BFR for a Cirrus owner?

[J32driver]

Hey folks,

I've volunteered to give a BFR for a friend of the family who owns a Cirrus. I've never flown a Cirrus and haven't really used my CFII in the last 8 years. I know this individual has a reputation of being an extremely competent and professional instrument rated private pilot, so giving the endorsement should be a formality.

With that said, I'd at least like to be able to stimulate some good conversation related to operating the Cirrus. I see the airplane as an IFR cross country oriented airplane. It seems like these things have been falling out of the sky lately due to loss of control while IMC/high altitude/unforecast icing and your standard CFIT accidents.

If anyone out there regularly instructs in a Cirrus, I'd like some ideas for topics, and areas of operations to look at, as well as any pet systems questions you may have.

Thanks in advance. Oh yeah... whats the going $ rate for a BFR. I'm not doing this to make money, but 2 years worth of legal responsibility is worth a little bit.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Can't help with your question, but if your friend owns a Cirrus and has insurance coverage for it, doesn't his insurer require annual flight reviews using a CSIP (Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilots)? That's pretty typical.

 

[J32driver]

I don't know what his insurance requirements are. He knows I don't have any Cirrus time though and thats not an issue for him.

 

[JediNein]

For Cirrus Pilots, stupid pilot tricks like flying into known icing and thunderstorms are pretty big.

We start our flight reviews off with a 150 question 'study guide'. It takes anywhere from 3 hours to 36 hours to cover it. At the end, there is no doubt that the pilot will not be violated for lack of knowledge.

During the initial runup, the pilot of a full glass (PFD & MFD) aircraft should be checking that both GPS units match the PFD indications and that the autopilot follows the various bugs. If non-glass, the pilot should be checking the GPS units against the HSI - electrical or not, and the autopilot. If not, the autopilot will 'fail' during a time when the pilot really wants to use it. If they don't do the check, I do not let them use the autopilot for the entire flight. BTW, to kill the autopilot, you have to press down on the trim hat on the yoke, unless they have the big red button. Else it is pull the circuit breaker, avionics off, or ships power off (BAT1/2 & ALT 1/2).


Electrical system problems can cause heartburn, i.e. what do you do when Alternator 1 fails (get the A/C off, then battery 1 off, then IMC, that's a coupled GPS approach - no ILS in a full glass bird). ALT 1 combined BAT 1 failures also kill flaps, trim, and transponder. When you 'fail' the ALT1, only let the simulation go on for a few minutes until the pilot recognizes it, restore the system, then simulate the continued failure. Use a long runway (2.5 X over 50' obstacle landing distance) for the no flap landings and let ATC know you'll be using the full runway ~6000'.

The usual stalls, steep turns, engine failure on downwind. IFR Cross country pilots don't tend to spend time in the practice area. Tip: if the pilot uses aileron in the stall recovery -- make sure it's aileron and not the blasted interconnect with rudder doing it -- it takes brisk FULL forward elevator to recover from the incipient spin. We do our practice at 4000' AGL.

IFR and especially VFR, bring the hood and have the pilot demonstrate unusual attitude recoveries. Ask the pilot how many approaches he's flown in the last few months, without the autopilot. BFR or not, make 'em demonstrate an approach on raw data, to a missed, with a diversion to an unplanned alternate. Let them use the autopilot again on the missed, those proficient will, those not are better off without it.

An autopilot stall wakes most pilots up, especially if you can 'distract' the pilot while reducing power to induce the stall. You don't have to stall it, but around 85 knots the autopilot is severely overcontrolling the plane, it should be enough to wake up the pilot from whatever distraction you've given them. If they disconnect the autopilot during the stall recovery, tell 'em that didn't work, the autopilot is still trying to stall the plane (they should simulate turning off ship's power - or, actually pull the autopilot CB).

Back in the pattern, the pilot should experience a 'no brake' landing. If they don't run the descent checklist on the way in, it is a 'no brake' landing.

During normal landings you are watching for them to maintain appropriate airspeeds, SR22s are 77-80 knots on final, minimum 72 knots per the factory. Any faster and the thing floats for miles and sets up for a porpoise, tail strike, or prop strike. Look for fast yoke movements in the float. The landing only looks flat. At 12 degrees is where the tail strike will occur, a normal landing is about 7 degrees.

You owe it to your friend, and yourself, to give a good flight review. Going rate for Cirrus Instruction is about $100-150 an hour, although some 'factory trained' instructors only charge $25 an hour.

PM if you have any questions.

 

[J32driver]

JediNein,

Thanks for the detailed write up. I'll take just a bit to digest this and probably have more questions. BFR will happen sometime early next week.

 

[Say Again Over]

Now thats what I call a response, Jed, I'll fly with you anytime!

 

[Andrew_VT]

For Cirrus Pilots, stupid pilot tricks like flying into known icing and thunderstorms are pretty big.

so true

 

[FlyingToIST]

J32 driver, your 'friend' may be trying to cut corners but most of the insurance companies require CSIP BFR. I can understand the urge to do this so that you can gain some experience, but the glass SRs are nothing that you can do a BFR with unless you are either a CSIP or you have hundreds of hours of Cirrus flying. Even when I because CSIP I was not feeling comfortable with the plane.