(October 2011) Those of us who have been around airplanes for any length of time understand the concept of stepping up, whereby a nonpilot becomes a pilot, learns to fly in a certain brand of airplane and then remains loyal to that brand while gaining experience and moving up through the model lineup to bigger, faster and more expensive airplanes.
Let me be quick to point out that this concept is no more a theory than is density altitude. It’s an explanation of how things work. When you learn to fly in a Cessna, a Piper or a Cirrus, you tend to want to stick with that brand if there is an airplane available for you to move up into. I was talking with Cirrus sales representative Adam Hahn the other day about that company’s Cirrus Vision, its under-development single-engine jet. I mentioned to Adam that I’d spoken to a couple of Cirrus owners who would write a check today if they could get a jet. Adam looked completely unsurprised. He said, essentially, that nearly every customer who buys an SR22 also wants a Cirrus Vision jet. It’s the perfect step-up model. Except that it isn’t yet available.
