Page 24 - Dec 19 TNT

Jet Journal
Cirrus Safe Return
Cirrus to follow Piper as first to implement Garmin Autoland
by Rich Pickett PHOTOS COURTESY OF CIRRUS AIRCRAFT
The recent announcement by Garmin regarding their revolutionary automatic land capability is excellent news for the industry. And Cirrus Air- craft joins Piper Aircraft as the first of the general aviation manu- facturers to introduce the system in a production airplane. The company will implement its Safe Return Emergency Autoland System in the 2020 Vision Jet. The automat- ic landing technology will act as an additional safety system to the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS).
Careful consideration was given to where to place the activation but- ton for the Safe Return. Since sin- gle-pilot operation is common in the
Vision Jet, Cirrus elected to place the button just aft of the CAPS and oxy- gen overhead console. The placement makes the function easily accessible by anyone in the aircraft. Safe Return is also automatically activated after 60 seconds in Auto-Level mode as well
as Emergency Descend Mode upon reaching 15,000 feet.
Communication with ATC uses both COM radios, one for 121.5 MHz and the other for the nearest appro- priate ATC facility, as well as setting an emergency transponder squawk. That solution takes into account the present 3D location, along with potential landing facilities and weather, including possible icing, terrain and remaining fuel. If icing is predicted, the Vision Jet’s TKS, engine inlet heat and pneumatic boots are activated. A unique feature of the Cirrus implementation is that if a safe solution is not obtainable due to remaining fuel, terrain (including water) and other conditions, Safe
22 • TWIN & TURBINE / December 2019 Jet Journal