I have not flown a Cirrus, nor been privy to be a passenger, and individuals that I know, who have one, praise them.
However, was the fixing of a parachute recovery system in the Cirrus, a nice to have, or a necessary requirement?
Further to the information provided by
Big Pistons Forever, the parachute recovery system is part of the type certificate and hence is required for an airworthy aircraft.
How it got to be there is an interesting story. Cirrus and the FAA collaborated on better ways to deal with spins. Data was compiled that revealed that most spins were not recoverable in aircraft that had been certified for recovery from spins. Go figure. So, Cirrus proposed that the parachute system be certified as an Equivalent Level of Safety (ELOS) to satisfy the FAR Part 23 requirements for spin certification. The FAA agreed on condition that Cirrus demonstrate that the parachute would recover an aircraft after entry into a 1-1/2 turn spin. During testing, the test pilot found it difficult to get the plane to spin. Go figure. But we have all seen the iconic video of the Cirrus certification test that demonstrated recovery from a 1-1/2 turn spin with a lost of 920' of altitude. FAA granted Cirrus an ELOS certification and the SR20 type certificate was issued. There are now over 5,000 SR2X aircraft produced.
The story doesn't end. When Cirrus applied to the Europeans to certify the SR2X, they would not accept the FAA ELOS without additional spin testing. A limited (not a full) matrix of spin tests were conducted and the report concluded that the Cirrus aircraft was difficult to get into a spin but recovered with conventional techniques albeit requiring more dramatic control inputs. The Europeans used that limited spin testing plus the FAA ELOS to grant certification for the Cirrus SR2X in Europe. And it has been certified in every other country that Cirrus has applied.
Note: the Cirrus SR2X can be and has been demonstrated to recover from spins during certification. Not all spins, but enough to satisfy the regulators.
So, the parachute is necessary. The Cirrus SR2X can be recovered from some spins.
And the parachute is a nice to have. Especially for me who doubts that I could recover any airplane from a spin, since that was not required to get a real pilots certificate from the FAA.
Cheers
Rick
(Safety liaison for the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association,
and a Cirrus SR22 owner with 3100 hours time-in-type)