No training can cover all of these systems.
No, but somebody could have showed him the “Straight and Level” button. It’s actually a LIGHT BLUE key on the console and after pressing it the plane will fly S&L …
This is the plane …
No training can cover all of these systems.
Why not? There are trainings available that cover all systems of an Airbus A380. Many years ago, just to see what it feels like, I clicked my way through the CBT of a Boeing 737-300 (I did my multi-crew-training on that simulator, but systems knowledge would not have been required for that). It took the better part of a weekend. I’m pretty confident that I could introduce my 14 year old son to the avionics of a Cirrus in an afternoon…
I’m pretty confident that I could introduce my 14 year old son to the avionics of a Cirrus in an afternoon…
I think that would be true for a very clever student who already understands all the concepts and just needs to be told which knobs do what. Knowing you, it probably is true for your son 
I would need a couple of days to go through it all.
No, that’s not true. I’ve had my Cirrus since July and i still have not learned it all. Especially using the autopilot modes the right way and how the GNS430s work with the PFD takes a little time. But maybe our son is more talentes than me ;-)
While you can probably nominally learn all the systems of a Cirrus in a weekend, with only that as preparation it’s a very different thing to use that new and not much practised knowledge when it’s all gone to hell in a handbasket and you’ve got significant pressure on.
For example, try playing “You can’t do simple maths under pressure” ( http://toys.usvsth3m.com/maths/ ) and just having that deadline means you make some stupid mistakes, such as multiplying when you were supposed to add. Now imagine the pressure is “you will end up dead if you get this wrong”, throw in some spatial disorientation, and some confusion because you think the autopilot is in one mode and in fact it’s in another, and it becomes quite easy to see why someone might struggle to use their fancy aviation systems when it’s all going horribly wrong.
Especially using the autopilot modes the right way …
There is no right way, unless you fly for a company that has SOPs regarding autopilot usage. The right way is the one that suits you personally most!
…throw in some spatial disorientation, and some confusion because you think the autopilot is in one mode and in fact it’s in another, and it becomes quite easy to see why someone might struggle to use their fancy aviation systems when it’s all going horribly wrong.
Yes. And this is exactly what Mr.Cirrus had in mind when he placed that big blue ”get me out of trouble” button in the middle of the panel. But if a pilot does not bother to read the manual and (!) his instructor(s) don’t bother to show him such essential safety features of his aeroplane, the best effort is wasted…
I think the underlying issue in this paradigm shift is to understand the environment one is in.
As an example: I got my PPL in 1989. Shortly before I quit aviation I had a chance to use one of the early GPS units briefly. 17 years later I found myself in the cockpit of an Aquila A210 with Aspen Evolution and Garmin GNS 430. It was my first flight with an instructor to reactivate my dormant PPL. Guess what happened?
Despite the fact I have been following aviation developments and the rise of the glass cockpit by reading, watching videos and daydreaming about these things and consciously selected a school with glass cockpit aircraft …
Despite the fact that I am a software development guy and use “systems” every awake minute of my life since early adulthood …
What was I doing under pressure and stress? I was looking at the traditional round airspeed indicator, at the traditional round altitude indicator and looking for the traditional VSI and heading indicator.
It took me about 5 hours in the air to let go of it and start using the indicators on the glass cockpit that I was so eager to use.
Humans tend to fall back to behavior that has worked for them and served them well when under increasing pressure. It is very hard to let got and when things aren’t there anymore or it is not working what one is doing despair and panic may occur.
About the blue LVL button…
To someone who has been extensively trained in recovery from unusual attitude using the traditional six-pack it may be too much to ask him to allow a piece of programmed machinery to decide upon his faith.
As there is no six-pack but only two computer screens with a different representation of the same data the tacit knowledge the person possesses is basically rendered void. Under pressure the most logic decision to prevent death can be to pull the chute. Something in the brain just shut down. The brain has gone back to “reptile behavior” and the means for applying that ingrained behavior, the six-pack, are not there any more. So in order to survive the best course of action with a well defined outcome is to pull the chute. To me that makes totally sense. Especially given that I made a similar, albeit not in any critical situation, experience.
However, that type of event does tell me one thing. As I’m training for the IR at the moment, I will avoid any and all six-pack aircraft and do everything in the Cirrus I intent to use in the foreseeable future. I don’t want to teach my reptile brain anything that it will then try to use, although the situation is different, when under pressure.
