Aircraft owners at one point or another have all uttered a common sentiment: “It’s a great airplane, but I just wish it were a little faster…and could climb above the weather…and had pressurization…” Aircraft manufacturers heard that pilot’s lament long ago and have made most satisfying piles of cash by responding to it. Strategically, they’ve sold new pilots one of their more modest models, and then made it easy and reasonable to step up to more performance, larger cabins, deicing, turbocharging, pressurization, turbine power, and cruise speeds well above 200 knots. During the 1970s, Cessna even came to offer the first single-pilot jets with the Citation I and II SP, creating the world of the owner-flown turbojet.
Then came Cirrus. The SR20 entered the scene in the mid-1990s outperforming everything in its class, even with fixed gear. To the amazement of many, it was also used as a trainer, and new Cirrus pilots increasingly learned to fly and move up the ratings food chain.
