I’ve written before about Angelina Jolie, pilot. Actually, Sierra-Hotel pilot. And about her airplane, the hot and racy Cirrus SR22.
It’s time to write about me flying her airplane. Our relationship is progressing! But she has six kids now… .
Tioman island was hot, sultry and steamy. The Cirrus, with its cool all-singing, all-dancing glass cockpit, beckoned seductively.
Angelina’s airplane. For those of you who live in a cave on Mars, Angelina (yes, that Angelina) learned to fly years ago, with the aspiration of flying aid and relief missions in third-world countries.
(Of course, this is exactly why I, too, learned to fly. Right. )
She changed flight instructors. The first was too star-struck to teach. In other words, he was a normal male human. When she ‘soloed’ — flew alone for the first time without an instructor in the airplane — instead of allowing her shirt tail to be cut off*, she took off her bra, signed it, and gave it to her instructor. 😯
I’ve digressed.
Anyway, I call the Cirrus SR22 ‘Angelina’s Airplane’ because she so famously owns one. Arnold Schwarzenegger could fly a Cirrus and it would still be Angelina’s Airplane.
Back to Tioman island. The owner of this Cirrus, John, is a soft-spoken Brit based in Singapore. His is an SR22 G3 model, the third-generation of Cirrus magic.
There were oodles of room. Here, strapped in the back seat, was the prettiest sight for pilots like us flying over the tropical waters of the Java Sea.
Yes, the sight of that life raft was truly reassuring, comforting. We made sure it was strapped securely. We were a long way off the Malaysian coast.
(The passenger was also important.)
Up front, the first thing you notice is that there is no yoke — no ‘steering wheel’. Instead, there is a sidestick, perched above an ergonomic arm rest.
It took about 20 seconds to get used to that vs. the between-the-legs joystick of the aerobatic Decathlon I fly. That Cirrus sidestick came to hand so naturally that working it back and forth and side to side was both intuitive and instinctive. (Yes, Virginia, we are still talking about airplanes.)
I glanced at the parachute handle above us. Yup, the Cirrus has a parachute. Not for the pilots, no. But for the entire airplane. Why jump out of a $300,000 airplane, just because the engine died, right? Take the entire thing with you!
I thought it’s interesting that step 2 is to jettison the protective cover … on which steps 3 to 6 are printed.
John pulled up electronic checklists on the displays and began setting up his multifunction display as the nav systems came on line in the glass cockpit.
I need to explain ‘glass’. We’re not talking about wrap-around glass windows or a glass skylight in the roof. ‘Glass cockpits’ have none of the traditional round gauges, paper charts or printed checklists. Instead, flat TV panels show computer-rendered images of instruments, maps and charts. Airliner style.
This instrument panel is dominated by the Avidyne primary flight display and the multifunction display. Attitude, airspeed, altitude, heading, vertical speed, engine parameters, navigational and terrain charts and checklists were all rendered well on flat screen displays.
A brace of Garmin 430s navcoms also sent GPS inputs to the Avidyne displays. A portable Garmin GPS backup unit provides redundancy. Man, if you ever got lost in a Cirrus, you deserve to be never found.
And if you did get lost, you would get lost very quickly. This airplane is fast!
185 knots, over 340 kilometers per hour, max cruise. That’s a piston/single-engine airplane with propeller and fixed gear, and it flies faster than a World War II 4-engine bomber.
The airplane was pure joy to fly. It’s a big airplane, more than twice as heavy as the one I fly. But with 310 horsepower on tap under the power lever, it was quick and responsive.
With a high wing loading, the Cirrus also felt very stable. I was keenly aware of the placard that said spins were prohibited, and I gingerly babied the controls as I flew 360-degree turns for traffic near Singapore.
I knew that the cuffed wing with the split leading edge and differential angle of attack gives lots of warning of an impending stall and preserves aileron authority to the bitter end.
But the overall sophistication of the airplane and its glass cockpit impart an airliner feel. And one simply doesn’t fly snap rolls or hammerheads in someone else’s airliner. Not on the first date, anyway. So, small corrections, small corrections.
The coolie hat on top of the stick is the trim switch. I had to get used to that. The switch modulates springs that center the stick in the trimmed position, so I never really knew if I was feeling the slipstream’s aerodynamic load or the springs. Sort of like flying an airplane with a keyboard.
John was clearly a conservative and safe pilot, but when he took the airplane back he maneuvered more vigorously than I did, as if to make the airplane laugh after my timid handling of it. His approach to Seletar was impeccable, and we touched down with the most delicious squeak.
In the video, listen to the engine change its note as John pulls the power lever. The Cirrus combines prop control and throttle in a single intelligent power lever, and to me that is one of the neatest things about this airplane.
So would I marry Angelina for her airplane? If I were shopping for a piston single airplane as transportation, this Cirrus SR22 G3 would top my list. High-end sophistication, a built-in parachute, fast and slick. Angelina.
I don’t fly for to transport myself, though, so I would probably spend the $300,000 on something silly like Svetlana Kapanina’s Sukhoi Su-31.
Now there’s a woman I’d marry for her airplane. And she has only three kids.
Posted from Bangkok, June 14, 2010.
* Traditionally, after her first solo, a student pilot has her shirt tail cut off. In the days before intercoms, the instructor sat in the back of tandem-seat training airplanes and pulled on the student’s shirt tails if he wanted her to turn left or right, etc. After her solo, she no longer needs the instructor, or her shirt tail, in the airplane.
More neat references for Cirrus SR22 aircraft and its glass cockpit, for pilot readers or serious airplane shoppers:
Owner’s review by Philip Greenspun, with equal space for what’s good, and not so good, about the Cirrus, that only an owner can write.
Another article, also by Philip Greenspun, on the Avidyne system, as compared to the Garmin 1000 (also an option on the Cirrus SR22). Again, nuggets and warts, as only an owner with lots of experience and frustrations can write.
John Giddens is interviewed in Singapore, a month after I flew with him.
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Need to have both of those womens 🙂
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Clearly you are still young and full of energy! 😀
You in Manila any time in the next couple of weeks?
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These women are inspiring! And I enjoyed your entertaining blog post very much. Thanks for writing, I’ll keep reading!
Jenny
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Hi Jenny, thanks for visiting Flying in Crosswinds.
Yes, they are very inspiring. I’ve been trying to work up the courage to write about Harrison Ford as a pilot (I have a lot of stories about him too). That way I won’t be so gender-biased 🙂
You’re a student pilot in France? I know a couple of French private pilots, and one of the regular readers here is a fellow blogger and aviator in France. I’ve actually flown in the Perigord, for about half an hour, and it was thoroughly enjoyable!
Come back often, Jenny. Lots more stories coming!
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Hi Sir!I wonder if the preflight of the Cirrus includes aligning the IRS(does it even have one?I only asked because I saw on one of your pics that the PFD has a big X in it)
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Hi, Kit. The Avidyne system gets GPS input from the Garmin 430s on the middle console. So it displays a big X until the 430s align with the GPS satellite constellation.
The Garmin 1000 is a bit more integrated, since it has its own satellite receiver for GPS. Technology moves very fast — the Garmin 430/530 system and the Avidyne glass cockpit are still relatively new, but now that compact cameras and even cellphones already have GPS receivers talking to geosynchronous satellites thousands of miles above the earth, the even newer glass cockpits no longer need separate GPS receivers.
The Garmin Perspective system is probably the most integrated, since it combines nav, comm, GPS and traffic detection in one single sensor system, with XM weather in there too.
The article Angelina’s Airplane has a good photo spread of the Perspective system in an SR22 Generation Three airplane. Taken in the Air Ads hangar at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport, last December.
Thanks for writing here!
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Wow nice sir,I didn’t know about that,I wonder how long those Garmin 430’s and 1000’s align..
Anyway I found this nice book on a BookSale Shop in SM North,it’s Free Flight by James Fallows and it describes in full detail the production of the Klapmeier’s SR20.From it’s early days to the testing of it’s parachute system and how it could’ve saved it’s chief test pilot’s life.Anyway I got it for just 10 pesos,hehe real bargain right?It even shoes in detail how the parachute system is supposed to work,too bad I haven’t had enough time to read it because of the upcoming UPCAT..:(
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Your UPCAT is your top priority, so you need to be 100% focused on that. That’s my alma mater in college, and it’s a great privilege to have the country pay for all or part of your tuition.
Klapmeier’s story is an inspiring one. Amazing that you got that for just P10! Well done 🙂 Now get back to your UPCAT review!
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Great! Well, I’m already looking forward to those stories about Harrison Ford, and maybe some contributions from your French readers (and others, of course.). Perigord, eh? That’s just next door!
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We’ve had guest writers here before, so if you have a story to tell, let me know!
Yes, I flew back and forth across the Dordogne to Castelnaud, Sarlat and Domme. The view over the castles on the Dordogne were breathtaking. We even found a garden maze that van be seen only from the air, acreoss the river from the Chateau de Montfort. Really enjoyed it 🙂
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Hi Tonet,
As appealing as your opening photo of Ms Jolie is, we found your video capture of John’s perfect landing most enticing (of course it comes in second to your picture of the life raft and passenger – by the way, send our regards to your lovely wife).
In this, and your previous post about our Tioman flight, you captured the experience most wonderfully. Your blog is an inspiration! Looking forward to your next trip to Singapore, and you must let us buy you dinner!
Blue skies,
Anthony and Angie Khoo
9M-AVN
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Anthony!
Welcome to Flying in Crosswinds! Thank you for your very kind words. The Tioman flights almost wrote themselves — you, Jeffrey and John formed the words in flight, and I just had to write them down.
Shirl and I were in Singapore two weekends ago, and we thought we saw you at Takashimaya. We hurried after you, but could never be sure.
It was a short visit, but the next time we are there we will be delighted to accept your offer!
Was imagining it, or did I see 9M-AVN at the Philippine hot air balloon fiesta?
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hello tonet
proud to fly one of these cirrus, albeit a lower rated, 200 horsepower SR 20 for my PPL, airways and nite rating.
we’ve just concluded WOA aircraft appreciation program : Cirrus Aircraft held in my school, ITNS Ipoh, Malaysia.
I met many gentlemen WOA members. Proud to know all of these guys, Jefrrey Goh 9M AVN and JJ with his 182 Katmai.
I wish i could join you guys on my events in the future and if you ever need a PIC for a Malaysian registered Cirrus, write me an email.
Blue Skies,
Amirul
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Hi Amirul, long time no hear! I read about that event on the Wings Over Asia site. I would have wanted to join that, but unfortunately I was tied up at work. Jeffrey flew me to Tioman in his Cherokee Six.
Stay in touch, and let me know how you are doing with your flight training! Are you commercial already?
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Hello. I sent an email to your BMS address inquiring if you might know whether some airports I listed were established before 1985. Hoping for a reply. 🙂 Thank you.
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Hi, I did get your email. Give me some time to ask around, I’m sure some people know the answers, at least for some of these airports!
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Thank you very much. We’ve whittled down the list to the ff:
Palawan (Busuanga and Cuyo)
Calbayog Airport
Camiguin Airport
Catarman Airport
Romblon Aiport
Surigao Airport
Siargao Airport
Alabat and Jomalig Airport
Bantayan Airport (Cebu)
Calapan Airport
Hilongos and Maasin Airport
If anyone reading this blog can tell me what year the above airports were established (if (1985 or later), we’re doing a rural infra study and the CAAP is no help.
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