Hey, I've flown that plane

[pelmet]

Up until this past summer, I was getting to go to Atlanta of all places and I thought that I would check out in a Cirrus at a local flying school. They had three of them, an SR-20 and two SR-22's. I had flown a 20 several years ago for somebody who paid me to move one for him.

My first flight was in N334CM and the second flight was on the other one. Nice plane. I called the instructor up recently for an update and was told to google Cirrus North Carolina and that I would find it quite interesting. Turns out that the owner who was leasing it to the flight school said he had an engine problem and popped the chute. The only problem is that an inspection has found no engine issues. The school owner is now looking to lease from a different owner as this one is, shall we say, a bit of a character.

The news report is interesting

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/p ... nty/npMY8/

[awitzke]

While the tech is really cool that allows the chute to work the way it does, I feel like it might make someones reaction to reach for the red handle instead of giving it a few seconds/min (if you have the alt) to figure out the problem, or realize there isn't one. Hopefully this is not hindering pilot's abilities to do a deadstick forced landing because they rely on the chute. One day, a chute will fail and hopefully the pilot has the skills to land the aircraft.

[Broken Slinky]

While the tech is really cool that allows the chute to work the way it does, I feel like it might make someones reaction to reach for the red handle instead of giving it a few seconds/min (if you have the alt) to figure out the problem, or realize there isn't one. Hopefully this is not hindering pilot's abilities to do a deadstick forced landing because they rely on the chute. One day, a chute will fail and hopefully the pilot has the skills to land the aircraft.

Sort of like the ex-Walmart CEO who decided it was a good idea to pull the chute over Fayetteville instead of trying to get to one of the 1/2 dozen strips in the areas or even force it into a field.
I would want a chute if there was a catastrophic failure (wing, tail or engine separation). Other than those, just fly the bloody plane.

[awitzke]

Precisely.

[bizjets101]

There are also quite a few others - who could have pulled the chute
who are no longer with us - CirrusPilots.org post.

[pelmet]

While the tech is really cool that allows the chute to work the way it does, I feel like it might make someones reaction to reach for the red handle instead of giving it a few seconds/min (if you have the alt) to figure out the problem, or realize there isn't one. Hopefully this is not hindering pilot's abilities to do a deadstick forced landing because they rely on the chute. One day, a chute will fail and hopefully the pilot has the skills to land the aircraft.

Sort of like the ex-Walmart CEO who decided it was a good idea to pull the chute over Fayetteville instead of trying to get to one of the 1/2 dozen strips in the areas or even force it into a field.
I would want a chute if there was a catastrophic failure (wing, tail or engine separation). Other than those, just fly the bloody plane.

Might flip over if you land in a field or hit something hard. You might discover too late that you should have popped the chute.