Hi!
OK, so the Cirrus is a piece of crap.
Later, when we have enough money, I want to buy a plane. Where is the RV6/8/10 factory? I want to buy a brand new one, fresh off the assembly line and built by a professional. Oh, I forgot, you can't get one.
I could hand build a 4-door sedan and save myself a lot of money, but I'd rather save the 20 years of building it and buy one off the Toyota lot, thank you.
And, you're right, there are so many choices other than a brand new Cirrus. You can buy a 1950 Cessna, or a 1950 Piper, or a 1950 Mooney, or a 1950 Beechcraft.
I think there's a reason that the local Toyota and GM dealers aren't selling 1950 model cars as brand new ones these days. Can you imagine, "Oh, but our 1950 Plymouth has a GPS navigation unit in it." So I'm going to pass up a new hybrid-drive brand new Toyota SUV for the 1950 Plymouth with a video screen in it?
The guy who started Adam Aircraft originally was planning on building a SE fixed-gear four seater, but when he studied the market, he realized that he would not be able to compte with Cirrus, because they basically had perfected the platform in that market.
Also, what about the chute? Of course highly skilled and professional pilots would never need it, but most guys buying it are older, and if they have a heart attack, their spouses can pull the chute and land safely, even if they don't know how to fly. That's a HUGE selling point that most pilots don't know about.
In my house if the CEO likes it, it gets purchased.
Cliff
YIP