Perfect for a TBM then. Just need some $$$ 
Peter wrote:
Perfect for a TBM then. Just need some $$$
Well, not only. I need to be able to fly it. Both legally and safely.
Sure; you need a good instructor, also to fly with you afterwards.
Could you not fly VFR on the standby instruments (with hand held for GPS, if needed—that’s close to how my Rallye is equipped, and I fly all over Southern and Northern Europe)—or would the plane be grounded for all flying?
As regards the question, If the plane hasn’t had avionics troubles for a few hundred hours, you’re probably not taking a big risk. If you can afford to wait for an engineer to fly in, no big deal. I would buy the glass, learn in the glass and fly the glass. Best to train in the plane you fly.
You don’t want a bubble canopy in the South. Shade IS important.
An SR22 won’t give you short grass strips in Italy (which I’m willing to bet both you and your wife would like). A 182 sounds sensible to me. Cyprus is a long ways over the water from everywhere except Turkey though. I’ve considered going in my 110 knot plane but only gotten as far as Crete.
There are a few reasons why I think that going directly to TBM is not reasonable, even if possible:
Well, as you seem to have the budget, why not get two airplanes? I mean this seriously. One, say a C182 or even a Cub for local low-level fun flying (or ‘bimbling’ as some call it), the other a go-places machine like a TBM. The additional cost of a Cessna or similar is going to be trivial if you buy a TBM. Airplanes are in many ways much more ‘mission-specific’ machines than cars.
One thing I think hasn’t been mentioned here is de-icing. As you say one of your main objectives is to fly to the Alps in winter, you MUST have a fully de-iced airplane.
A compromise will have to be accepted if the pilot wants to fly on his own ASAP. This cannot be reconciled with the requirement to reach the Alps from Cyprus in a few hours; you need ~300kt to do that.
I would suggest buying a used SR22; you don’t lose all that much when you sell it. Or if you want to burn money you buy a new one; I know of people who buy a new one ($1M) every 1 or 2 years That will do the job with one stop, and if you stop in Croatia you can have a nice time for a day or two. Actually a TB20 will do the same job; a little slower but it has a yoke. But you can’t get a new one.
BTW one would not be doing ski trips to the Alps in icing conditions. You can’t ski in IMC or thick snow (I’ve tried it and one sort of can’t tell if one is moving or not) so one would generally fly there only in nice wx. That is of course the advantage of GA; most people book airline trips way ahead and have to accept the risk. Also the airports mostly don’t have IAPs or those which do have “special crew approval” ones (e.g. LOWI, LIPB, etc). The severe lack of any interest here over the years in a “fly to ski” meet-up suggests this is exactly what happens i.e. those (very few) that do it, do it at very short notice. Plus some of the airports are useless for GA e.g. at LOWI the aeroclub has grabbed the whole place and you can’t park there. Also some of the destinations are for top-level (black run) skiers only.
You need a de-iced plane to do any IMC below 0C, unless it is for short periods, in carefully chosen wx.
172driver wrote:
Well, as you seem to have the budget, why not get two airplanes? I mean this seriously. One, say a C182 or even a Cub for local low-level fun flying (or ‘bimbling’ as some call it), the other a go-places machine like a TBM. The additional cost of a Cessna or similar is going to be trivial if you buy a TBM. Airplanes are in many ways much more ‘mission-specific’ machines than cars.
I believe I must concentrate on something to achieve anything. If I would buy a C182 and a TBM, fly C182 on my own locally and TBM with a safety pilot… My goal of flying TBM on my own would be even further away, I think. And this wouldn’t solve any of the problems with starting in TBM that I listed above.
Peter wrote:
A compromise will have to be accepted if the pilot wants to fly on his own ASAP. This cannot be reconciled with the requirement to reach the Alps from Cyprus in a few hours; you need ~300kt to do that.
I do not want to fly to the Alps in a few hours ASAP. This is just an attractive goal. And I understand that it will take a lot of time and efforts to reach it.
Peter wrote:
BTW one would not be doing ski trips to the Alps in icing conditions. You can’t ski in IMC or thick snow (I’ve tried it and one sort of can’t tell if one is moving or not) so one would generally fly there only in nice wx.
My skiing is much better than my flying . I do ski in any conditions. And I love snowing weather.
Peter wrote:
You need a de-iced plane to do any IMC below 0C, unless it is for short periods, in carefully chosen wx.
SR22 has de-icing, TBM has it too. As for C182, I don’t plan winter trips to the Alps in challenging weather in the nearest future. I can replace it with a more capable plane by the time when I’m ready for such trips.
Peter wrote:
it has a yoke
Not going to start a yoke vs stick vs side stick war (as there’s too much of a personal preference going into these), but I imagine you’re hinting at ergonomics, and having flown both (did my IR in a TB20, I rent an SR22 now), the SR22 is light years ahead. I also find the SR22 having much better ergonomics than the diamonds I fly (despite personally centre stick being my preferred option if only considering hand fling feeling).
