Another Step In A Very Evolutionary Program

Flight Test Report and Analysis by ANN Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell

• Read Part One
• Read Part Two
• Read Part Three
• Read Part Four
• Read Part Five (Final)

When ANN last regaled you with tales from our G3 flight test, ANN Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, was doing one of the things he does best... taking it slow. 

The SR22-G3 continues to do well in the slow-flight regime, despite the continual nay-sayers who obviously don't know the airplane. Flap extension produces a negligible trim change with the first "notch" (about 50% of their deployable capability) and a more notable amount with the second/last position. Max flap extension speeds are generous… 119 knots for half deployment, and 104 knots for the works. Basic, non-augmented deceleration takes place sparingly and the SR22-G3 holds its considerable energy well. A little bit of yanking and banking, more formally known as "G-Induced deceleration" offers a more rapid result and allows one to bleed speed off a bit quicker with 1.5-2 G pulls… but otherwise the behavior is quite solid and overtly symmetrical.

Once again, to slow a Cirrus down (an unnatural state of affairs for the sweet little bird), pull the power back all the way, and wait... a while. Don't use a stopwatch, take a calendar... you may be waiting a while (grin). With flaps up, in particular, the G3's deceleration profile will take its own sweet bloody time. To slow it down, it's going to require significant pitch persuasion to get anywhere near the stall regime (a little more than we're used to with the elder birds), though the slow-flight behavior boasts excellent controllability and little discernible loss of effectiveness as you work your way down to 65 kts. A modest root buffet, of light frequency and amplitude, shows up in the 60s as the bird gets to a point of "stalling"… which is mostly a slight pitch buck of limited amplitude and frequency before finally giving up the ghost with barely a shudder… which is going to take a LOT of aft stick to maintain to a complete and definable departure--such as it is. Lateral control effectiveness continues to be very good, while rudder authority is simply outstanding. The clean stall comes at near to 65-70 knots… but we didn't get much of a departure, no matter how hard we tried.

Drop the flaps and the bird takes on an even more modest persona. Roll control remains quite aggressive, overall control pressures ease off a bit as you slow down, and the rudder rocks on as though you were still doing cruise speed… There is an excellent and somewhat more prominent airframe (mostly root) buffet that comes into play as you drop below 75 kts and gains prominence as you work your way into the 60 knot range. It remains fairly moderated through the break and sports a slightly more aggressive amplitude (from the G2) that is hard to mistake but is (also) hardly worrisome. The buffet becomes more prominent under load, as demonstrated during accelerated stalls… excellent. One thing about the fully stalled SR22… once you get everything hanging out and stall the bird, the sink rate increases dramatically… so be aware of that as you start working into landing approaches--especially on short final. Recovery is a simple matter of decreasing pitch pressure and letting the bird reassert a proper attitude of attack. Power arrests the attendant sink rate immediately.

In a fully stalled, and I do mean FULLY stalled, configuration, I booted the hell out of the rudder, to the point of aggressively rocking/rolling the bird side to side as the aircraft pitched and buffeted through its critical angle of attack. Stalls are even more symmetrical than before and the rudder coupling is just plain awesome... even if you exacerbate the game to the point where it starts to slide off on a wing (and with NO apparent willingness to break hard to either side), you can arrest the condition with simple rudder, immediately and aggressively, even well into a roll-over (past 30-45 degrees). Excellent.

OK... since we're in the neighborhood (aerodynamically speaking) once again, let's address the spin issue. A lot has been made of the fact that the Cirrus manual says that the proper recovery for accidental spins is using the chute. The manual states that, "The SR22 is not approved for spins, and has not been tested or certified for spin recovery characteristics. The only approved and demonstrated method of spin recovery is activation of the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System. Because of this, if the aircraft 'departs controlled flight,' the CAPS must be deployed."

I've previously reported that despite some pretty aggressive coordination abuses, I found the fully stalled SR22 series to be remarkably well-behaved and observed little tendency toward overt or unexpected autorotation. Let me repeat previous flight test results with the following caveat... it was good before, and it's even better now. The beast will buffet up a storm, and break lightly into the bank if you insist on exacerbating the exercise, but there is no overt yawing associated with that, and rudder control remains sterling throughout. If someone gets into an inadvertent spin, they're going to have to really screw up. A pilot not seeing a spin coming just doesn't need remedial flight instruction, they need a seeing eye dog (preferably an Airedale... grin).

As previously noted, I wish I could speak more about the true spin modes of the SR series… I have some insight from prior test pilots and a few "interesting" flights that suggests the most significant issues involved concern about the rotation rate involved in a stable-state spin and the time it's going to take to arrest the resultant rotational inertia and actually recover… Cirrus has consented to let me go out and abuse this process a bit more in the not too distant future, but we're saving that flight for a future episode of Aero-TV... if you don't believe the words, I'm damned sure you'll believe the video. At some point, I look forward to the chance to explore that part of the envelope… I have great confidence (and I'm not exactly saying why -- hint, hint...) that the airplane will recover well, if you have the insight and altitude to arrest the autorotation in a proper conventional manner.

The SR22 has always been easy to land and boasts consistent behavior through most configurations. Most notable, though, is the extra mass inertia carried through in the landing by the somewhat heavier Turbo bird. This means that one needs to watch speed and energy, when using short strips, because the bird does want to keep moving. It takes proper energy management to eke out the best short-field response.

ONE Last Part... To Be Continued

FMI: www.cirrusdesign.com, www.cirruspilots.org