most SR22s are flown on the autopilot the whole way
It has been a long while since I flew a Cirrus, but the thing I remember is that the electric trim is WAY too fast. So you can’t get it nicely trimmed, which means it’s painful to hand fly and you end up using the AP all the time. As a complete contrast, I recently flew 4 hours in a Super Cub, hand flown all the way and since I was flying from the back seat, trimming was a real pain, so I mostly didn’t bother. And it was dead easy.
None of which is really relevant to the accident. I can imagine that a low-time pilot could easily be overwhelmed by the go-around if it was the first time they’d done it in type.
johnh wrote:
It has been a long while since I flew a Cirrus, but the thing I remember is that the electric trim is WAY too fast. So you can’t get it nicely trimmed, which means it’s painful to hand fly and you end up using the AP all the time.
Can’t you hand trim it?
@Airborne_Again unfortunately not. Electric only and occasionally it feels you needed a step in between settings.
SR22 doesn’t have a manual trim? Damn, that I don’t like at all. Are you sure??
I haven’t found one on mine :)
Fernando wrote:
Electric only and occasionally it feels you needed a step in between settings.
Not good. My club’s new Evektor Sportstar doesn’t have manual trim either. The trim motor runs slightly too fast, which makes it difficult to trim with precision. (That’s my only gripe with the handling quality of that aircraft.) Some day I’ll have to try how it feels with the trim at each extreme. I assume it will still be flyable or it would not have been certified.
that I don’t like at all. Are you sure??
Yep. And in fact it is’t even proper trim, it just operates a bungee. Problem is it goes so fast that even with the very quickest jab at the control, you’re just as far off in the opposite direction. And it’s quite heavy in pitch – not like a 182, but way more than you want to be constantly fighting, unlike say a Citabria or Pitts where you barely need trim at all.
Personaly, i dont think that’s a big deal. I never felt
In trouble because of not being able to trim it manually.
As @peter mentioned, most Cirrus pilots will fly the plane in autopilot while in cruise, and therefore we don’t even deal with the trim directly.
Having said that, during my IR restricted training I flew it always manually. I did feel the need for tiny adjustments but always managed to trim the plane perfectly.
I just hope my electrics don’t let me down.
johnh wrote:
It has been a long while since I flew a Cirrus, but the thing I remember is that the electric trim is WAY too fast. So you can’t get it nicely trimmed, which means it’s painful to hand fly and you end up using the AP all the time. As a complete contrast, I recently flew 4 hours in a Super Cub, hand flown all the way and since I was flying from the back seat, trimming was a real pain, so I mostly didn’t bother. And it was dead easy.
When I part owned an SR20, trim was relatively easy – are you saying that trimming an SR22 is difficult?
Same here, trimming my SR20 was easy and I have quite some hours on a SR22 and I don’t recall it being much different, neither trimming nor hand flying it.
