By Pilots For Pilots Airbus A320 Seats IndustrieIf you accept that glass cockpits give a pilot many valuable informational tools, Cirrus pilots have that. If you buy into the fact that an airframe parachute gives a pilot one last but extremely valuable option, Cirrus pilots have that. What they dont seem to have is common sense and that is our collective fault. Both industry and government have worked to ensure that Cirrus pilots dont know the score. Start with the FAA. A while back the instrument rating requirements were drastically reduced making the rating both less expensive and potentially more lethal. This was in response to pressure from general aviation interests, especially AOPA. The result is that we have instrument rated pilots who are not at all prepared for instrument flying, especially in technically advanced airplanes. The training systems that have been developed do what training systems have always done they prepare pilots for the FAA tests. A person with an instrument rating might know something about operating on an IFR flight plan but know nothing of cloud flying. Why would this affect Cirrus pilots more than othersFrom the beginning the Cirrus has been sold as a transportation machine. That relates to weather flying like the airlines do. So a new pilot, and many Cirrus pilots are relatively new, gets an instrument rating and is suddenly trying to do what infinitely more experienced pilots are doing with airliners. And there are two of those experienced pilots in the front end of every airliner. SR 2. 2s are flying hard IFR trips all over the country image courtesy of Flight. Aware. com. You can look at Flight Awares listing by type of airplanes in the IFR system at any given moment and there will be a lot of SR 2. In fact there are usually more than any other GA type that is used for transportation. Picture is excellent. If it is indeed some Microsoft OS on the flight deck, even if it does not control the aircraft, I am more worried about pilots being distracted. Airbus versus Boeing. Who doesnt love a good competition between the worlds two largest commercial airline manufactures I try to say I am not slanted one way. Sadly, you can look at that number and, unless it is a clear day, it can be safely assumed that an unhealthy percentage of the pilots really dont know what they are doing or at least might be unable to handle anything out of the ordinary. This is not their fault. They were certified by the government, they were sold the airplane, and they were encouraged to use it. By Pilots For Pilots Airbus A320 Seats 29aSo, cloudy day IFR wrecks are a big part of the Cirrus problem. So are low speed losses of control. Here the FAA also has bloody hands. Normally a single engine airplane has to be spun as part of the certification process. By Pilots For Pilots Airbus A320 Seats Layout' title='By Pilots For Pilots Airbus A320 Seats Layout' />The Cirrus wasnt. The FAA waived this requirement and accepted the airframe parachute as an alternate means of compliance. I kid you not, the spin recovery in a Cirrus is based on deploying the chute. That is the only way a pilot can recover from a spin in a Cirrus. The stall characteristics of the airplane are not bad when compared with some other airplanes but they arent real good, either. It might have been reasonable to expect stellar stall characteristic in a new design but, alas, aerodynamics reached a plateau many years ago. When everything is considered, the Cirrus record is what it is and will remain ever so unless some pretty drastic steps are taken. It cant be more training or more safety features because those things are already there. The only thing that can actually lead to improvement is the mind set of Cirrus pilots. Years ago, insurance underwriters put far lower rates on insurance for twins than singles. Then some wise ass writer that would be me started exploring the fact that the serious accident rate in twins was actually higher than in singles. The underwriters had been basing rates on what they thought to be true as opposed to what was actually true. Insurance underwriters have done that in a lot of areas over the years. Such might be the case with Cirrus pilots. With training, advanced equipment, and a parachute, a pilot could develop a false sense of security about flying the airplane. I recall an accident that well illustrates this. A professional person had finished a long and full day of work. Download Free Full Gangstar Rio Mod Apk 8. After work, and after darkness set in, he flew an IFR trip to an airport located in rough terrain. At 1. 1 3. 0 p. m. IFR clearance. He lost control of the airplane soon after takeoff and collided with rising terrain. This was a relatively inexperienced pilot and you can read between the lines of the NTSB report and contemplate several things. To me it is likely that there was some sort of distraction or confusion that caused the pilot to lose control. Certainly a marginally trained and inexperienced pilot does not have a lot of ability in reserve, especially in the middle of the night following a long day. The airplane had a good autopilot. Was the pilot not properly trained in its use Autopilots have been known to cause confusion if not used correctly. A question that has to be asked is whether or not the pilot would have even been flying IFR in bad weather over rough terrain at night in his single engine airplane if it had not been equipped with a parachute. I have always thought that a pilot who would do anything in a twin that he wouldnt do in a single is an accident looking for a place to happen. Same goes with the parachute. I question, too, whether or not many in the industry dont minimize the hazards found in aviation. No manufacturer is going to tell you that a product is dangerous as such and no entity that is in the business of promoting aviation will either. But collectively we should feel an obligation to make sure that new pilots understand that an airplane can kill you quicker than most anything else. When I look at the Cirrus accidents, I get the feeling that many of the pilots did not realize how quickly an airplane can bite, hard. I always communicated with airplanes. Mostly the chatting was about the good things but I always though the most important question to pose was, Old buddy, what are you going to do to try to hurt me today because I cant let you get away with that. What do you think it would take to rein in the Cirrus fatal accidentsPostscript. Four years later, Richard Collins updated his analysis in a new article called Whats right with Cirrus pilots Be sure to read it here. 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