One of the knocks against the mostly-pretty-awesome Vision Jet from Cirrus is high levels of interior noise. The fuselage is composite rather than aluminum and this is typically a recipe for high levels of cabin noise. Sticking the engine directly over the heads of the back seat passengers also doesn’t help.
I recently had the chance to make some measurements in an SF50-G2 using a mid-grade sound level meter.
At FL200 (20,000′) and 301 knots true airspeed (219 indicated), cabin noise was 81-85 dBA depending on the position within the cabin and, especially, whether measured at the inboard or outboard ear. Closer to the fuselage, the sound was quite a bit louder.
At FL310 and 310 knots true airspeed (190 indicated), cabin noise was 80-82 dBA.
For reference, the Pilatus PC-12 turboprop measures 83-90 dBA inside. Small business jets and the Piaggio Avanti turboprop are in the 70s. The elites enjoy cabins in the high 60s dBA, e.g., in a Gulfstream.
Because the Vision Jet doesn’t vibrate like a piston- or turboprop-powered plane, it is very comfortable inside, especially with noise-canceling headsets. A passenger who didn’t want to wear a headset might reasonably use an earplug only in the ear away from the center of the plane.
A new SF50 is going for $3.6M on controller.com, about the same price as a used Cessna M2. So how do they compare? For me it’s M2 all the way.
I’m mostly clueless here, but I thought that the parachute was the selling point for the SF50.
Anon: Fortunately we didn’t need to use the parachute on our Denver trip!
Otto Pilot: The M2 is its own animal. Obviously it is better to have that second engine if you’re doing a lot of over-water flights. The sim training for multi-engine is a little more involved and the overall operation of an M2 is not as friendly to the novice.
“A passenger who didn’t want to wear a headset might reasonably use an earplug only in the ear away from the center of the plane.”
Imagine travel requiring only earplugs instead of noise canceling headsets. The floorplan still has no bathroom.