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hpais
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Why I Fly a Cirrus SR22
from hpais
wrote 2 years 2 weeks ago
I just bought my third Cirrus. The first was an SR20 brand new in 2006. The second a SR22 GTS also brand new in 2007. Downturns in my life forced me to give up for a while. Now with the recovery I got a SR22 G2 which was brand new in 2004, so this is a previously loved airplane.
I had owned a Mooney and a Cessna and flown a lot on Pipers before. But none have the space, the openness, the car-like comfort, the confidence inspiring avionics, the life saving parachute.
It's not the plane, it's the entire package.
And funny, for pilots who don't know the Cirrus or have never flown in one, it's totally beyond their comprehension. To them it's a plastic plane, the parachute is there because it stalls and doesn't recover, the avionics are gadgets for video game addicts.
I guess that's the nature of anything that is revolutionary and breaks established paradigms. You either love it and can't live without it, or hate it and don't get the point.
Garmin Addresses the High Cost of Subscriptions
from hpais
wrote 2 years 5 weeks ago
I believe the cost of subscriptions is outrageous. This is due to the lack of real competition. Jeppesen is the only manufacturer and therefore have a true Monopoly over Chart data. Now that they're owned by Boeing, their prices have soared even higher. They website is the worst eCommerce website in the industry and there's nothing anyone can do about it.
The problem isn't Garmin, but the fact that there is no one else willing to package the government-generated into a format that the Garmin hardware can display.
In a TAA (Technically Advanced Aircraft) like a Cirrus or Corvalis, the cost of subscription is $1800/year. This can be higher than the annual cost of maintenance for a new aircraft.
Mastering Aviation Communications
from hpais
wrote 1 year 18 weeks ago
Pia, what a great write up!
I am Brazilian and just received the Level 6 - Expert - ICAO English Proficiency Certification, so I relate totally to you in the fact that English is also my second language (Portuguese is 1st), and I learned it to proficiency. English is the official aviation language and any pilot venturing beyond his national borders must speak aviation English.
A few things that I would add to other foreigners like us, who seek to fly in the USA environment or in any International setting nowadays, with the ICAO English Proficiency requirement:
- Listen to liveATC.net either on your computer or on an iPhone. Specially listen to non-American English controllers, like Australian, South Africans, Turkish, Hong Kong - their English carries a very heavy accent and you will be forced to understand all accents that exist in Aviation.
- use Audio CD's available from a great number of sources
And get exposed to it. The only way to learn it is by speaking it, by making mistakes and keep trying.
Thanks
Hermann
Bidding Farewell to the Garmin GNS Line
from hpais
wrote 28 weeks 1 day ago
I believe the US and Canada are the only countries
Where WAAS is of any use. Therefore, the rest of the world has no use for an upgrade to WAAS. If you consider that about 30% of all GNS operate outside North America, you have an explanation why people aren't upgrading
