Nothing to touch the SR22?
I bought a Robin Regent in 01 and thought I'd treat my business to a new aircraft.
A good mate of mine has a 22 - very impressive.
The choice then fell between a 22 and another Regent. No problem for us to afford a 22.
22 - A lot faster, but then 135kts on 180 hp @40lit ph is nothing to be sniffed at. Lets not dismiss either the fact that we like flying so is an extra 40 kts or so that important?
Short field performance - I operate from a grass strip. My Regent has an unfactored MAUW takeoff of 320 metres.
Whilst the 22 will undoubtedly get in and out of short strips, I feel that its extra weight will require significant margins to be factored in when the ground is muddy ie 6 months of the year. These margins are the difference between what the book says and what your bottie tells you when the end of the strip is getting closer...
Ground-handling - My DR400, @ 635 kg plus fuel, is just about as much as I can push on my own on grass.
Cost - Is the 22 really worth two Robin Regents? Faster and more expensive means a lot more cost to operate the thing.
So, having thought carefully about a 22 I called Mistral - the Robin Agent ( as far as I'm concerned there is only one..) and as before swamped me with excellent service.
What did I get from the Cirrus Agent here? A brochure, a quote and not one follow up call.
Cirrus ain't the only choice, as fine an aircraft as it is. I'm buying another Regent. Hurrah for Robin.
All the best
HP