by Scott C. Dennstaedt
Lights, camera,
action!
Like migratory birds, Cirrus owners flocked back to the birth
place of their airplanes this past weekend. Cirrus Design in Duluth
hosted this Second Annual Migration sponsored by the Cirrus Owner
and Pilots Association (COPA). Even though the visibility was
one-eighth of a mile early Sunday morning, the weather was
spectacular in Duluth for this terrific gathering on Friday and
Saturday.
Nearly 200 members and 100 Cirrus aircraft flew in for the event
that began on Friday. "This event was not driven by the factory. It
was planned and orchestrated by the owners," said Myron Garfinkle
organizer extraordinaire for the First Annual Migration. Myron also
lead the organizational efforts of this year's Migration, dubbed
M2.
"This says a lot about COPA's dedication."
COPA has come a long way since its inception in 2001 and has
nearly doubled since the last annual gathering. Cirrus owners have
been under the insurance microscope after a string of fatal
accidents. Safety is paramount in this organization. This is just
one of many events that COPA has sponsored to bring together the
collective wisdom of the owner's group. COPA's nationwide critical
decision making courses and pilot proficiency programs are also a
testament of their commitment to safety.
As a result, M2 was not just a large social affair. The weekend was
filled with educational seminars. I had the pleasure of presenting
a short seminar on aviation weather. I was in the distinguished
company of Walter Atkinson and George Braly (below) from the
Advanced Pilot Seminars who provided their spiel on engine
management as well as Doug Ritter's ditching and water survival
discussion and demonstrations. Additionally, many other vendors
including Garmin, Goodyear, S-Tec, WxWorx, Air Gator, Control
Vision, L3 Communications and Hartzel were there to present
information on their products and services.
On Saturday evening, Alan Klapmeier (below), announced that the
airframe life limit of the SR22 was extended from 4,350 flight
hours to 12,000 hours. This falls in line with the airframe life
limit for the SR20.
However, the big question this weekend was not the airframe life
limit; it was the promise of panel-mounted XM satellite weather.
Unfortunately, many Cirrus owners went home without knowing much
more than what was written in the recent Avidyne press release a
few weeks ago.
It was no secret that Avidyne and Cirrus have been working on
this alternate panel-mounted product after the original ORBCOMM
satellite multicast datalink failed to emerge as a viable solution.
While most Cirrus owners were thrilled to hear this, many were only
interested only in hearing the answer to two short questions - When
and how much?
Neither Avidyne nor Cirrus could comment on a date or a price
for this certified solution. Based on Avidyne's presentation, we do
know that the system has not reached the point of FAA certification
as of yet and Avidyne and Cirrus are still working to understand
how to best install the new hardware in the Cirrus.
Additionally, Avidyne mentioned that features such as Nexrad
looping, panning, TAFs, echo tops and winds aloft won't be part of
any initial release.
On a lighter note, Cirrus also announced that Scott Prinz took
delivery of the 1000th SR22 this weekend. Scott initially sold his
SR22 to buy a Columbia 350 and now is back with Cirrus in his new
SR22 G2. There is definitely some kind of love-hate relationship
story behind all of this.
On the social side, Rod Machado (above) entertained this group
of pilots and their spouses with a spectacular dinner event on
Saturday night at Grandma's Sports Garden Bar and Grill located in
Canal Park. A great time was had by all.
I am already looking forward to the next hot topic at M3 - WAAS
maybe?
E-I-C Note: Scott Dennstaedt is an ANN
columnist who provides nationwide Cirrus standardized flight
instruction. He is also the founder of Chesapeake Aviation
Training, a low cost provider of portable cockpit weather
solutions. scott@chesavtraining.com,
http://chesavtraining.com
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