to train in a Cessna or Cirrus?

Ryans Dad

Ryans Dad

Well-Known Member
If you had the option to get your PPL in a Cessna or a Cirrus, which would you choose and why? Or would you split your time in both if that was an option?

edit: if this should be in the Training forum, please feel free to move it. Just thought I'd pose this question in here first...
 
Cessna 172 on costs alone. Learn to fly that shiny SR-22 once you have the private certificate. Your wallet and the owners wallet (read maintenance) will thank you.
 
I have close to a thousand hours in each, Id say train in the Cessna 172. The Cirrus is a plane to get to a destination, not a plane to beat up on landings.The Cessna will require less time, cheaper, and easier to transition to other planes vs the other way around.
 
I learned in a Cirrus.....Its not a very good trainer, go with the 172 and save yourself some $$$
 
You don't give a 16yr old a sports car and not expect him to smash it. Fly the Cessna.
 
Don't act like someone infected with SJS, fly the Cessna and get some REAL training. If the 172 is glass, go for a steam gauge plane. And if they dont have that, go to a different FBO.
 
Fly_Unity said:
I have close to a thousand hours in each, Id say train in the Cessna 172. The Cirrus is a plane to get to a destination, not a plane to beat up on landings.The Cessna will require less time, cheaper, and easier to transition to other planes vs the other way around.
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This is pretty much what I was thinking. Better to learn how to REALLY fly with standard gauges, etc rather than all the fancy computers and just move up after the PPL.
 
If able a 150/152? save even more $? I wish I learned in a 150, didn't fly one until after I got my commercial.

I love the low, slow, forever XC, cheap time building with it!
 
Train in a 152, I see absolutely no reason to train in a 172 for your PPL. 25% of my hrs are in 172s and there's literally no difference I don't think when learning and on the plus side it's a heck of a lot cheaper too!
 
Hawks said:
If able a 150/152? save even more $? I wish I learned in a 150, didn't fly one until after I got my commercial.

I love the low, slow, forever XC, cheap time building with it!
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I agree with you on this one. I did my PPL/IFR in a Warrior/172. Now that it is time to build time for my commercial I have started renting a 152. I have to say that the 152 is an extremely fun plane to fly. I would highly recommend it for anybody getting their PPL if weight restrictions don't cut back on your fuel load too much.

My instructor was 6'4 230 and I was 6'1 185 so a 152 was not very practical for my Private.
 
152 is the way to go. Really cheap, and it'll probably make you a better stick pilot than a Cirrus or a 172 will. A 172 really wants to fly itself, a 152...well...not so much. :D

If you don't have access to a 152, a 172 will be a much better bet than a Cirrus. A PPL in a Cirrus will cost you an unbelievably high amount of money, trust me.
 
Another vote for the good ole 152. There's a reason it was the choice of a generation (apologies to Pepsi). You have plenty to learn just learning to fly and it costs way more than enough even in a 152.
 
Thanks for the great replies. They all make perfect sense, and I feel kind of dumb for even asking now. LOL. I'm still deciding on a school, but I'll def keep an eye out for a 152/172 to train in.
 
Just out of curriosity, how much does a Cirrus go for an hour? If I remember, I saw one for like 235 an hour, hamburgers! The is 3-4 hours in a 152!
 
Ryans Dad said:
Thanks for the great replies. They all make perfect sense, and I feel kind of dumb for even asking now. LOL. I'm still deciding on a school, but I'll def keep an eye out for a 152/172 to train in.
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Naaa, don't feel dumb for asking, I've asked my fair share of dumb stuff here!
 
Hawks said:
Just out of curriosity, how much does a Cirrus go for an hour? If I remember, I saw one for like 235 an hour, hamburgers! The is 3-4 hours in a 152!
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One of the clubs that I rent from (pretty cheap compared to the rest of the field) rents a SR22 for $239. That's a whole lot of money for an hour in a plane.
 
Jshutt64 said:
One of the clubs that I rent from (pretty cheap compared to the rest of the field) rents a SR22 for $239. That's a whole lot of money for an hour in a plane.
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Wow, that seems like a really good deal. What's the club dues and whatnot associated to get to that rental rate. I know around here, the cheapest way to take a trip is the most expensive single at the FBO, by doing a simple cost per knot calculation. Might be more expensive per hour to fly that 182, but it goes faster than a 172.
 
KSCessnaDriver said:
Wow, that seems like a really good deal. What's the club dues and whatnot associated to get to that rental rate. I know around here, the cheapest way to take a trip is the most expensive single at the FBO, by doing a simple cost per knot calculation. Might be more expensive per hour to fly that 182, but it goes faster than a 172.
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The club all around is really cheap. They also have a 1999 C172R (fuel injected and fitted with a 180hp engine) with a KLN GPS and the works for $110 wet. :)

Club dues are $20 a month.
 
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