("C Kingsbury" wrote)
snip
What I'd wonder about, were I wealthy enough to have problems like
this, is what about more marginal cases. Let's say I'm flying up here
in densely populated New England, on top of an overcast at 4000' at
night, and the engine quits. Let's say I've got 1500' ceilings. Do I
pull the plug right away, or do I drop down through? How high do I
have to be for the chute to open properly? Anything I can do to
position myself so that the chute puts me down in that parking lot,
rather than on I-95, or into some hospital building?


From the Cirrus web page:
http://www.cirrusdesign.com/servicec...ml/pohmain.asp

(Same link as above)
http://makeashorterlink.com/?T27445959

(I put you in an SR20. Hope that's ok)

SR20 POH
Section 3 - Emergency Procedures (randomly cut/pasted)


Emergency Landing (Engine-out):
Flaps
Up................................................ ......................
........86 KIAS
Flaps
50%............................................... ......................
......81 KIAS
Flaps
100%.............................................. ......................
.....75 KIAS

Maximum Glide Ratio ~ 10.9 : 1

.. Note .
With a seized or failed engine, the distance that the airplane
will glide will be more than the distance it would glide with the
engine at idle, such as during training.

If the propeller is windmilling, some additional glide range may
be achieved by moving the Power Lever to idle and increasing
airspeed by 5 to 10 knots.

(Cirrus Airplane Parachute System - CAPS)
The minimum demonstrated altitude loss for a CAPS
deployment from a one-turn spin is 920 feet. Activation at
higher altitudes provides enhanced safety margins for
parachute recoveries. Do not waste time and altitude trying to
recover from a spiral/spin before activating CAPS.

(V-PD) Maximum Demonstrated Parachute Deployment Speed is
the maximum speed at which parachute deployment has
been demonstrated.

The maximum demonstrated deployment speed is 135 KIAS.
Reducing airspeed allows minimum parachute loads and prevents
structural overload and possible parachute failure.


Bon voyage :-)

Montblack