Not ONE word

[Colonel Sanders]

about the aircraft type:

[Beefitarian]

Forgot his prescription lenses? No wait, us airways wouldn't let his dog fly.

[iflyforpie]

What would the aircraft type have to do with it?

Used to be every so often a jet would land on one of the taxiways at Sea Tac.

Remember... these are jets flown by two professional pilots.

http://seattletimes.com/html/businesste ... tac13.html

[170 to xray]

Cirrus SR20 posted at the top of the article.

[ahramin]

It is very strange how certain aircraft types seem to attract certain types of pilots. A few months ago for the first time in my career I saw a pilot taxi a further distance, to takeoff with a 5+ knot tailwind, in order to takeoff in the opposite direction to where he was going. Any guesses on the type?

[Colonel Sanders]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_SR20#Accidents

In 2011 the accident record of the SR20 and 22 was the subject of a detailed examination by Aviation Consumer ... its fatal accident rate is much worse at 1.6/100,000 hours, placing it higher than the US general aviation rate of 1.2 and higher than the Diamond DA40 (.35), Cessna 172 (.45), Diamond DA42 (.54), Cessna 182 (.69) and the Cessna 400 (1.0), despite the Cirrus's full aircraft parachute system.

So, you add heavy, expensive safety equipment (BRS)
which no other aircraft has - for the worst-case scenario -
and the resulting fatal accident rate is horrible.

Is that what they call "win/win"?

[FenderManDan]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_SR20#Accidents

In 2011 the accident record of the SR20 and 22 was the subject of a detailed examination by Aviation Consumer ... its fatal accident rate is much worse at 1.6/100,000 hours, placing it higher than the US general aviation rate of 1.2 and higher than the Diamond DA40 (.35), Cessna 172 (.45), Diamond DA42 (.54), Cessna 182 (.69) and the Cessna 400 (1.0), despite the Cirrus's full aircraft parachute system.

So, you add heavy, expensive safety equipment (BRS)
which no other aircraft has - for the worst-case scenario -
and the resulting fatal accident rate is horrible.

Is that what they call "win/win"?

I guess as long as the AP is doing the flying part.

[Colonel Sanders]

Comments:

http://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments ... _this_bad/

This was at Aerosim Flight Academy based in Sanford FL. Chinese student on solo XC. He had never flown to that airport with his instructor. He did not have his map display zoomed in (also wasn't looking outside). So when it looked like he was over the airport he was still several miles away. Source: I was a CFI at Aerosim when this happened.

I taught Chinese students for two years and this incident at Aerosim doesn't even surprise me that much. No amount of training and preparation matters when some of those guys go solo.

They can be the best student you've ever had on dual flights and then the second they go solo 100% of that training goes out the window and they do absolutely unexplainable things.

One of the best Chinese students I ever had was told to remain clear of class D airspace on a solo. He didn't know what to do so he told me he kept flying towards it hoping they would decide to let him in before he got there. Luckily for him tower noticed it, asked him if he was solo and told him to enter left downwind. I asked him if he knew that he could do literally ANYTHING ELSE other than fly straight towards Delta and he said he didn't think of that.

We had another student solo who didn't tie the plane down tight enough at an airport and the plane rolled a few feet down a hill and hit the wing on a light pole leaving a big dent. Instead of calling the school or his instructor he flew the plane back to our home airport and never told anyone. The next student saw the big hole in the wing on a pre-flight. The student who flew it back said he hoped no one would notice.

We had another similar incident where a student hit something taxiing and then put some duct tape over the dent and flew the plane back without telling anyone. He said he thought the duct tape made it safe enough to fly.

I guarantee no instructor is teaching these guys the things they attempt on solos. I have no idea what goes through their head but honestly the student landing on a road doesn't surprise me much, and I wouldn't blame the instructor for it either.

[Beefitarian]

I don't know why you can't be happy? No injuries and he probably removed the thing from service.

[Colonel Sanders]

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Ci ... 192-1.html

Cirrus Industries Inc., parent company of Cirrus Aircraft, has been sold to China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co. (CAIGA) of Zhuhai, China

[Beefitarian]

Yay? Less expensive for when you accidentally land on a road hitting those pesky mailboxes lining the side of the runway?

[iflyforpie]

It is very strange how certain aircraft types seem to attract certain types of pilots. A few months ago for the first time in my career I saw a pilot taxi a further distance, to takeoff with a 5+ knot tailwind, in order to takeoff in the opposite direction to where he was going. Any guesses on the type?

Yes.

There is a Cirrus that flies into here out of YBW on occasion that is owned by a doctor (surprise surprise). My first encounter with him was when he decided to sandblast my open hangar to spin around. I told him that it was pretty poor airmanship, so he then tried to have me fired!

The second time he came in, he pulled out in front of me on final to take off.... didn't look, no radio call.... I've got it on video filed away just in case I might have use for it.

Talking to someone who flies out of the same airport as he does, he sounds like he well on his way to re-validating the 'doctor killer' theory.... one of his exploits was flying out over the middle of the Gulf of Mexico through a line of thunderstorms rather than going around, over land, like everyone else did.

[AirFrame]

Shouldn't he have pulled the parachute handle? I thought that saved all Cirrus pilots from their mistakes.

[Rookie50]

It is very strange how certain aircraft types seem to attract certain types of pilots. A few months ago for the first time in my career I saw a pilot taxi a further distance, to takeoff with a 5+ knot tailwind, in order to takeoff in the opposite direction to where he was going. Any guesses on the type?

Yes.

There is a Cirrus that flies into here out of YBW on occasion that is owned by a doctor (surprise surprise). My first encounter with him was when he decided to sandblast my open hangar to spin around. I told him that it was pretty poor airmanship, so he then tried to have me fired!

The second time he came in, he pulled out in front of me on final to take off.... didn't look, no radio call.... I've got it on video filed away just in case I might have use for it.

Talking to someone who flies out of the same airport as he does, he sounds like he well on his way to re-validating the 'doctor killer' theory.... one of his exploits was flying out over the middle of the Gulf of Mexico through a line of thunderstorms rather than going around, over land, like everyone else did.

Wow. I'm low time but old school. I believe You apprentice in aviation, both in AC types and flight conditions, Slowly. My issue with the cirrus marketing, is it bypasses these crucial steps.

[iflyforpie]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDv0W3peMxM

[pelmet]

I almost landed a perfectly good airplane in a field a long time ago. Once your mind becomes convinced that you have the runway in sight it can be difficult to shake that conviction. Watch out for the little hints that something is wrong.

I was going VFR into Welland and it had snowed a reasonable amount the day before. Anyways, I used the GPS to line myself up on runway 23 on about a 15 mile final on an overcast day that would likely have been whiteout if not for the trees and few houses around. I had the strip in view from probably 10 miles back as it stood out very well. I had clicked the lights on but it was very white out so they were not visible. I was in contact with unicom and I was able to get confirmation that they plowed the runway as no one answered the phone when I called earlier.

The gear was down and so were the flaps and about 3 final it appeared that the perfectly plowed runway had an area that was not plowed just near the threshold on the left side for the first couple of hundred feet. I asked unicom if the plowing had missed a portion of the runway near the threshold and they said yes, so I planned to land beyond it.

Now the embarrassing part. I did notice two white lights to the left but discounted them as being from an unknown source. A few seconds later at a couple of hundred feet, I noticed that I was lined up with what must have been a freshly plowed long thin field which was just like a runway and just a few hundred feet to the right of the actual runway(maybe somehow it was the only area completely windswept of snow), so obviously I went around. On the left downwind, I saw the runway for the first time. It was completely covered in thin snow but was visible as a slightly different shade of white from the surrounding area(I guess from the pavement beneath). On final, the two lights showed red on white for an on path descent. The field I approached was probably 2,000 feet long.

It can happen. I know of a large twin turboprop that landed beside the runway up north. Perhaps dirt and gravel tossed beside the runway from the snowblower caused the illusion. And Jazz touched down beside the runway in Grande Prairie I believe many years ago in a Dash-8, when dried corn stalks cut in a long rectangle similar to and parallel to the runway stood out compared to the snow covered runway.

If it had been dusk, I might have landed as well. But there was a small little warning that I did ignore. Probably the same for the other guys as well. I find that when there is a big screw up, there usually was a little hint that was discounted.

[Taiser]

I'm guessing pulling that parachute handle is insanely expensive to pull so even thought it's there most won't touch it unless the ground is spiraling up at them at 500' since they are probably thinking of the replacement cost...

[Changes in Latitudes]

I'm guessing pulling that parachute handle is insanely expensive to pull so even thought it's there most won't touch it unless the ground is spiraling up at them at 500' since they are probably thinking of the replacement cost...

Pulling the handle pretty much guarantees a write-off of the airframe.

With the Cirrus, it comes down to poorly trained pilots with little IFR skills, with little experience, in an airplane that provides high levels of comfort and confidence. Flying the Cirrus feels easy, everything about it provides the pilot with a sense of security; and any doubt you have about situational awareness is reassured by the myriad of information blasted at you from its giant screens. You lose a situational edge and become dependant on the machine to operate you versus you operating the machine. It is a great aircraft, but you have to fight the urge to let it do all of the work.

Taxiing is a good example, ask a Cirrus driver what the last taxiway sign said, many don't pay attention to them because the moving map knows where they are. The moving map is there to back up where you THINK you are, not as an excuse to zone out while taxiing.

If you get too comfortable in something, you lose respect for it. That airplane can bite you in the ass like any other; many people just don't figure that out until it is beyond their skill level to recover from.

[Beefitarian]

How does repacking the chute compare price wise to wiping out a row of mail boxes?

[ahramin]

How fancy is the mailbox? Some can be less than $20.

[Beefitarian]

True but you have to add the posts they're like going to be $4+. Then installation, landscaping... Probably a wing.

[ahramin]

Oh. My guess would be repairing one wing would be far cheaper than all the repairs necessary for a chute deployment and subsequent crash. Chute door, riser pathways, landing gear. All that as a minimum if you land in soft ground.

[Beefitarian]

Well, I probably can't afford either. Probably have to stick to boring old airports for now.