Plane & Pilot 2021 Buyer‘s Guide: Single-Engine Piston Planes

Newcomers, upgrades, and old favorites: 20 piston singles for 2017.

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The market for piston singles offers a diverse range of aircraft, from newly updated models and all-new Part 23-certificated designs, encompassing everything from 120-knot taildraggers to pressurized six-place screamers.
  • Modern piston singles are characterized by significant advancements in avionics, with many featuring sophisticated Garmin G1000 NXi or G3000 touch-controlled suites that enhance safety and user experience.
  • The Cirrus SR22 G6 remains the best-selling piston single, known for its updated avionics and whole-airplane parachute, while competitors like the Piper M350, Cessna TTx, and Mooney Acclaim Ultra offer specialized features such as pressurization, higher speeds, or improved cabin comfort.
  • Enduring classic models, including the Beechcraft G36 Bonanza, Piper Archer, and Cessna 182 Skylane, continue to be produced and updated, balancing their proven reliability with modern technology for various personal and training niches.
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Cirrus SR20
Cirrus SR20

Cirrus SR20

The original certificated Cirrus, the lower-powered SR20, gets the same G6 treatment as the SR22. New in 2017 is a Lycoming four-cylinder, 210 hp IO-390 engine. The SR20 is in most ways the same airplane as its more powerful sibling. But it’s a significantly less speedy airplane than the SR22, just 155 knots compared with better than 180 for the normally aspirated ’22. The ’20 is the de facto beginner’s Cirrus, but still an airplane that will go a long way, with a range of around 650 nm, and do so pretty quickly at 150 to 155 knots, and with the same comfort as the SR22—it features the same cabin with almost all the same options available, including the 60-40 flex seating that provides an extra seatbelt in back.  With the new engine, the SR20 will have a 100-pound higher max takeoff weight and a boost in useful load, too.

Niche: Fixed-gear personal

Base Price: $389,900

Competitors: Diamond DA40, Tecnam P2010, Piper Archer

Cirrus SR20 Specifications

Learn more at Cirrus Aircraft.

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