Cirrus SR22 – New Options for 2012

The Cirrus SR22 is an absolutely excellent platform for a 4 seat airplane that can be used for both business and personal travel. It combines ease of use with comfort and a fair amount of speed. New features for this year are:

• 60/40 FlexSeating. This is similar to a 60/40 folding bench for your car; however, the Cirrus version gives you 10 pounds more useable load, a third seal belt, and a LATCH car seat attachment (which I believe is unique in aviation). 

• Perspective Global Connect. Basically this option is a satellite phone that integrates with your avionics. It has the ability to make voice calls, send and receive text messages, and retrieve world-wide weather reporting. 

The reality is that the third seat belt on the FlexSeating will really only be useful to those with three children (and probably pre-teen at that). On the up side, though, having a third child will no longer require an immediate upgrade to a six-seater. Owners will be able to wait a few years and make their aircraft investment more long lived. I do applaud the addition of the LATCH restraint system and the ability to fold down seats for temporary cargo carriage instead of having to remove and then reinstall them. This will make flights with cargo on one leg and passengers on another so much simpler.

I like the ability get worldwide weather with to the Perspective Global Connect (XM is limited to the US), and adding the ability to call through the regular audio panel and text from the MFD is icing on the cake. Obviously there’s the issue that all of your passengers can hear/talk on the phone, raising some privacy issues, and only the front seat passenger or pilot will be able to text given the location of the keypad.

Finally, Cirrus has made available some new paint and interior options. You can check out all the changes here.

Overall, very nice improvements to an excellent platform - bravo Cirrus!

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

First up – Avidyne’s IFD540

The first product from Oshkosh 2011 that I want to cover is the Avidyne IFD540. This box is a slide-in replacement for the Garmin 530 series GPS/NAV/COMM and it offers some very exciting capabilities that will enhance the functions of your light business aircraft.

• First off, the IFD540 is using Avidyne’s Entegra Release 9 of software which has been highly touted for it’s of use.
• Even though it fits into the 530 mount – the display is larger, brighter, and has more pixels for a crisper picture
• The units are now touch screen enabled, but also retain knobs and buttons – this way the pilot can decide the easiest method of controlling this GPS/NAV/COMM
• Touch screen controls enable dragging of the magenta line so that routing around a point (storm, TFR, etc.) can be quicklhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gify accomplished
• A pop-up QWERTY keyboard for tying in exact way points

The enhancements offered by Avidyne will make IFR and VFR operations simpler and safer. Currently Avidyne is offering some very attractive pricing in addition to the industry leading capabilities. If you are considering upgrading your GPS this great unit would make a nice enhancement for your flight department.

You can learn all about the IFD540 here.

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Airventure (Oshkosh) 2011

Another Airventure has passed into history and it was a success, all things considered. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend this year because of work, but I did spend the last few weeks reviewing the product launches to find those of particular interest to the business aviation crowd.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be presenting each product and its value to the small business aviation department.

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Cessna Corvalis TTx

Last week at Sun’n Fun in Lakeland, FL Cessna introduced the crowd to its improved Corvalis - the TTx. Although, I was not able to attend Sun’n Fun I have been scouring the net for news and reviews and will do my best to distill this information for you and provide a bit of insight.

The improvements to the Corvalis are very minor and consist of better quality leather interiors, four new paint schemes, and a new Garmin flight deck – the G2000. Now the G2000 is interesting in that it incorporates a touch screen interface rather than the older “knobology” of the G1000. Additionally the units offer –

Garmin G2000 features

• Infrared touch screen instead of surface resistance, which is supposed to be more reliable


• The addition of a multifunction display page for audio and environmental controls


• More intuitive display layouts

Corvalis features

• The availability of a leather wrapped side-stick.


• The addition of an L-3 Trilogy backup glass instrument instead of analog gauges.

Overall I am disappointed with this product announcement as I was hoping for more substantial updates to the product line. However, these are nice features that will add value to an already excellent aircraft. With the speed and range offered by the airframe, I would still recommend the Corvalis to any business looking for a capable 4 place airplane.

Now for the bad news – even with the minor changes to the Corvalis, it will be another 12 months before delivery.

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Great plane gets an update?

When Cessna acquired the Lancair 350/400 line, it got an excellent light business airplane. Renamed the Covalis, the 400 will take 2 people with baggage over 1000 miles at 235 knots - which would make it faster door to door than an airline for trips up to 900 miles.

Well, Cessna has announced that on March 29th they will be introducing a new product and rumors are that it will be an improved 400. It will be interesting to see what updates have been made and you can look forward to review of the plane, the capabilities, and the possible business applications.

Clear skies and tailwinds
Mike

Great new airplane from Cirrus

At the annual Cirrus Owners conference, Cirrus Designs has announced a new turbo-charged SR22T. This plane has the ability to transport 4 (including the pilot)820 miles in 3.5 hours!

Check it out at Aero-news


Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Back on the 'net

After a short hiatus from updating my online presence, I would like to take this opportunity to let everyone know that I've updated my website.

Please check out http://www.horizonsaloft.com

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Its happened again

Well,

Another week and another group of passengers are
trapped on an airliner.

Although the CEO has apologized to the customers, why would people constantly take a chance that this would happen to them? It's because they do not feel that they have a viable alternative.

The truth is we do have an alternative.

With some training just about anyone can earn a pilots license and fly themselves on their trips. It works just like taking your personal car/truck on a trip, but at 2 - 3 times the speed. The best part is that on trip of less than 650 miles it's faster than the airlines, and for trips with less than 7 days notice or trips with 2 or more people it's cheaper!

Go ahead and take a look - even if you ultimately decide against it, you won't regret the exploration

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Have you ever...

had one of your employees come to you and ask if they could fly their personal plane on company business?

If so, you probably didn't have an answer at hand. If you spoke to your company legal adviser, you probably heard a resounding no.

But, what if you want to say yes - or at the very least determine if yes or no is the correct answer?

Have I got a deal for you! At Horizons Aloft we are launching our newest service. An aviation consultant will work with you to detail the risks versus rewards and come up with the strategy that best fits your organization. Drop by Horizons Aloft to learn all about it.

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Great Article

There's wonderful article on business aviation from the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Check it out.

If your business has decided to investigate further, please contact me through my company - Horizons Aloft

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

General Aviation – the High Security option?

Yes, you read that right – those small planes where passengers are not required to undergo virtual strip searches are the ultimate in high security air travel. Don’t believe me – just ask any Fortune 500 executive who travels to the Middle East, Africa, or Mexico.

Of course, the news media and the government security types are up in arms over private planes because they lack those very intrusive security screens. And from a 50,000 foot view (so to speak) they have a slightly valid point. What these folks do not understand is that these planes are ultimately the MOST secure because the passengers and pilots know each other. As a pilot, I certainly not going to invite some suspicious person to travel with me and I doubt any other pilots would either. What the government wants is total control and private aviation scares them due to its independence.

With all the recent concern about airline security (such as the “underwear” bomber) I believe it is incumbent upon all business owners to see if they can engage private aviation to better protect their employees, while increasing their mobility and effectiveness.

This one goes into the Win-Win column from my point of view

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Private vs. Commercial with Advanced Notice

In previous examples, I've detailed last minute trips which certainly favor general aviation - so what about advanced notice?

Well, with 21 days of advanced notice the one way fairs on Southwest for a flight between Dallas and Houston are: $151 for business select, $136 for anytime, or $49 for wanna get away. For my airplane, the cost is $66 each way for up to 4 people (including the pilot).

So, if you want to go cheap you can get to Houston from Dallas at a lower cost, but with a lot of restrictions. The anytime fair from SWA certainly eliminates that problem, but then the cost escalates dramatically. For two people on a business trip the price breaks down thusly -

Southwest anytime fair (round trip) x 2 = $544.00
Taxes on the tickets = $ 36.18

Total 580.18


Airplane Gas (33 gallons round trip) = $132.00

Total 132.00

Not to mention that you still end up saving 1 hour and 10 minutes of travel time, which under this scenario is multiplied by 2 and then further multiplied by the salary of these folks.

You can slice the stats many ways, but given the right plane for the mission a private individual can be faster and cheaper than public transit.

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Professionalism and flying

There have been several stories recently concerning professional pilots who have acted with a deficit of professionalism in the course of their duties.

In Atlanta, there was a jet that landed on a taxiway instead of the runway, needlessly putting slow moving airplanes in harm's way and then there's the crew who overflew their destination by 150 miles because, they claim, they were busy using their laptops???

Now, as a member of the human race I am just as capable of making a mistake (my wife might say even more than average), but I can't seem to wrap my head around what these pilots were thinking at the time. Yes, flying can be both fun and relaxing, but when you are pilot in command (PIC) of a bread and butter flight (i.e. one made for money), a certain level of performance is expected. These mistakes by seasoned aircrews, with 2 people checking each other's performance ranks on the amateur side of things.

Regardless of whether you are flying a Cessna 172 on 100 mile business trip, a King Air on a 500 mile excursion, or a Gulfstream traveling between the coasts, exhibit professionalism in your demeanor and behavior. Your passengers will be confident in your abilities and mistakes that might be made will be caught much earlier.

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Another example

Here's another scenario where a private plane makes sense.

An emergency arose with a customer about an hour west of Houston and we needed to have 2 people with replacement parts there on the same day. From Dallas we could drive for 7 hours or we could take Southwest Airlines. There are flights leaving all the time between these 2 cities, so scheduling is not difficult. However, the 40 minute flight ends up taking 4 hours:

• 1 hour drive to Love Field


• 1 hour early arrival for security and seating


• 40 minute flight


• 20 minutes to get a rental car


• 1 hour drive to the customer site

An to top it all off, it would be $130 per person each way - or a grand total of $520!

With a 4 seat airplane the flight time was longer, but the door to door time was much better:

• 15 minute drive to the airport


• 15 minutes to preflight the plane


• 105 minute flight


• 10 minutes to park


• 10 minutes for a rental


• 15 minute drive to the customer

Grand total: 2 hours and 50 minutes!

On top of that the total fuel burned was only 33 gallons, for a flight cost of $132.

Obviously this type of travel is not typical for many business, but if your company has a lot of last minute travel, or travel outside of the major cities the cost and time savings can be real.

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

A Concrete Example for Why

How do I answer the question - why do think using a private plane is better than the airlines? Here's a situation that illustrates my answer:

A couple of weeks ago we had a piece of networking equipment fail in an office about 200 miles from the IT staff location. We were faced with three options -

1. Ship the part overnight, which would mean that payroll for that location would not be turned in on time. Not an acceptable solution.

2. Drive to the location with the part (since this site has no nearby airline service). This would cost 3 hours in round trip travel time and would mean that our technician would not arrive home until after 8pm. Doable, yes, but not he best work/life balance that could be achieved.

3. Fly a private plane to the site to replace the part. This would take a total of 2 hours and 45 minutes round trip, would get the site up and running nearly 2 hours earlier, and at no additional cost to the company over driving.

Obviously we chose option 3. It was both faster and cheaper than our alternatives as well as a perfect example of how a small plane can benefit your business. I'll have another scenario next week.

Until then, clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Earnings growth 434% greater than your competition!

A study of companies who are using business aviation is out and some of the more interesting statistics are:

• Average annual revenue growth on a market cap-weighted basis was 116 percent higher for users of business aircraft than for non-users.


• Average annual earnings growth was 434 percent higher for users of business aviation.


• Market capitalization growth as measured by market value growth was 496 percent higher for business aircraft users than for non-users.

You can get the story here.

The study itself is located here.

Visit Horizons Aloft today to learn how your company can benefit from a robust business aviation commitment.


Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Nice article from the Economist

Over at the Economist they've posted a nice, balanced article on general aviation. I think they overplay the costs in comparison to airline travel - but that's based on my experience of mostly last minute needs. If your flying can be scheduled with 2 weeks advanced notice, you will have a different cost profile.

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Back to the Beginning

I realized that in my zeal to begin talking about business aviation for the pilot who's also the business owner, I forgot to start at the beginning of the story.

Why would a small business invest in flight training and a light airplane?

Traditionally, all the sole proprietor and small company owner/pilots were pilots first as a hobby. They realized, at some point, that these vehicles are useful for doing business.

What I'm trying to do is "spread the gospel", so to speak, about about business aviation. There's no need to relegate business flying until your company can afford the latest and greatest jet. You can get a demonstrable payback on your investment with a used aircraft. Then, once you get some experience and see exactly what the aircraft can do for you and your company, your business can decide if it wants to invest more.

Next time around - a couple of specific scenarios to help illustrate my point.

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Missed one!

When I posted my list of available portable aviation GPS's I forgot to mention the newest entry on the scene.

After a long hiatus from offering new and innovative products for light general aviation aircraft, Bendix-King is now offering the AV8TOR and AV8TOR ACE units. I have not had an opportunity to try these units out for myself, but the word on the street is that they are easy to use and reliable.

Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike

Available Portable GPS's

So here's a quick rundown of available portable aviation GPS units:

  Dedicated Devices

    Garmin

    GPS496 - The standard by which all others are measured. Definitely the most popular unit. It is very capable and interfaces with XM Weather and passive traffic advisory devices. All of this comes at a cost, only the large screen unit from Garmin costs more.

    GPS696 - Basically, a larger version of the 496. The extra screen size really enhances the usability of the split screen modes.

    Lowrance

    600C - Very high quality GPS unit. The screen size is similar to the 496, but the unit fits much better on the yoke than the Garmin. The big drawback to the Lowrance models is that they do not interface with XM weather or taffic systems.

    2000C - One of the earliest large screen GPS's. Again, very high quality and yoke mountable, but no outside interfaces.

    AvMap

    EKP-IV - A large screen GPS with interfaces to traffic and weather systems. An innovative feature here is the ability to upload photos of airports that are viewable in-flight (you can see an overhead of the actual airport before you get there).

  PC Based Devices

     ControlVision - The makers of AnywhereMap, which is the leader in this market segment. The software is fairly easy to use and quite reliable. They produce versions for PDA's and laptops which interface with traffic and weather. These units were also the first to have approach plates and taxi diagrams.

    PCAvionics - This company produces the MountainScope software package for PDA's and laptops. The big advantage to this package is that terrain features are very detailed - no blockiness on the display. MountainScope does interface to both traffic and weather.

  Hybrid Devices

    ControlVision ATC - This unit is from the same folks who offer the AnywhereMap product. It runs on a modified PDA platform so that the unit functions much more like a dedicated unit, while offering the abliity to upgrade the software.



Clear skies and tailwinds!
Mike