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The Cirrus Approach
When you think of Cirrus and Safety it’s very
easy to think, “Parachute.” While this is the
most visible new technology Cirrus has built
into SR20/SR22 airplanes it is just one aspect
of our thinking about safety – and possibly not
the most significant.
Cirrus thinks of safety in four ways:
Aerodynamics can help to protect you from
inattention or distraction while flying;
situational awareness and stress reduction
features reduce workload and help you give a
flight the attention it deserves; if you do lose
control CAPS, the parachute, may be able to
help; and if you do end up in an accident, a
crashworthy design can help protect you from
injury.
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Aerodynamics:
Passive features are
built into the design to
minimize the effects of
distraction, inattention or weak
skills. A very visible example
is the “discontinuous leading
edge” of the wing designed to
minimize the effects of
inadvertent stalls.
This is discussed more in the
CAPS &
Stall/Spin
page.
Situational Awareness and Stress
Reduction:
Making it easy to see
where you are and what’s going
on around you. A moving map
overlaid with NEXRAD and traffic
information makes a flight less
stressful.
A good autopilot lets you think
things through and makes you
better equipped for a safe
approach and landing after a
long flight.
CAPS (Parachute):
If you lose control, or if the
flight is compromised for any
reason, there is a way to
recover many situations. Unique
to Cirrus, CAPS is discussed in
the
CAPS &
Stall/Spin
page.
Crashworthiness:
No one plans to have an accident
in an airplane.
But if you do, Cirrus airplanes
have a number of features that
may contribute to protecting
you. People have survived
significant accidents in Cirrus
airplanes.
Modern composite structures can
provide a high level of
integrity, with recent
regulations demanding very high
cockpit standards:
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CAPS (Cirrus Aircraft Parachute
System) |
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Discontinuous leading edge of a
Cirrus wing |
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Multi-Function Display showing
Moving Map |
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Cockpit
Integrity
and
Occupant
Protection
All
airplanes
designed
since
the
mid-1990s
have
similar
(very
high)
cockpit
integrity
and
occupant
protection
standards.
Seats
must
stay
intact,
in
place
and
the
cockpit
area
must
be
clear
up
to a
horizontal
loading
of
26Gs;
items
inside
the
cabin
(baggage
tie
downs,
fire
extinguisher,
etc.)
must
not
come
loose
up
to
an
18G
load;
and
the
whole
airplane
cabin
must
stay
intact
in a
3G
rollover.
These
are
very
high
standards.
They
are
the
reason
that
seats
in
these
modern
airplanes
do
not
adjust
in
all
the
ways
an
automobile
seat
can.
Cessna
(formerly
Columbia)
400
seats,
for
example,
use
cushion
replacement
as a
way
of
adjustment
–
not
elegant
at
all,
but
representative
of
the
compromises
implicit
in
these
standards.
Prior
to
mid-1990s
the
"18G
tie-down”
was
a 9G
standard.
This
is
significant
since
modern
designs
can
appear
to
have
limited
baggage,
and
other,
loading
limits.
If
the
9G
standard
had
remained
in
place
that
baggage
weight
allowance,
for
example,
would
double.
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