Part Two Of A Series of Chats With Cirrus Design's Alan
Klapmeier
The conversation speeds
along nearly as quickly as an SR22...
Despite reports in other media, Alan tells ANN that
there is no specific timeline for a FADEC introduction for the
SR2X. While noting that "FADEC fits our philosophy," he adds that
it isn't in the schedule yet. "We're optimistic as to its
potential, but this is a technology that can not be rushed. We've
been first to market in the past (with chutes, PFDs, etc), when the
product was ready. Pushing FADEC into production before its ready
just isn't smart. I'm excited about what it can mean for our
customers... but I'm not going to really get excited until I know
its ready for production."
Since Cirrus places such great emphasis on its core mission to
"grow the industry," Klapmeier totally eschews industry criticism
of Cirrus for selling aircraft to so-called "low-time pilots."
"Nobody learns to drive in a Model T anymore. If you train to
the aircraft and to the mission, carefully and thoroughly, you wind
up with prepared pilots who can safely fly their planes. It's not
how about how fast you solo or how quick you get your license, it's
about how safe you learn to fly the airplane."
Aggressive emphasis on initial and recurrent training never
wains at Cirrus. As we visited last week, we noted a number of new
programs, often using online technologies, to not only prepare new
pilots for Cirrus operations, but to maintain a high level of
knowledge and proficiency throughout the ownership experience. A
new web site, "Cirrus Pilot's World," features a number of
excellent tutorials and interactive programs to keep pilots
thinking... and learning. Under the guidance of Bill Stone, Cirrus
has set forth a mandate for scenario and mission based training
that educates and acclimates Cirrus operators to the total
operational environment they are likely to encounter in any number
of VFR and IFR mission profiles. Klapmeier wryly notes, though,
that most of the criticism he sees about selling SR22s to new
flyers comes from folks who are trying to sell those same pilots
something other than an SR22... and has learned to take such
criticism with a grain of salt.
Alan is getting a little concerned, though, at the continual
nastigrams floating in the rumor mill.. especially (once again)
from competitive sales outlets (something we can verify as well...
the negative selling against Cirrus, and others, is getting fairly
vicious these days). Alan is particularly concerned with
oft-repeated rumors asserting that Cirrus SR2X aircraft can not be
safely stalled and that the reason they elected to install the
chute was because the FAA wouldn't certify it otherwise. As a
matter of fact, the over-riding concern that Klapmeier voices as
the ultimate reason for Cirrus' selection of the chute
is his own mid-air experience many years ago... and the fact
that the chute is the only thing (besides luck) that
might save a person under such circumstances.
"This (the chute rumor) isn't helping us grow the
industry. Jim, its just not true and I know you know it,
too."
Indeed, we do... Cirrus made SR20 production number three (shown
above) available to us for a flight down memory airway, as well as
a brand new SR22 GTS. The SR20 flight showed that the elder bird
(used in their company flight training club) has held up well,
while an AGGRESSIVE stall series in this earliest and
supposedly least sophisticated of certified Cirri, showed NO
tendency for slow flight/stalls in clean and approach configuration
to develop into ANY untoward departures, autorotations or
aggressive behavior... even in obnoxiously exacerbated stalls with
aggressive yaw and roll inputs applied at and through the stall. I
even spent time, in extended full aft stick stalls, power off in
various flap configurations, walking the rudder from stop to stop
and playing mild falling leaf games with the elder SR20... and then
went back up and did it again with a brand new SR22. There is no
doubt that an errant pilot can still hurt themselves if they are
particular ignorant or abusive, but it's not that easy to do and
the aircraft truly resists untoward stall/spin behavior.
As to the spin rumor... here's the part that will get me in
trouble -- in times past (and I ain't saying any more than
that...), I have stalled and spun the SR20, in particular, while
flying with Cirrus test pilots. Please be advised that no matter
how well the aircraft spins and recovers, the recommended and
certified procedure, for ease and safety's sake, is none-the-less,
to deploy the chute. Since accidental spins are usually
low-altitude events in which a standard recovery is unlikely
to allow a safe outcome, Cirrus deliberately selected the
certified solution.
The Cirrus is a clean machine that stalls and eventually spins
like a number of very clean high-performance airplanes. It takes a
while to develop a steady state autorotation and there is a fairly
speedy rotational rate to deal with when fully involved in a stable
autorotation... but it also recovers rather well, once the
rotational inertia is countered sufficiently to allow for direct
recovery. Overall; the Cirrus behaves rather well in such modes...
not as good as some, but certainly better than most... and to
document it once and for all, Alan is letting me come back this
fall to purposefully abuse another of his airplanes and counter all
the old wive's tales that have shown up here and there when someone
tries to negatively sell something against a Cirrus. I'm looking
forward to it (its a tough job but someone has to do it).
It was a great conversation... a wide-ranging one. We chatted
about the electrical design decisions made for the (now)
all-electric SR2X series and why they feel they made the right
decisions in terms of system redundancy (especially in terms of
system isolation in the case of a primary failure...) leaving a
secondary system fully vulnerable to the difficulties that brought
it down in the first place seems to be excellent validation for
some safety limitations in reversionary design.
We also talked about something that I have found to be
tremendously exciting... a company known as SATS Air. For over two
months, an East Coast enterprise has been doing the improbable;
flying virtually all-weather Part 135 operations... in
single-engine piston aircraft. Using SR22s, SATS Air is already
exciting a new generation of clientele that likes the $.75 per seat
mile costs, the ability to fly into small LOCAL GA airports, sports
REALLY comfy interiors, great scenery and excellent utility... not
to mention the continually-cited inclusion of the "Ultimate Safety
Net," the CAPS airframe parachute system -- possibly the final
attribute that allowed the FAA to certify this operation. SATS Air
has staggering potential... in terms of GA fence-mending, support
of smaller GA airfields, economical LOCAL air travel, and may turn
out to be a pivotal PR and sales tool for the GA industry. Cirrus
knows this and has chosen to become "heavily involved" in this
program... especially since it fits in "perfectly" with the Cirrus
mission of "growing the industry."
Think of it... if such programs continue to be used, prove to be
cost effective and proliferate; every passenger will be forced to
admit and understand the value and viability of GA in ways that we
couldn't directly teach them, otherwise. There's much more on this
subject... but that will have to wait for the next installment in
this article series... Stay Tuned.