Pity you didn’t speak German (I guess!). Last year, I wrote a 25-page summary for PuF mangazine, on owning and operating a 2005 vintage SR22, which answers most of you questions. Still, I can send it to you in pdf if it helps you.
In short: build quality isn’t poor on the G2. Sure, they have in the meantime improved it even more, but not by huge margins. The very first 200 or so ever built weren’t really very luxurious, but after that, they are fine. They added some more bit of leather here and there with the G3 I think, but it was really a series of small refinements.
It’s hard to compare the two TKS systems one against the other. i only have experience with the non-FIKI system. By the way, there are three types: 1. the G2 type installation 2. the G3 type, but still non FIKI-installation, whose panels have a better coverage of the wing roots, horizontal stabilizer, etc, and 3. the FIKI version. I use the TKS as a get-out-of-here-without-icing-up-in-the-meantime system, and for that, it works fine. I don’t think I would fly the FIKI-Cirrus is moderate icing conditions and just sit it out.
I wonder if PUF would consent to the PDF being in the EuroGA Articles section? Normally, magazines don’t mind if they get a reasonable exclusivity on it e.g. 6-12 months.
EuroGA has a huge number of German based pilots reading it every day so a German article would be fine.
Could you ask them, @boscomantico?
No TKS on the horizontal stabiliser? That is IMHO serious, because icing there will happen at a similar rate to the wing, but is much more dangerous in terms of what happens where you get too much.
Bosco,
Being a Dane, my German is actually relatively good so I would much appreciate a pdf of the article. I’ll send you a PM with my email !
Peter wrote:
No TKS on the horizontal stabiliser?
I don’t think that is what Boscomantico meant to say by “whose panels have a better coverage of the wing roots, horizontal stabilizer, etc”. All TKS Cirrus have coverage of the horizontal stabiliser. I also just compared photos of a TKS, non-FIKI G2 and a G3 that I flew, and couldn’t see a difference concerning the coverage of the horizontal stabiliser. For the wing root, you can clearly see the difference though.
Even though I’ve seen light ice in both planes, I am by no means an expert on Cirrus icing encounters and don’t plan on becoming one. In the G3, right when I would have wanted the TKS the most, I soon ran out of fluid. Turned out later that there was a leakage in the system due to a faulty seal. In another G2 I rented, the whole system wouldn’t work, because the owner didn’t care to run it every 30 days as you should to keep the sponges under the panels soft. So even though I would consider this system the most important option when I think about buying a Cirrus, there is of course additional maintenance and cost involved. And the fluid is not easy to find en-route and quite expensive. On our last voyage through Scandinavia, we had to use the TKS getting into ENKJ Kjeller, and then didn’t want to leave without filling up the TKS. Luckily, some Cirrus pilots on the field had some TKS for us which they left on the wing (again a big thank you if you’re reading this!).
The FIKI variant has a larger reservoir and dual pump, and I think some other improvements. On COPA, you will be treated as suicidal if you openly talk about flying in icing conditions with a non-FIKI Cirrus. But then there is ice and there is ice. I wouldn’t plan to fly into it in either one, but it feels really good to have this option if only for the prop and windshield so you can plan to descend to warmer air if you get ice.
mmgreve wrote:
The horizontal stabilizer is not protected the old system
No TKS on the horizontal stabiliser? That is IMHO serious, because icing there will happen at a similar rate to the wing, but is much more dangerous in terms of what happens where you get too much.
Sorry, my bad. I meant to say the vertical stabiliser !
mmgreve,
e-mail sent.
Peter,
they probably wouldn’t have a problem with that. In fact, I recently heard that one of my articles from this spring was even translated (at least in parts) into Norwegian (!) and than appeared in a Norwegian flying magazine. 
I didn’t know anything about that.
But re the SR22-article, I would like to keep it as it is. Whoever has a particular interest can get it from via e-mail.
Some additional information (and some in English too) can be found on my website: www.airwork.biz
I also have Excels about the costs i can send you (PM please)
In general:
- the general performance of all 22s is about the same, up to 186 KTAS for the NA (mine does that)
- a 2001 G1 without TKS and without all the later systems can be faster than a G3 or G5 (NA version)
- From 2003 the 22 has the Avidyne cockpit, Garmin was introduced a short time after the G3 came out
- Simplified the G2 got a new fuselage while the G3 got a new wing (plus a higher gear, plus 1000 detail changes)
- FIKI has windshield sprayers, panels on the vertical tail and around the horns, plus: 2 pumps, a bigger tank, a fluid level indicator etc
The G2 is the best deal at the moment, although the prices went UP a lot the last years. The most reliable version is the 22 after serial number 1663 with the upgraded electrical system. But they are hard to find and expensive … no surprise when a similar G5 is € 1.070.000 in Germany today. The G5 of course has many.afvanced details, but there’s no flight a G2 can’t do just aswell, with the excepzion of known icing (which is not a factor for me).
If I was looking for one then it would have all the upgrades i installed: WAAS navigators with LPV (just flew one yesterday down to 200 ft, it’s a precision an ILS cannot deliver), DFC90 autopilot, oxygen system. Many have Air Condition (mine does) which is very nice taxiing in Greece, but takes away 30 kg of payload and can be very expensive to repair if it breaks.My personal opinion: Such a great plane.
Flyer59 wrote:
LPV (just flew one yesterday down to 200 ft, it’s a precision an ILS cannot deliver)* sigh *
Many thanks Flyer59, you have email (and thanks again Bosco !)
Having spend the evening looking closely at Cirrus pictures (the wife is wondering about my sanity), it looks like the interior got an upgrade with the introduction of the Garmin system, is that correct?
Flyer59, I agree with your analysis that the G2 is a good price point, but the DFC90 is pretty rare and a lot of them need to be WAAS upgraded. It does appear to be a pretty efficient market and aircrafts with the desirable specs come at a premium.
