rwtucker wrote:ihfanjv wrote:. . . I see very little reason to chose the Cessna 350/400 over the SR22.
I think the C400 carried over the utility class rating of the Columbia 400. I was around the Cirrus folks when they were going for certification. At that time, they gave up on any chance of getting utility. Are the newer SR22s rated Utility now?
No, they are not - the SR22 is certified in the "normal" category. I am only aware of one in-flight breakup of a SR22, which I believe was in severe convective activity resulting in loss of control and high-speed dive, etc.
I think the utility vs normal argument is just marketing hype because in flight breakups are not the problem in the SR22 - the problems are disorientation during IMC, the lack of feel in the spring-loaded side yoke, pilot's unfamiliarity with the top-hat style trim, people stalling them into the ground on base and final, and people landing too fast resulting in bad landings or botched go-arounds. Landing too fast in the SR22 is caused by the fact that pilots are trained to fly the SR22 quickly in the pattern, but they just can't figure out how to slow the plane down to the low 70s on short and final when they are in the 90s on final. The SR22 in ground effect at 80+ floats forever and eats up runway quickly. By the time the pilot gets 3/4 of the way down the runway they are on the low 70s, they firewall the throttle, forget to step on the right peddle and retract the full flaps, and you know how the rest of the story goes...
The SR22 does have a history of post crash fires (which is one more reason to pull the parachute instead of trying to force a landing in hostile terrain). The post crash fires are allegedly due to the composite wet wings' tendency to shatter on impact, atomizing fuel, that then finds a source of ignition resulting in a fireball. There's even video of this happening so it is more than urban legend - this unfortunate poor soul probably would not have survived the crash anyway, although he might have if he had used the parachute:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=589_1297 ... comments=1). I am not sure whether the Columbia/Cessna 350/400 has a similar post-crash fire history.
I don't think there are any examples post-crash fires on the DA40 or DA42 (not many crashes, period, in these two planes - probably the safest planes ever built). Clearly, putting aluminum tanks between two beefy carbon spars has proved to be a lot better than a composite wet wing.