Cirrus unveils Garmin AutoLand on its single engine SR series as standard option.

Pretty slick video. Not unexpected, but pretty interesting, particularly in that they've got a solution for the autothrottle & mixture controls. That could be pretty easily ported down to the legacy fleet. They've already got smartglide if you have a GTN Xi and GFC500. The wife & I keep talking about teaching her to run the autopilot & engine well enough to get her on the ground...maybe if we procrastinate a little longer I can just give Garmin some more of my money instead.
 
That’s pretty cool they’ve got emergency auto land on a small piston now. Would definitely be good for more safety equipment like that to keep making it to the GA fleet.
 
<Checks watch> Yup, right on schedule!

flyingcheesehead said:
I'm glad the HomeSafe/Safe Return/Autoland technology has made an appearance, because now you don't have to half-wreck the airplane if the pilot becomes incapacitated.

Once that's available as a retrofit, Garmin is going to sell a lot of stuff. It'll be tricky, but it'll get there eventually. Right now, it's on higher end planes as it runs on the G3000. But the G7 Cirrus SR22 "Perspective Touch +" is now G3000 powered, so I expect that we'll see it there before too long.
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pilotsofamerica.com

Soooo Many Cirrus' For Sale

I agree in principle, but can you really say you have the same level of *support* as you do with an SR22? The Cirrus ecosystem (including it being a lifestyle brand) is very compelling for someone willing to drop over a million bucks on a plane. I fully agree, it is a plane marketed to people...
pilotsofamerica.com pilotsofamerica.com
 
Jim K said:
Pretty slick video. Not unexpected, but pretty interesting, particularly in that they've got a solution for the autothrottle & mixture controls. That could be pretty easily ported down to the legacy fleet.
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I've been saying it for a while now. The stuff Garmin does that's factory built for the more expensive birds has always worked its way down to the retrofit market eventually, and this one is HUGE... Though I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Cirrus made an exclusivity deal with them, because the whole idea of giving pax more control over safety via BRS/CAPS and now this is pretty central to Cirrus' sales efforts.

Of course, this will not come cheap. It'll probably require whatever the latest greatest hotness is for both navigators and glass panels - think GTN Xi + G500 TXi + EIS + GFC500 with the four existing servos plus 4-5 new ones (2 brake actuators, 3 engine controls).

Another interesting possibility here: If they've got servos on the throttle and mixture, will they put one on the prop when it comes to third party installs? And if so, what's to stop them from just throwing a FADEC in there while they're at it? (Or eventually, via software update). That would give Garmin EIS (ECS? EICS?) a whole new dimension. Continental has FADEC available, but it never really went anywhere because it added six figures to the price of an engine. Knock a zero off the end and some people might buy it.

One thing I'm still curious about is the braking/rudder on the runway. The SR22 is one of the more challenging birds for a machine to control directionally on the runway - They must have some brake actuators that are fast and precise.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Though I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Cirrus made an exclusivity deal with them, because the whole idea of giving pax more control over safety via BRS/CAPS and now this is pretty central to Cirrus' sales efforts.
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Do you know if BRS has an exclusivity deal with the Cirrus vision jet? I know they don't have any on the SR series, but I don't think I have seen any turboprop with a BRS parachute, but they do all have autoland now in addition to the sf50.


flyingcheesehead said:
Another interesting possibility here: If they've got servos on the throttle and mixture, will they put one on the prop when it comes to third party installs?
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I think it's more likely we see something like the EFII/SDS get a certified version designed by Lycoming/Continental, or even an STC. The only real requirement is a redundant electrical system, but that seems like it should be standard on any modern GA aircraft with a glass cockpit.
 
Corin said:
Do you know if BRS has an exclusivity deal with the Cirrus vision jet? I know they don't have any on the SR series, but I don't think I have seen any turboprop with a BRS parachute, but they do all have autoland now in addition to the sf50.
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No idea. I kind of doubt it - BRS doesn't have a ton of STCs for other piston singles besides the SR series either (I think only Cessna 172/182). I doubt there's a ton of demand for it, given that turboprops spend a lot of their time in class A airspace so midairs aren't particularly likely, and control/structural failures are almost unheard of.

BTW, the first (and to my knowledge, only) activation of the Garmin autoland was an inadvertent one on a TBM. The pilot didn't know his systems well enough - On the TBM, at least, there are three ways that the autoland can be activated, and the big red button in the middle of the glareshield is only one of them.

This particular guy was showing his buddy the blue button (LVL) on the autopilot. He put it in some sort of not-straight-and-level attitude and hit LVL. What he didn't realize is that you have two minutes to get all axes of the autopilot out of LVL mode or it assumes you are still discombobulated and activates the autoland. And once autoland is activated, you're at least a couple checklists away from getting it deactivated. IIRC it's 2-3 pushes on AP DISC to get it to relinquish control, plus you have to get your screens back, and then there's an entirely separate configuration checklist because while the system can put flaps and gear down, it does not actually move the switches so you might not be configured the way you think you are. Fun times...

BTW, the third one is for depressurization. If the pilot does not respond to a CABIN ALTITUDE message within 15 seconds, the airplane automatically performs an emergency descent to 10,000 feet. At that point, there's an additional short period of time where the pilot can take over; if no action is taken the autoland system comes on and takes it the rest of the way to the ground. Pretty slick.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
I've been saying it for a while now. The stuff Garmin does that's factory built for the more expensive birds has always worked its way down to the retrofit market eventually, and this one is HUGE... Though I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Cirrus made an exclusivity deal with them, because the whole idea of giving pax more control over safety via BRS/CAPS and now this is pretty central to Cirrus' sales efforts.

Of course, this will not come cheap. It'll probably require whatever the latest greatest hotness is for both navigators and glass panels - think GTN Xi + G500 TXi + EIS + GFC500 with the four existing servos plus 4-5 new ones (2 brake actuators, 3 engine controls).

Another interesting possibility here: If they've got servos on the throttle and mixture, will they put one on the prop when it comes to third party installs? And if so, what's to stop them from just throwing a FADEC in there while they're at it? (Or eventually, via software update). That would give Garmin EIS (ECS? EICS?) a whole new dimension. Continental has FADEC available, but it never really went anywhere because it added six figures to the price of an engine. Knock a zero off the end and some people might buy it.

One thing I'm still curious about is the braking/rudder on the runway. The SR22 is one of the more challenging birds for a machine to control directionally on the runway - They must have some brake actuators that are fast and precise.
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Yeah, 150k of other equipment will be the prerequisite. The frustrating part is that if you are capable of smartglide (gtn xi, g5 or better, gfc500), auto throttle and maybe a laser altimeter are the only thing you really need to get on the ground safely. Brakes and even flaps, mixture, and prop could be prompted. "Push the red & blue knobs forward", "brake now", "pull the red knob all the way back". Of course that would never pass certification.
 
Is this a standard feature or an upgrade? Have questions about how it works.
 
Jim K said:
Yeah, 150k of other equipment will be the prerequisite. The frustrating part is that if you are capable of smartglide (gtn xi, g5 or better, gfc500), auto throttle and maybe a laser altimeter are the only thing you really need to get on the ground safely. Brakes and even flaps, mixture, and prop could be prompted. "Push the red & blue knobs forward", "brake now", "pull the red knob all the way back". Of course that would never pass certification.
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That's one thing I forgot - Is Cirrus adding a radar altimeter? I didn't see anything about it.

I agree that a lot of this could be done by a front seat pax rather than servos, and I hope that gets done at some point. I don't know that it needs to pass certification at the same level as the autoland does, because as long as it's not interfering with existing functions I'd think it would qualify as NORSEE.

mandm said:
Is this a standard feature or an upgrade? Have questions about how it works.
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Sounds like it's a new standard feature. It's been around a few years on some other airframes, what are your questions?
 
Oh great Now Cirrus pilots will be confused. Do I hit autoland or pull the chute? That's 1 too many decision points for them in an emergency. This won't end well
 
JVerb said:
Oh great Now Cirrus pilots will be confused. Do I hit autoland or pull the chute? That's 1 too many decision points for them in an emergency. This won't end well
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Funny...

But in reality? Teach the pilots to pull the chute, just like they do now. Autoland is for the passengers. The main scenario for its use is pilot incapacitation.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
That's one thing I forgot - Is Cirrus adding a radar altimeter? I didn't see anything about it.

I agree that a lot of this could be done by a front seat pax rather than servos, and I hope that gets done at some point. I don't know that it needs to pass certification at the same level as the autoland does, because as long as it's not interfering with existing functions I'd think it would qualify as NORSEE.


Sounds like it's a new standard feature. It's been around a few years on some other airframes, what are your questions?
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Does the auto land interpret any outside data? Traffic, atc vectors, etc? How would it handle an engine out?
 
mandm said:
Does the auto land interpret any outside data?
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Yes. For example, it does pay attention to datalink NEXRAD, and if it appears that the airport it chooses will end up being hit by a storm, it's capable of changing its mind and diverting to a better field.

mandm said:
Traffic,
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Obviously the algorithm is proprietary, but I would suspect it does take ADS-B traffic into account.

mandm said:
atc vectors, etc?
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There are no vectors from ATC, it's a one-way system. However, it does broadcast its own intentions on ATC, CTAF, and Guard frequencies so that controllers and other aircraft can stay out of the way.

mandm said:
How would it handle an engine out?
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Unless you're in glide range of an airport, poorly. It cannot select a good off-airport landing area, nor can it maneuver to avoid uncharted obstacles.

This is one of the scenarios where Cirrus teaches pilots to pop the chute, and I doubt that would change. In terms of handling an engine failure after a pilot incapacitation where the system is already on, I would imagine that it probably has instructions on the screen for pulling the handle to pop the chute.

In terms of whether they're combining this with Smart Glide so that it'll maneuver the airplane to a safe landing at an airport *if* there is one within range... I don't know. Definitely worth asking at Oshkosh.
 
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