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Old 13th May 2014, 17:10
  #282 (permalink)  
Adrian N
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Lyon
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Why do you see it as a problem? I'm not that comfortable flying most single engine aircraft at night, or above fog, or in thick IMC which goes all the way to the ground. I will do it, but CAPS makes it much more comfortable.

There's a risk shift with lots of things, really. I wouldn't want to fly a long distance over water with a single magneto. With 2, I'm happier. Pitot heat and alternate static make me more comfortable to fly in IMC. In-cockpit weather (in the States) makes me more comfortable flying on days when there might be embedded CBs. Etc. etc. CAPS is just another thing which lets you get stress-free use out of an aircraft.

Like Jonzarno, I'm happy to fly a Cirrus in lower IMC conditions than other aircraft. That's not really to do with CAPS - it's more because of the situational awareness that the avionics provide, the autopilot, the flight director, and the benign handling which makes it easy to transition to VMC at minimums and make a nice landing even in very unpleasant weather. I now fly a Mooney, and it is much harder work than the Cirrus - so my personal minimums are higher in it.

Despite the strong opinions that get expressed every time there is a Cirrus accident, there is no evidence in the accident data to suggest that Cirrus pilots are using CAPS to get out of situations that other pilots don't get into. For sure, some of them do stupid things - but sadly so do pilots of any other aircraft.
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