Today’s Top Pick is a 2005 Cirrus SR22 G2.

During the 1970s, when Queen drummer Roger Taylor sang about “the machine of a dream, such a clean machine,” he was referring to a car. Today a whole lot of pilots might hum the same tune while thinking about the Cirrus SR22.

A tour de force of design, performance, and innovation, the Cirrus is among the most popular general aviation aircraft of all time because it has what pilots want—cross-country speed, great looks, and a parachute that can save the day in an emergency.

Now that the SR22 has been on the market for more than 20 years, there are many used examples available for a wide range of prices depending on their age and equipment. The earliest first- and second-generation models often come up for sale at prices similar to those of other fast piston singles that often are decades older.

The 2005 G2 example for sale here is equipped with the Avidyne primary flight and multifunction displays typical for that generation of SR22. Later versions received more advanced and increasingly integrated Garmin avionics, however, a pilot would be fortunate to find anything close to this aircraft’s Avidyne panel in other used piston singles.

This aircraft represents a significant value for pilots who like the SR22’s modern design but are not ready to spend up to $1 million or more for a newer model. 

This 2005 SR22 has 3,136 hours on the airframe and 220 hours since overhaul on its 310 hp Continental IO-550 engine. The aircraft is equipped with a TKS deicing system, and its parachute was recently repacked, so the next owner will have about 10 years before the next repack is due.

The IFR panel features an Avidyne Entegra PFD and Avidyne EX5000 MFD, dual Garmin GNS 430 GPS/nav/comms, one with WAAS, PMA 8000 audio panel,  transponder with ADS-B Out, L-3 Skywatch Active Traffic system, WX 500 Stormscope, Emax engine monitor, Cmax electronic charts, and S-TEC 55 autopilot.

Pilots looking for the advanced design, efficiency, and performance of a Cirrus SR22 at a price point more in keeping with a Cessna 210 Centurion or an older Beechcraft Bonanza should consider this 2005 Cirrus SR22 G2, which is available for $349,000 on AircraftForSale.

If you’re interested in financing, you can do so with FLYING Finance. Use its airplane loan calculator to calculate your estimated monthly payments. Or, to speak with an aviation finance specialist, visit flyingfinance.com.

• FLYING Magazine: We Fly: Cirrus SR22 G6
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• Plane & Pilot: Latest Cirrus SR22 Is Faster? How Much Faster?
• Plane & Pilot: Learning to Fly in a Cirrus SR22
•  The Aviation Consumer: Used Aircraft Guide: Cirrus SR22
• AVweb: Tornado Alley Turbos for Older Cirrus SR22s (Recorded Live at Sun ’n Fun 2008)

The post This 2005 Cirrus SR22 G2 Is a Value-Priced ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Today’s Top Pick is a 1999 Beechcraft Baron 58.

A longtime pilot friend who convinced me to get a private pilot certificate once described the thrill and satisfaction of traveling in a powerful light twin. He called it “a unique experience” to sit in the cockpit flanked by a pair of humming engines churning out a serious excess of power. It’s true. Feeling the power of two engines in an airframe that could get by with one adds a certain tingly feeling to being pilot in command.

This Baron 58 essentially is a Bonanza with an extra engine and a longer wing. With each engine rated at 300 hp, this twin moves with a purpose, lifting off from short strips and climbing quickly to cruising altitude. Pilots who feel their complex piston singles are “fast enough” might develop doubts after a ride in a Baron 58. Light twins, however, are more about redundancy and safety than pure speed. If an engine fails during a long flight, especially over water or rugged terrain, or at night, having a second power plant gives the pilot vital options.

For pilots who regularly log cross-country trips, the Baron 58 is a particularly pleasant way to travel. Its airy, comfortable cabin will turn your passengers into true GA believers if they aren’t already. And you, the pilot, might find yourself using a slightly affected voice over the intercom. “This is your captain speaking…”  

This 1999 Baron 58 has 2,955 hours on the airframe,1,264 hours on each of its 300 hp Continental IO-550 engines since new and 768 hours on the propellers since overhaul. The engines are equipped with GAMI injectors. Other features include factory air conditioning and vortex generators. The aircraft carries 166 gallons of usable fuel and has a useful load of 1,511 pounds.

The updated panel features a Garmin GTN 750Xi GPS/nav/com, GTN 650Xi GPS/nav/com, dual G5s, GFC 600 autopilot, GDL 88, and an Insight engine monitor.

Pilots seeking six-seat transport for long-distance family or business travel with the added security of a second engine should consider this 1999 Beechcraft Baron 58, which is available for $619,900 on AircraftForSale.

If you’re interested in financing, you can do so with FLYING Finance. Use their airplane loan calculator to calculate your estimated monthly payments. Or, to speak with an aviation finance specialist, visit flyingfinance.com.

• FLYING Magazine: We Fly: Beechcraft Baron G58
• FLYING Magazine:Finding a Home for a Beechcraft Baron
• FLYING Magazine: Half a Century of Beechcraft Barons
• FLYING Magazine: New Interiors for Beechcraft Barons, Bonanzas
• Plane & Pilot: The Mystique Of The Baron
• Plane & Pilot: Beechcraft Bonanza and Baron Get Big Updates
• The Aviation Consumer: Used Aircraft Guide: Beech Baron 58

The post This 1999 Beechcraft Baron 58 Is Your Personal Airliner and an ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Today’s Top Pick is a 2007 Lancair ES-P

Lancair is well known for the aerodynamically efficient, amateur-built experimental aircraft kits it produced for decades. Many of its most popular aircraft are compact, two-place machines that can be effective traveling airplanes as long as the occupants know how to pack lightly. The four-place ES models helped the company move closer to the mainstream in terms of equipment, accommodations, and passenger expectations.

In the familiar quest to cut travel times, the ES-P adds pressurization to allow more comfortable cruising at high altitudes. Turbocharging keeps the power high as the air thins. This combination of speed, comfort, and convenience makes the ES-P an attractive proposition to pilots who want to travel long distances with their families and friends while saving time and avoiding the use of tubing and cannulas to deliver supplemental oxygen in the flight levels.  

This Lancair ES-P has 430 hours on the airframe and on its Continental 400 hp TSIO-550 engine and MT four-blade propeller since overhaul. The aircraft was built from a kit with assistance from RDD Enterprises and features an extended rear pressure bulkhead that provides additional space in the pressurized cabin.

The panel includes dual Garmin G3X Touch displays with 10.6-inch screens, GTN 750 WAAS GPS, GFC 507 autopilot, SL 30 panel-mount Nav/Com, GMA 245R audio panel and a GEA-24 engine monitor module. Additional equipment includes a heated pitot and AOA probe, RDD Thermawing de-ice, prop de-ice, and RDD air conditioning.

Pilots who are interested in well-equipped, high-performance kit-built aircraft should consider this 2007 Lancair ES-P, which is available for $475,000 on AircraftForSale.

You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com.

• FLYING Magazine: We Fly: The Lancair Turbo Mako
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• AVweb:  First Pressurized Owner-Built Lancair ES Flies
• KITPLANES: Lancair ES-P

The post This 2007 Lancair ES-P is a Kit-Built Composite ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Today’s Top Pick Is a 1995 Mooney M20R Ovation. 

Mooney’s long-running M20 series aircraft are known for aerodynamic efficiency that allowed them to cruise at impressive speeds, often outrunning airplanes with much larger, more powerful engines. Early M20s used Lycoming O-320s and O-360s for power. As the line evolved, fuel injected engines with up to 200 hp became common. Still, many pilots wondered how an M20 would perform with a big-bore, 6-cylinder engine like those under the cowlings of so many other high-performance four-seaters. The M20R Ovation for sale here has the answer.

Even though its Continental IO-550 is derated to 280 hp, the Ovation can cruise at 190 ktas, getting pilots and passengers to their destinations quicker than earlier Mooneys and ahead of most competing aircraft. This Ovation  also has an updated panel, attractive paint scheme, and sharp interior. 

The 1995 Mooney Ovation offered has 1,662 hours on the airframe, 709 hours on its 280 hp Continental IO-550-G engine, and 709 hours on the three-blade Hartzell Scimitar propeller.

The aircraft’s panel includes Garmin GNS 530W and GNS 430W GPS/nav/com radios, GTX 345 ADS-B transponder, Aspen Evolution 1500 PFD and MFD, Garmin GMA 347 audio panel, GTS 800 active traffic, BendixKing KAP-150 autopilot, Insight Strikefinder, and JPI EDM700 engine monitor.

Additional features include a standby vacuum system, four-place intercom, electric flaps, electric trim, and speed brakes that help prevent the aerodynamically clean M20R from overspeeding during descents. 

Pilots looking for a fast, efficient, four-place cross-country aircraft should consider this 1995 Mooney M20R Ovation, which is available for $209,900 on AircraftForSale.

You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com.

• FLYING Magazine: Air Compare: Grumman AA-5 vs. Mooney M20 Series
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• FLYING Magazine: STC Approved for Hartzell Propeller Three-Blade Mooney Bravo Prop
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• Plane & Pilot: Big Approvals For Garmin GFC 500 Autopilot: Cessna 210s, Mooney M20s and Beech Bonanza Vee Tails!
• The Aviation Consumer: Used Aircraft Guide: Mooney 231/252

The post This 1995 Mooney M20R Ovation Is a Powerful, Slippery, and Speedy ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Today’s Top Pick is a 2005 Cirrus SR22 G2.

In more than 20 years on the general aviation market, Cirrus has evolved from an ambitious startup to an industry powerhouse turning out today’s most popular GA aircraft. I recently reread Free Flight: Inventing the Future of Travel, James Fallows’ 2001 book that follows the company through the early days of bringing its SR aircraft to market. People who read the book will understand why Cirrus succeeded where so many other aspiring aircraft makers failed. They will also see that starting an airplane company is a monumentally tall order even if you begin with a great idea.

Today a lot of the details that made Cirrus aircraft different from the competition, such as composite construction, design cues taken from the auto industry, and airframe parachute, have become more common and accepted. Two of the three partners who owned my Commander 114B before I bought it are now flying Cirrus SR22s. Both seem smitten. There also are many older aircraft that have been retrofitted with similar parachute systems. One of them, a Cessna 182, lives two hangars away from my airplane. 

This Cirrus SR22 has 2,200 hours on the airframe and zero hours since overhaul on its Continental IO-550-N engine. The aircraft has a new interior installed in 2022. The panel includes an Avidyne Entegra FlightMax PFD/MFD, PMA 450B audio panel, Avidyne IFD 550 and IFD 440, Avidyne DFC 90 autopilot, and  Lynx NGT9000 transponder. 

Pilots who have always wanted a Cirrus but have yet to find one that is “just right” should consider this 2005 Cirrus SR22 G2, which is available for $499,000 on AircraftForSale.

You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com.

• FLYING Magazine: We Fly: Cirrus SR22T 8000
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• The Aviation Consumer: Used Aircraft Guide: Cirrus SR22

The post This 2005 Cirrus SR22 G2 Is a Thoroughly Modern ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

About 30 nm north of the airport, I lost radio contact with Denver Center as the GTN 750 screen and the rest of the instrument panel went dark. I connected the Icom handheld radio to my Lightspeed headset and continued trying to reach Denver and the KFNL tower. I was reminded that without an exterior antenna for the Icom handheld radio, its range is only a few miles. Radio communication with the remote KFNL tower was finally accomplished about 4 nm north of the airport as I entered a long left downwind for Runway 33. Denver had offered to give me block space for landing at KFNL, and they diverted traffic until after I landed. They also provided their phone number and requested that I telephone them immediately after landing. After parking the airplane, I called Denver Center and reported my safe landing. They thanked me, wishing me luck.

I then visited Professional Aircraft Services (PAS) and the manager, Larry Hallock. I described the loss of my electrical charging system. He informed me the voltage regulator was not defective, recommending we overnight a 100-amp alternator/clutch assembly from Dallas. This engine was a zero-timed Continental IO-550 with a direct drive alternator, which had not been removed or worked on since its installation at the factory.

The next day, the new alternator/clutch assembly arrived, but in the interim, the PAS maintenance shop had removed the direct drive alternator assembly from my engine and found disturbing evidence of a major hardware failure. I visited the shop and witnessed that the clutch shaft and lock nut in my alternator clutch assembly were loose and wobbly. There was no cotter pin in that shaft/nut assembly as there should have been, and there was visible evidence of metal pieces distributed throughout the engine. In addition, the four 5/16-inch bolts on the crankshaft face gear—which meshes with the smaller alternator clutch gear—were loose, allowing the face gear to “chatter” with the alternator clutch gear.

The cotter pin was conspicuous by its absence—and later found in the crankcase. It appeared to have not been “spread” after being inserted into the castle nut. The shop drained the engine oil, filtering it through a metal screen mesh as recommended by a recent FAA bulletin. Visible pieces of orange elastomer/rubber sealant were present—and when these pieces in the screen were touched with a magnet, multiple bits of ferromagnetic metal were observed. Some orange polymer as well as some small metal pieces were also inside the alternator housing casing, below the large gear on the crank case shaft. The oil filter also showed visible metal particles.

The telltale signs of a major engine problem drove the conclusion that a major engine teardown and repair was needed. Fortunately, KFNL hosts The “New” Firewall Forward engine overhaul shop. Jerry Doyle, general manager, and I agreed to move forward by removing the engine from the airplane and beginning the teardown, inspection, and repair.

An important question was whether the cost would be covered by either Continental, the engine manufacturer, or Avemco, my insurance provider. As noted above, this “new engine” was now 4 years old and had 430 hours on it. Continental informed me that my engine was past the 18-month rebuilt gasoline engine warranty.

I felt that my personal witness of the engine damage during the initial electrical system diagnosis provided substantial evidence for an assembly error when the alternator was installed at the Continental factory. In addition, my photos, which show the missing cotter pin in the direct drive alternator castle nut and related engine damage provided substantial evidence that someone at Continental had failed to follow standard operating procedures in the assembly of the alternator and had made the simple yet damaging error of not spreading the cotter pin after inserting it into the alternator clutch drive castle nut. In providing evidence, I referenced Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin NE-18-16 from June 2018, which described a fatal accident involving a Bonanza equipped with the same IO-550 engine. In the end, Continental compensated me for engine removal, parts, labor, and reinstallation of the engine. As a “Plan B,” I had also approached Avemco with a similar request, and my agent said they would help if needed.

The supply chain shortage problem made the engine rebuild period frustratingly long, and the shops were very busy. Plus, the 210 went out of annual inspection. There were no significant findings when PAS performed the inspection, fortunately. A year later, after my test flight, all looked good—and I flew home the next day.

The post Over The Rockies With No Alternator appeared first on FLYING Magazine.