An interesting report on the Cirrus.
So, my summarised opinions:-
- The aeroplane could be improved, but not much, and it's not unsafe.
- There is a significant mismatch between the skill levels required to *manage* this aircraft and the skill levels required to pass a PPL.
With the greatest respect to an old hand on this forum but the same could be said for almost any aircraft.
Moving up from whatever aircraft was used for training (say a Cessna 150) to something faster, larger, more complicated, all needs additional training. Then there are the handling quirks of certain models and even individual quirks of individual aircraft.
A low-time PPL can’t fly a Cirrus like a PA-28 any more than you can fly a fast Mooney like a Cessna 150, even if you ignore the avionics and MFDs. Unfortunately, IMHO, some people offering training on the Cirrus seem to centre only on management of the avionics and systems instead of handling and airmanship. Either their training is aimed at the highly experienced pilot, not the low time PPL or they are under the misguided belief that that excellent avionics will save a bad pilot.
I base that on my observations of the Cirrus pilots I see who don’t know how to handle an aircraft with a castoring nose wheel (as they still insist of placing a chock under the nose wheel) and don’t exhibit any other of the traits I see in truly experienced pilots yet have the latest Cirrus with all the kit.
A pilot moving up from vanilla PPL, at least in the UK, will receive differences training for variable pitch propeller and retractable undercarriage. In my experience, the poor pilot is unlikely to receive any guidance in speed/energy management or engine management, key points in flying Mooney, Cirrus, Piper Matrix, etc. Often, this is because the instructors at some clubs don’t have the experience themselves or the club simply doesn’t have anything “better” that a Piper Arrow. If the pilot gets differences training on a Piper Arrow, that is a different animal to a Mooney, a fact many new Mooney pilots tend to overlook before jumping in and heading off to their next bad landing.
As we all know, EASA is all about paperwork, not the end result. There is nothing that will convince me that a school offering an EASA Cirrus type rating is going to improve things. There are some excellent people already offering Cirrus training, a type rating will just add more bad schools to the list.
Aside from the valuable comments about the CAPS, the only exceptional fact about the Cirrus is the fact it is selling in far greater numbers than the likes of Mooney. As has been said already, it is no different to the Mooneys, Bonanzas, Commanches, Malibus of the past. The risk is not in the aircraft itself but in the fact that more pilots will come into contact with a Cirrus due to numbers in the fleet, many more than Mooney or Piper PA-46.