How does it fly around non-ads-b traffic?

Same way we do. Pure luck. Big sky theory.

GA is on fire. Wow!

Yup. Probably about the same as an incapacitated pilot, or a non-pilot passenger.

It's implied in the video - and seems likely - that it declares an emergency for you and gives it right of way over all other traffic, which makes sense if the pilot is no longer able to fly the airplane. You're still SOL if it rear-ends a NORDO Cub but I'm not sure what else they can do, other than hope the sky is big enough.

It is pretty cool tech and seems well executed.

I think the idea is you take delivery of your G7 while you wait for your SF-50 slot to come up. Then you trade the G7 back or resell it.

What is the weight penalty?

Throttle servo. Mixture servo. Brake actuator. Processor. Wiring.

It isn't going to be for nothing. 25 lbs?

Also, does it concern anyone here that an electric actuator has control over your mixture? What happens if, say, that actuator falsely drives the mixture to cutoff just after takeoff?

I'm not yet convinced this system has a positive safety balance. This would be particularly true if any pilot takes a risk credit from the system existing like they do on the chute. Some VFR pilot might become more emboldened to fly in marginal conditions and end up IMC, thinking they can just hit the autoland button and the plane will get them out of it.

I grant it is cool and neat technology, but will the system actually deliver a real safety increase?

A way to understand this is to ask how many situations has the SR fleet had where this system would have saved a life? That's 15 million fleet hours. I think it will be hard to find these cases, perhaps none exist. We are talking way less than 1 in a million hours here. Meaningful passenger initiated chute pulls are zero so far, for reference.

We've also made the non pilot passenger have to choose, without pilot help, between the chute and the autoland system. Do they know when to use one over the other? That's not actually a simple question and to answer it well requires assessing the health of the aircraft and the circumstances of the flight. A non pilot passenger, under the duress of an incapacitated pilot, might not make the right decision.

Mike C.

The only question that truly matters - does the mixture control run LOP???

After a long career in occupational health and safety, the more esoteric and unlikely the hazard, the more people worry about it.

I would think that the side stick on the cirrus would be less encumbered by a slumping incapacitated pilot then a standard yoke. But if the pilot was heavily leaning on the side stick would this system be able to overcome the pilot's weight to maneuver the plane?

Just a way to sell more airplanes to non-airplane people IMO.


Seems pretty redundant with a chute, but people love gadgets. Hell my pantry is chock full of borderline useless gadgets that we "needed" at some point.

I can't really see a situation where I'd prefer to push the autoland button over pulling the parachute handle as a passenger. I just want to get down safely and the chute seems like a better bet than letting CirrusAI pilot me down toward the earth at 200mph

The chute means you don't get to pick where you touch the earth or what you hit on the way down.

True, but unless you get extremely unlucky and end up in the middle of an interstate full of blind drivers that's not really much of an issue IMO.

Good question. I guess that if the pilot is incapacitated, the plane on autoland would meet the ground where the pilot would get immediate emergency care instead of in a field, water or other unchosen location.

The autoland system dominant usage will be to demo it. It will be a long time before we get a use for "real". You can bet the Cirrus PR machine will go hyper when that happens.

New Cirrus pilot insult: "The autoland system flies better than you do".

Mike C.