News of the day - Cirrus updates and the mysterious case of the missing pilot

Aero-news posted a few interesting items today:

The mysterious case of Marcus Schrenker. It appears that Mr. Schrenker decided that bailing out of his turboprop aircraft and letting it fly away on autopilot was a great way to avoid his white-collar lawsuit. How do they know this? Well, there are a few pointers:

1) the way the radar track looked
2) the fact that a military aircraft eased up to his airplane in-flight (after trouble was reported) and found the cabin door open and the cockpit lights all dark
3) the fact that Childersburg, AL police think they gave Mr. Schrenker a ride to a hotel during the time frame - after he appeared in the town with a strange explanation of how he got there

The flying penguin has his own unique perspective on this incident as well.

Update Jan 14, 2009: Now the guy's busted!
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Next up are updates from Cirrus - they have revealed a new option for their 2009 line-up. FIKI (flight into known icing) will soon be approved on properly equipped SR22 aircraft. They include updates to the G1000 (so it can manage the icing system and provide appropriate alerts) as well as updated TKS (anti-ice liquid) dispensers to cover the windshield and improve coverage around the airframe. The changes are not retrofit-able on older Cirrus. Without FIKI certification for an airplane a pilot is not legally allowed to fly into an area where icing is forecast.

I hope no one will think this new hardware allows them to cruise along in icing conditions - it will not work out well. Though you may be able to survive if you are really lucky with that chute.

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Lastly there is a little more from Cirrus - new model packages [Cirrus page]. Cirrus has always understood what car dealers know in their soul - buyers like package deals. Or, at least, they tend to buy them.

I believe I read somewhere that most folks buying a new Cirrus opt for the GTS (nearly all options) package. That might mean they like buying a package - or maybe Cirrus buyers are rich folk that just want every option. Now with lower-end packages available Cirrus' sales people will be able to answer that question.

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