Can anyone tell me if the Cirrus sim includes actual activation of the CAPS? I mean reaching up and pulling the handle, and then experiencing the visual and kinesthetic sensations of deployment, descent, and landing. thanks in advance.
There are at least a couple of variations of Cirrus simulator models. Your CAPS experience will vary.
At the Simtrain locations in Las Vegas, Atlanta and Minneapolis, the full-motion simulator gives the people a very dramatic experience. Here’s a picture of a partner, sitting in the right seat, pulling the CAPS handle after failing to revive the simulated incapacitated pilot (barely visible but slumped over). The platform moves so abruptly after a CAPS pull that the other partners waiting were cautioned to stand well back of the sim. (The Partner in Command course runs at CPPP, and where there is a full-motion sim, we give the partners the opportunity to demonstrate a simulated pull.)
People who have compared the Simtrain simulator with their real-life experience of activating CAPS report that the simulator matches the actual sensations quite well.
And over on the members side of the COPA web site, I’ve posted a video recreation of an actual CAPS pull over Luna, NM. That pull appears to have been activated after the plane had rolled inverted.
Cheers
Rick