JasonC wrote:
I think some are far too willing to criticise it and some are far too touchy about any criticism.Can we please stop obsessing about it on both sides of the argument.
+99 
The Cirrus does outsell everything else combined and that means it is considered by “the market” as the best in that category but of course their are many great aircraft. The market is a brutal judge across allindustries so when it speaks, I listen.
The market is a brutal judge across all industries so when it speaks, I listen.
One factor I would throw into that pot is that everybody else has de facto or totally given up on that market sector (Cessna, Piper, Socata, etc) or have not managed to gain enough customer acceptance where it matters (Diamond in the USA).
The top two (mission capability) piston aircraft you can buy new are the SR22 and the DA42. Nothing else comes close.
Isn’t the piston PA46 still in production?
Yes, but very low volume. The others (apart from Socata) are also in production but in very low numbers.
Cirrus is the only game in town if you want a “top end” SEP which is selling a lot.
Socata had good products back in 2002, when Cirrus were getting going, but Socata never got anywhere in the USA and there is no reason to think they would have gone anywhere in the USA at any later time. The name is only marginally known out there. So their best outcome would have been to become another Diamond-type player i.e. selling mainly in other places. But the diesel is a great USP for Diamond.
Peter wrote:
The top two (mission capability) piston aircraft you can buy new are the SR22 and the DA42. Nothing else comes close.
You’re right: the Cessna Ttx just blows them away so it’s in it’s own category
Flyer59 06-Dec-15 17:46 #16
“… the WHIOLE MCU is a very expensive part, but usually you only need those Field Control Modules. It’s a couple of hundred Euros still …”
Here is just 1 more example of why the Cirrus SR22 maintenance costs are higher than most in the category.
There are many other “off the shelf” components that are “packaged” by Cirrus so that one cannot just replace the simple and in-expensive component .
Result is higher overall maintenance cost.
Peter wrote:
Yes, but very low volume.
It’s also significantly more expensive. Curiously the “crisis” almost didn’t register on sales of Mirage while the whole piston segment fell roughly 65 % (Cirrus fell with it) and is slowly recovering. The only big anomaly in piston PA46 numbers was introduction of Matrix, IIRC. Columbia/ Corvalis/ etc. posted decent numbers (far behind Cirrus, but decent) up to about 2008 I think.
