There have always been aircraft which have had a bad reputation Years back it was the V tailed Bonanza or doctor killer more recent the Malibu!
We now have the VLJs like the Eclipse targeted at the owner Pilot.
A few weeks ago the very sad accident that wrote off a complete family in a PC12 with a single pilot.
What is not clear to me with the Cirrus and high insurance is why?
Is it a result of the chute and write offs caused by its deployment?
Is it because the chute lures inexperienced or even experienced pilots into conditions they would be wary of if the chute was not there?
Is it because of handling characteristics which require very precise operation by the pilot?
Is it poor training?
Is it because the aircraft attracts low time pilots who are out of their depth in the aircraft?
Is it none of the above?
Regardless I have flown both models on demos and once as a safety pilot on a longer trip. They had a fast roll rate which I timed as the same as a firefly aerobatic machine I flew.
They were also a bit slippery but not anything a reasonable pilot could not cope with.
Handflown it would probably be demanding in IMC with a pilot who was not a good instrument pilot.
Other than that and a slightly high stall speed there did not appear to be anything nasty in its handling that I noticed in the short time I had on them.
Back to discussing the Cirrus
when I was just looking at renting 30 hours on one at a reasonable cost and a reasonable checkout! And not a 1/3 of that time with an instructor holding my hand.
Pace