Marty Shapiro wrote in
:

Bertie the Bunyip wrote in
:

Oh yeah. Obviously! The little engine ones went OK and I even flew an
ST and did some aerobatics in it, which it did farily well compared
to similar airplanes. In Europe they're nicknamed the "tin parachute"
for their ability to settle to earth with the stick fully back at a
minimal rate. The idea being that someone who gets stuck in IMC
without the ability to fly out of it can close the power, pull the
stick back and probably have a better chance than thye would if they
continued to push onwards. The engine out scenario was supposed to be
the same. I wouldn't like to try it, however!

Bertie


I've played with this one year when when I did the return to service
flight after an annual. Power off, stick full back, full flaps, you
are descending at about 1,050 fpm with an indicated air speed of about
35 MPH (it bounces between 30 and 40) and the nose bobbling on the
horizon.

Note that the descent rate in this mode is the same as that of a
Cirrus with the chute popped. Now if SOCATA had beefed up the seats
to handle the impact, they would have had a true tin parachute.



hmm, that sounds survivable allright. and the lighter airplanes would
probably be even just a bit less. Doesn't sound like something your
chiropractor woudl approve of, but it would be better than spearing in
out of a spiral dive, which is the more traditional way of getting out
of situation A.


Bertie