Glass cockpit vs steam gauges for low time PPL (and getting into a fast aircraft early on)

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MedEwok wrote:

I am considering giving up

Noooo! Don’t do it!

My flying has suffered since my daughter was born, but hopefully in a few years we will have co-pilots and it will be worth it

I’m flying less often, but trying to do longer (day) trips or flying to several airfields in one flight, to make the most of it. A couple of times I’ve taken a day off work so as not to lose a Saturday or Sunday when I could be at home. Also babysitters grandparents are a big help.

I like the A210, with precise controls and very low drag, but it’s under-powered – maybe the turbo A212 will be better

For Valentin, a Pipistrel Panthera, one of the faster Lancairs, or even a Lancair Evolution? Modern aircraft with the cruise speed, but outside my experience.

https://barcelonaflightschool.com/fleet/03-cessna-c182t-g1000/

That’s for a 182 T with glass. Not recommending, don’t know them….

For an SR22:
https://cirrusinstruction.eu/en/
Or:
http://www.orbifly.com/index.php?lang=ENG&mode=2b

I don’t think a Lancair would be a good idea as a first plane!

For Valentin, a Pipistrel Panthera, one of the faster Lancairs, or even a Lancair Evolution? Modern aircraft with the cruise speed, but outside my experience.

The Panthera isn’t certified yet.

The faster Lancairs – if you are talking about the IV and IV P, they are not certified, requiring a very involved approach to maintenance, and they bite.

If you are talking about the ES (same cabin, different wing), the certified version is the Columbia / Corvallis. Certainly an option, same league as the Cirrus, I like them a lot.

The Evo – I think a turboprop as first VFR aircraft is not quite the right thing, they really need to be flown high. What is the status of this? Is it back from the dead?

WhiskeyPapa wrote:

I don’t think a Lancair would be a good idea as a first plane!

Posts crossed… I would completely agree on the narrow-wing hot-rods with stall speeds of 70kt and above, and not very benign stall behaviour (the IV and IVP have a high stall/spin accident rate)

The ES (experimental) / Columbia 400 (certified) is not that different from an SR22. I found it a bit harder to fly than the SR22, but not unduly so.

What a thread!
Let me have an opinion, too. If I were in your shoes, and given my affinity for water and underwater, I would start by considering a seaplane.
Isn’t this tempting?

The Evolution is not certified and it is not ever likely to be.

It would be wrong to recommend an aircraft which has dodgy low speed handling. The piston Lancairs need lots of runway for this reason, putting them outside many destinations served by e.g. 600m runways (e.g. Zell am See) never mind 500m runways. The Evolution is probably ok because it has tons of power and has reasonable brakes but one cannot manage that aircraft at a location with less than very good facilities because they do get some “interesting” problems which unlike traditional GA can’t be fixed with a hammer and a spanner. I know a bit about the two flying in Europe plus a lot has been written elsewhere which is not exactly encouraging. You need to be in the “TBM class” of personal wealth to operate the Evo and it is no surprise that both European Evo owners are very much in that category.

Also uncertified planes need permits to fly to most countries which is really not what you want if you are based in Cyprus.

<so they offer a type training on the Avidyne one, with a few flights on the G1000 at the end. I’m not sure if it’s the best way.

I had a quick talk with one of their people and he sais they often do this. The avidyne variant (which btw can also be a valid variant for you to buy) is easier to handle in terms of avionics and you can concentrate in the first several sessions on flying the airplane, learning how to handle it and work on landings and airwork. Then, once you are comfortable with the airframe per se, they can organize the G1000 ship to introduce you to the avionics.

I am not at home right now, but I had a talk about you with the CEO of that school before I left and he said he thought you might actually save money doing it this way. In any case, the Avidyne Cirrus will give you the feel for the airplane as much as the g1000 one will.