Photo Credit: Brian Livingston / The Meridian
Bob Ford, left, pilots a Cirrus SR20 Thursday at Key Field as part of a demonstration flight conducted by Cirrus Aircraft.
By Brian Livingston / The Meridian Star
MERIDIAN — As the airspeed indicator clipped down to around 75 knots, Bob Ford gently raised the nose of the single engine airplane.
When the plane reached its stall speed, a gentle buffeting was felt. Ford, a longtime private pilot, easily nosed the plane over and applied a little power enabling the aircraft to effortlessly recover from the stall.
"That was docile," Ford commented to Mark Egan over the intercom. "That was very nice."
Egan, a member of Cirrus Aircraft flight operations headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota, was giving Ford the opportunity to test fly the SR20, a single engine aircraft that is breaking all the molds for general aviation aircraft. The flight, with Meridian Airport Authority Dir. Tom Williams on board, was also a demonstration and presentation to Williams who has for a couple of years wanted to upgrade the airport's rental plane fleet.
"We are in early discussions with Cirrus in trying to acquire an aircraft of this type to base here at Key Field so that the many pilots here can have a modern aircraft they can fly when needed," said Williams. "Of course it always comes down to the financial details, both of how much it would cost us and how much we could charge for the aircraft. But I'm impressed with this aircraft."
From the outside, the SR20 looks pretty ordinary. But inside is what makes the aircraft so different from virtually any other on the market today. Just the safety features alone would quell any apprehensions many people would have for flying.
"We put a lot of thought into safety," Egan said. "We go the extra mile in making these aircraft as safe as possible."
Besides the normal safety measures taken, the Cirrus aircraft have something no other has — well several things.
First and foremost is the fact the aircraft has its own parachute. Yes, you read right. If the plane becomes damaged or incapacitated in flight to the point it is uncontrollable, a lever inside the cockpit can be pulled to deploy a parachute that will gently allow the plane to drift back to earth. Plus, there are air bags just like in a car that help to protect the occupants. Egan said the honeycombed roll cage around the cockpit is built to withstand high impacts.
Egan said the most impressive safety feature of the aircraft is the "blue button."
"This blue button," Egan said pointing to the instrument panel, "will put the auto pilot back on if the pilot becomes incapacitated for any reason. That way a passenger can tend to the pilot, take over the controls or radio for assistance."
The SR20, with the 200 hp engine, can travel up to 800 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 155 knots. This range and speed is obtained by using carbon fiber construction which is light but strong. In keeping the aircraft light, the fuel consumption is only 10 gallons of fuel per hour which according to Williams is almost unheard of for an aircraft that can comfortably carry four adults. There are three models to choose from.
"The room in the back seat is amazing," Williams said, who at 6-feet,1-inches tall still had two inches of headroom and leg room.
As for actually flying the plane, Ford found the systems and feel of the aircraft different from those in planes he is used to flying. During the flight Ford asked questions of Egan. The two large screens that replaced the older gauges and dials of the past carry all the necessary systems, information and control outputs. For someone younger who is getting into the flying, the video game appearance will feel familiar and intuitive. But after a few minutes, Ford was becoming acclimated with where the information was situated inside the clean control panel.
"This is just so cool," Ford said.
Cirrus Aircraft started building planes in 1999 and so far more than 5,000 have come off the assembly lines. Three prop models have been successful sellers with a single engine jet due to come out soon.
MERIDIAN — As the airspeed indicator clipped down to around 75 knots, Bob Ford gently raised the nose of the single engine airplane.
When the plane reached its stall speed, a gentle buffeting was felt. Ford, a longtime private pilot, easily nosed the plane over and applied a little power enabling the aircraft to effortlessly recover from the stall.
"That was docile," Ford commented to Mark Egan over the intercom. "That was very nice."
Egan, a member of Cirrus Aircraft flight operations headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota, was giving Ford the opportunity to test fly the SR20, a single engine aircraft that is breaking all the molds for general aviation aircraft. The flight, with Meridian Airport Authority Dir. Tom Williams on board, was also a demonstration and presentation to Williams who has for a couple of years wanted to upgrade the airport's rental plane fleet.
"We are in early discussions with Cirrus in trying to acquire an aircraft of this type to base here at Key Field so that the many pilots here can have a modern aircraft they can fly when needed," said Williams. "Of course it always comes down to the financial details, both of how much it would cost us and how much we could charge for the aircraft. But I'm impressed with this aircraft."
From the outside, the SR20 looks pretty ordinary. But inside is what makes the aircraft so different from virtually any other on the market today. Just the safety features alone would quell any apprehensions many people would have for flying.
"We put a lot of thought into safety," Egan said. "We go the extra mile in making these aircraft as safe as possible."
Besides the normal safety measures taken, the Cirrus aircraft have something no other has — well several things.
First and foremost is the fact the aircraft has its own parachute. Yes, you read right. If the plane becomes damaged or incapacitated in flight to the point it is uncontrollable, a lever inside the cockpit can be pulled to deploy a parachute that will gently allow the plane to drift back to earth. Plus, there are air bags just like in a car that help to protect the occupants. Egan said the honeycombed roll cage around the cockpit is built to withstand high impacts.
Egan said the most impressive safety feature of the aircraft is the "blue button."
"This blue button," Egan said pointing to the instrument panel, "will put the auto pilot back on if the pilot becomes incapacitated for any reason. That way a passenger can tend to the pilot, take over the controls or radio for assistance."
The SR20, with the 200 hp engine, can travel up to 800 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 155 knots. This range and speed is obtained by using carbon fiber construction which is light but strong. In keeping the aircraft light, the fuel consumption is only 10 gallons of fuel per hour which according to Williams is almost unheard of for an aircraft that can comfortably carry four adults. There are three models to choose from.
"The room in the back seat is amazing," Williams said, who at 6-feet,1-inches tall still had two inches of headroom and leg room.
As for actually flying the plane, Ford found the systems and feel of the aircraft different from those in planes he is used to flying. During the flight Ford asked questions of Egan. The two large screens that replaced the older gauges and dials of the past carry all the necessary systems, information and control outputs. For someone younger who is getting into the flying, the video game appearance will feel familiar and intuitive. But after a few minutes, Ford was becoming acclimated with where the information was situated inside the clean control panel.
"This is just so cool," Ford said.
Cirrus Aircraft started building planes in 1999 and so far more than 5,000 have come off the assembly lines. Three prop models have been successful sellers with a single engine jet due to come out soon.
Source: http://meridianstar.com
No comments:
Post a Comment