Think you want a faster plane?

[kwmoore]

Who among us has not pondered the benefits of a
faster airplane for travelling? My own such idle
thoughts on occasion drift towards the Cirrus SR22, a 180+
kt cruiser. Its climb rate is somewhat faster than
the 260se, albeit at a much faster Vy (and resulting
shallower gradient). I recently had an illuminating
experience in this regard. A friend recently took delivery
of his SR22 and has unfortunately had to have a few
things tended to in multiple visits to the Cirrus
Service Center in Stockton (SCK), about 50 miles from
Palo Alto (PAO). I helped out by providing air taxi
service to and from SCK for him to deliver and pick up
his plane--a circle of friends around here do this
for each other. When we ferried his SR22 to SCK I
departed first (Peterson Departure), climbed straight to
5500 feet through a narrow gap between SFO Class B and
SJC Class C, and timed my top-of-the-green arc
descent to a crosswind entry at midfield. He departed
right behind me in the '22 but had to fly a wider
departure underneath Class B and delay his climb to 5500.
Sure enough he buzzed by me before the halfway mark.
However, he had to fly beyond SCK in his effort to both
descend and slow down, and enter on the 45. For all his
30+ knot cruise speed advantage, I landed just 45
seconds behind him, but only because I had to loiter a
bit waiting for him to fly a longish downwind and
base! Granted he's a less experienced pilot flying a
plane that's new to him, but it shows that a properly
planned flight using the capabilities of the 260se can
often if not always considerably narrow the advantage
of a faster but more conventional airplane.