there must be about 5 or 6 Mooneys of different types stationed there. If I lived nearer, it would be my choice airfield.
I have no performance data for the SR22 so don’t know what kind of runways it needs. I think the flight school that operates one at ZRH want about 600 m for their people, but I understand some of them have been to places like Helgoland and others. Maybe Bosco or Flyer59 have some input on these figures.
