Another Cirrus crash

A four-place Cirrus crashed yesterday near Greenwood, SC. There were
not many details in the paper this morning. There were four on board,
all killed. It went down in a wooded area near a golf course shortly
after takeoff. There was no mention of a parachute deployment. They
had arrived a few hours before for a business meeting and did not
refuel before takeoff, but in the picture it appeared that the
aircraft was destroyed by fire after impact so there must have been
fuel on board.

(James L. Freeman) wrote in
om:

A four-place Cirrus crashed yesterday near Greenwood, SC. There were
not many details in the paper this morning. There were four on board,
all killed. It went down in a wooded area near a golf course shortly
after takeoff. There was no mention of a parachute deployment. They
had arrived a few hours before for a business meeting and did not
refuel before takeoff, but in the picture it appeared that the
aircraft was destroyed by fire after impact so there must have been
fuel on board.


Yup, as much as we put down the zzzz guy... it was on his site just after
midnight last night, and this is the first I've seen it other than
there....

--
ET


"A common mistake people make when trying to design something
completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete
fools."---- Douglas Adams

"ET" wrote in message
...
(James L. Freeman) wrote in
om:

A four-place Cirrus crashed yesterday near Greenwood, SC. There were
not many details in the paper this morning. There were four on board,
all killed. It went down in a wooded area near a golf course shortly
after takeoff. There was no mention of a parachute deployment. They
had arrived a few hours before for a business meeting and did not
refuel before takeoff, but in the picture it appeared that the
aircraft was destroyed by fire after impact so there must have been
fuel on board.


Yup, as much as we put down the zzzz guy... it was on his site just after
midnight last night, and this is the first I've seen it other than
there....


Good for him. Did he say that it was caused by space aliens or by evil
agents from Pulsar this time?

What is it about these that has them involved in so many
crashes? Are they that difficult to fly? Are there some
gotchas with them?


"James L. Freeman" wrote in message
om...
A four-place Cirrus crashed yesterday near Greenwood, SC. There were
not many details in the paper this morning. There were four on board,
all killed. It went down in a wooded area near a golf course shortly
after takeoff. There was no mention of a parachute deployment. They
had arrived a few hours before for a business meeting and did not
refuel before takeoff, but in the picture it appeared that the
aircraft was destroyed by fire after impact so there must have been
fuel on board.

"Otis Winslow" wrote in message


What is it about these that has them involved in so many
crashes? Are they that difficult to fly? Are there some
gotchas with them?

Rusty pilots?

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/TknoFlyer
http://www.pocketgear.com/products_s...veloperid=4415
____________________

"John T" wrote in message
ws.com...
"Otis Winslow" wrote in message


What is it about these that has them involved in so many
crashes? Are they that difficult to fly? Are there some
gotchas with them?

Rusty pilots?

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/TknoFlyer
http://www.pocketgear.com/products_s...veloperid=4415
____________________


Slick airframe, glass cockpit with an analog pilot and a goofy side-stick
are a few problems. A good plane for wannabe airline pilots who don't like
to look out the windows. "Stall? It dosen't say on this here tv screen that
I'm in a stall... Whoops, wrong channel..."

Quality control seems to be on par with Lightspeed, meaning they're in the
shop more than a British car. They look good and are very comfortable. But
it's the only airplane I've ever flown that I can say I truly hated and
couldn't wait to be back on the ground.

But
it's the only airplane I've ever flown that I can say I truly hated and
couldn't wait to be back on the ground.

Wow, you're the only person I've ever heard say *THAT* about the Cirrus.

What didn't you like about the way it flew?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I haven't said it quite as strongly as that, but it was kind of
how I felt after my SR20 experiences. OTOH the SR22 is
a different kettle of fish, at least it has enough power.
The sidestick is honestly no big deal, although the fact that
the electric trim is so fast you can't trim the plane for hands-off
flying (and therefore have to use the autopilot) IS.

I'm baffled by why the loss rate is so high for this airplane.
My wife's theory - which I am too polite to repeat - is that
the plane attracts the wrong kind of pilot. Honestly it's just
about like any other plane to fly, it has its idiosyncracies but
they're no big deal. In any case if they carry on going down
at the present rate they'll soon be uninsurable.

John

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:vighc.35327$yD1.101224@attbi_s54...
But
it's the only airplane I've ever flown that I can say I truly hated and
couldn't wait to be back on the ground.

Wow, you're the only person I've ever heard say *THAT* about the Cirrus.

What didn't you like about the way it flew?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:vighc.35327$yD1.101224@attbi_s54...
But
it's the only airplane I've ever flown that I can say I truly hated and
couldn't wait to be back on the ground.

Wow, you're the only person I've ever heard say *THAT* about the Cirrus.

What didn't you like about the way it flew?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


It seemed heavy on the controls requiring a lot of thumb action on the trim
to make it bearable. The stick is too far to the side making it similar to
trying to fly using your door handle. It's more natural to have your hands
towards the center, like a center stick or yoke, instead of having just one
way out to the side. I find the side stick gives you a very detached and
somewhat helpless feeling. Like enjoying the ride is more important than
the actual flying. If the electric trim failed, imagine reaching across to
get your right hand on the stick. Thank god for the parachute, because I
wouldn't want to have to horse that thing through some emergency maneuver.
The feeling I get flying a Cirrus is the same I can get if I played MSFS
while sitting in a lazyboy. In these things PIC means "pilot in cirrus"
because you sure as hell aren't in "command"

The glass panel, however wiz-bang cool, is more distracting than it is
useful. And no, I don't want to look down at my knees to see the analog
backups. Maybe if I learned on something like that I'd be used to it. The
big moving map is great, I've gotta shoehorn one of them into my Musketeer,
but gimmie a panel full of dials for my primary instruments anyday.

It's possible for them to make it more friendly to pilots who want to be
more active in flight, instead of catering to the
ijustgottapilotslicenseandmyothercarisamercedes crowd. But they go where
the money is. I'm sure not all Cirrus owners are the Tom Cruise, Top Gun
type, but all that I've met are. Maybe this has something to do with the
accident stats.

If I win one in a raffle I'll trade you even for your Pathfinder. ;-)

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:vighc.35327$yD1.101224@attbi_s54...
But
it's the only airplane I've ever flown that I can say I truly hated and
couldn't wait to be back on the ground.

Wow, you're the only person I've ever heard say *THAT* about the Cirrus.

What didn't you like about the way it flew?

It fly's like a car with bald tires drives on ice.