and the parachutes have saved the planes and their passengers several hundred times......
...
Well, it’s saved a few. In the early days the parachute caused more problems than it solved, because it still has to be deployed in the right situation. The SR22 is extremely popular. It has excellent avionics making it easy to fly long distances with decent speed for its class. It has a perception of being safe, although that my not be deserved.
Getting back to the parachute, the Diamond DA40, at idle with the stick pulled all the way back, can descend slower than the SR22 with the parachute.
And if a person doesn’t have that much money, the Cessna 172 has one of the best safety records in spite of being widely flown as a trainer.
I was just repeating what the instructor told me......
Yes, 172 is great plane to fly and to learn to fly in - very forgiving with the CG below the wing. Son got his ticket in one and that’s what he’s using to get his advanced ratings......great view too! My uncle instructor checked me out flying one from Gainesville to the Bahama’s a thousand years ago......
But since I learned in low-wing singles, it’s funny how I have always felt a tad more secure in a low-wing than high-wing - not technically true of course. Just like the feeling of a wing beneath me - but love the visual pluses of the low wing.
“Getting back to the parachute, the Diamond DA40, at idle with the stick pulled all the way back, can descend slower than the SR22 with the parachute.”
I didn’t know that. I knew that the chute deployment/descent in a Cirrus wasn’t exactly a gentle float to the surface, but that is an interesting fact about the DA40.