Got to fly a Cirrus Today!

[ryanbatc 12,813]

The weather here in Duluth was great today. Smooth skies, blue skies and perfect for "birds."http://www.airnav.com/airport/KDLHSince I work in the tower I thought I'd give Cirrus a ring and see if I could get a flight today. Well it worked out and my first impression was - wow these things are larger than they appear from the tower haha. And secondly, it was a lot harder to find my way around the airport from the ground! Jeeese, now I can see how some unfamiliar pilot would need progressive taxi. There's slopes and slants and elevation changes on the taxiways. It's just weird. First time I ever was on the ground in an airplane at DLH.The PIC was one of our awesome test pilots so he has his own callsign and discrete code to go with that. So I used that as I called up ground, then I got to talk to a buddy of mine. It's totally sweet to know the person on the other side of the radio! In fact, I did most of the talking whether it was ground, tower, or approach. There wasn't anyone's voice I did not recognize...We taxied out to Ry 9, for a SE departure towards Sky Harbor (KDYT):http://www.airnav.com/airport/KDYTBut we decided to stay in the pattern a few times for some low approaches. This was my first time in the air since about 3 years ago. So it's certainly been a while haha. I wasn't quite used to the bumps on takeoff from the convection (I think that's the right turbulence). But I got over that quickly, we did right traffic, then left, then departed south east for DYT. DYT is a cool little airport situated about 7 SE of DLH, it's on an isthmus called Park Point, or maybe Minnesota Point. It's sorta like Meigs was, surrounded by water on 3 sides. There is a seaplane base there too. We stopped at DYT, parked, did some business in the small FBO, and this time I got to taxi the plane for takeoff.LOL! what an experience. That thing is such a fatty on the ground. Keep in mind this was a Generation I SR20, one of the original ones, with the castering nose wheel. I've never taxied a plane with one of those types. To be quite honest, I was all over the Txy centerline HAHA! We did our runup, I checked the mags, flight controls, all that important stuff you know, and then we waited for a bi-plane to finish his full stop. I taxied out on the rwy, lined up (or tried to), and off we went.MAN! That thing has power behind it! I realized on our roll I didn't even have it at full power and we were blasting off Ry 32 at DYT! We climbed out, and he showed me the autopilot for fun. I requested vectors for ILS Ry 9 at Duluth from our approach controller. Whoops, forgot to say I had the ATIS - lol. Oh well, he gave us the wind and altimeter, and we essentially flew a wide downwind for ry9, except on a fixed heading.That Cirrus A/P is really nice! I like the Avidyne switches and everything is really easy and organized. Even a caveman could do it!! LOLz!So I opted to fly the approach the lazy man way - via the A/P. We got our northbound vector, and then "3 miles from the OM, turn right heading 060, maintain VFR, cleared ILS Ry 9 approach." And so I reply, and the A/P is armed, and it flies the LOC inbound. I was amazed that it even flew the GS down as well! I didn't know little planes did that! Sweet!I had a hefty xwind landing ahead of me (13kts). Well, maybe not hefty for you pros, but remember, I haven't flown in 3+ years. So I had a little teeny weeny assistance to drop my right wing, but I remembered to kick in some left rudder hehe. I actually did a really nice landing - I was impressed. Even though my fellow controllers said they had to tie their shoelace since I was going to land hahaha.Here again I found myself dancing on the rollout, dang that nose wheel! lol!But I made it to A2 where we exited and taxied to parking.sorry I didn't have my camera with me but sometimes it's just nice to get out and fly the airplane...forget about cameras, it's all in my head now. And I can better remember it too.I'd like to thank Cirrus for the opportunity and the awesome pilots who know these things inside and out and for their mad skilled pilotinghttp://cirrusdesign.com/So if you ever come to Duluth, maybe I'll talk to ya on the radio!

[Geofa 108]

Good deal! I toured the Cirrus factory when I flew to Duluth a few years ago. We had briefly considered selling our Baron and perhaps getting one and had set up a test ride which fell thru at the last minute due to scheduling conflicts.I have heard from some pilot's they don't like the "feel" of the controls-how did you feel?I really did like the Avidyne-very intuitive and no directions need to be read unlike some other avionics equipment.http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/1b5baf...b9f427f694g.jpgMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

[BIGSKY 316]

It must be nice to have cash;) http://www.x-plane.com/adventures/cirrus_howto.html

[ryanbatc 12,813]

Honestly, the controls to the G3's are better than the first generation SR's....The yoke and rudders felt heavy on the one I flew (G1 - first gen), it was actually an SR22 though. I had to use the electronic trim a lot, I mean, I'm a small guy, but my feet and arm was getting a workout with the occasional light turbulence.Yeah, I also liked the avidyne, fairly no-brainer button pushing. It just made sense. Intuitive and easy to use...

[Guest Super 27]

Sounds like a great experience! I teach in all the current glass cockpit systems (G1000 DA40, C172, and CO-350, as well as the Cirrus Avidyne), and the SR22 is by far my favorite. It's SO much more user-friendly than the G1000, and in my opinion the GFC700 autopilot is no better than the STEC that the Cirrus has. I actually had the chance to fly around DLH quite a bit last May for my CSIP (Cirrus Standardized Instructor Program) training at the factory, and yeah, it's definitely fun to find your way around that airport ;) Thankfully we had the charts on the MFD, which shows your exact position on the taxi diagram (something that the G1000 won't do, by the way).And ps- you guys in the tower do a GREAT job up there!

[michal 44]

>and in my>opinion the GFC700 autopilot is no better than the STEC that>the Cirrus has. Can it fly you through holds, procedure turns?>on the MFD, which shows your exact position on the taxi>diagram (something that the G1000 won't do, by the way).I believe G1000 has it today.Michael J.http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9320/apollo17vf7.jpg

[Guest Super 27]

With regard to the holds and procedure turns, the implementation of the GFC700 that I've flown with (in a Columbia 350) functions exactly the same as the STEC; GPS roll steer mode must be disengaged, and the heading bug used to fly the aircraft through the maneuver. The only advantage that the GFC has is that you can rotate the bug over 180 degrees and it will ALWAYS turn in the direction that you rotated it.As for the taxi diagrams and approach plates, like I said, none of the G1000 systems that I've seen have that. If the newer ones do, though, that's definitely a major improvement in my view.

[LAdamson 240]

>As for the taxi diagrams and approach plates, like I said,>none of the G1000 systems that I've seen have that. If the>newer ones do, though, that's definitely a major improvement>in my view.>The newer ones do. It's about 850 airports now. My Garmin 496 handheld has them too.L.Adamson

[michal 44]

>With regard to the holds and procedure turns, the>implementation of the GFC700 that I've flown with (in a>Columbia 350) functions exactly the same as the STEC; GPS roll>steer mode must be disengaged, and the heading bug used to fly>the aircraft through the maneuver.This may have to do with WAAS implementation, or GFC700 or the version of G1000, I don't know.Anyway, Cessna Mustang's G1000 provides NAV guidance through all procedure turns and holding patterns.Michael J.http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9320/apollo17vf7.jpg

[Palebushman 0]

From this link Geoff, it looks like a brilliant little plane.http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=...%3Doff%26sa%3DGMight invest in a 'Sim' version, do you have any idea who has produced one or has one in the pipline?

[Geofa 108]

The Eaglesoft is excellent but presently is a frame rate taker so you need a few extra fps to give up. You might want to look at this thread:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...58&page=#446686I am basing my comments on a few friends who have flown one that said it was a nice plane but not "fun" to fly in feel. Perhaps it is all too new for old salts! :-)http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/1b5baf...b9f427f694g.jpgMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

[Palebushman 0]

"Perhaps it is all too new for old salts!"I would hardly call a young Maestro of the "Stradivarius" league,an "Old Salt" just because you appreciate the more "Matured" things in life.

[Geofa 108]

Lol-but getting older and saltier by the moment.Actually, thinking (and more hoping/dreaming) a very used Cirrus might be in my future when I retire.http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/1b5baf...b9f427f694g.jpgMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

[Guest Super 27]

Good to know. None of the G1000 cockpits I've flown in have been WAAS equipped, so that might be it. All of my experience with the G1000 has been in one of the earlier model Columbia 350's - interestingly enough, if you go to the Cessna 350 site (http://se.cessna.com/cessna350/), it's actually that exact plane in the photo there.I have finally gotten to fly some WAAS approaches with the GNS-530, and it's great. Unfortunately they still haven't gotten it working on the GNS-430's in our fleet Cirrus aircraft...for the longest time there were issues with the Avidyne that prevented them from having WAAS enabled; not sure if that's ever been resolved.