Episode Details

At AirVenture this year I sat down in the Cirrus compound with Eamon Powers, the Director of Cirrus Approach — the man who owns every piece of training content Cirrus produces, for pilots and for mechanics.

Twelve or fourteen years ago the fatal accident rate in the Cirrus fleet was, being generous, unremarkable, and there was a real argument in this industry about whether the parachute was helping at all. That number has moved a long way since. I wanted to know what actually moved it, how they know what moved it, and how much of it the rest of us can steal — because most of you listening aren't flying a Cirrus.

What I got was a lot better than a company pitch. Eamon has a PhD in instructional design, an ATP, and an A&P, and he'll be the first to tell you the business card looks a little silly.

We get into why every syllabus in America puts the first solo before lesson 20, and why that number is a leftover from World War II. What he calls "time to independence." How you keep a safety briefing from going rote. The CSIP standardization machine. The hardest number in aviation safety — the denominator. And the training nobody ever asks their mechanic about.

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Links:

Cirrus training

• Cirrus Approach — the training platform, for pilots: https://www.cirrusapproach.com/pilots/
• Cirrus Approach course catalog: https://learning.cirrusapproach.com/learning-catalog
• CAPS course — free, open to anyone, you don't have to own or fly a Cirrus:https://learning.cirrusapproach.com/courses/424/overview
• Mission Ready 2026 Simulator Sessions: https://learning.cirrusapproach.com/courses/821/overview
• Cirrus Embark — complimentary transition training when you buy a pre-owned Cirrus:https://cirrusaircraft.com/embark/
• Cirrus Training Network — find a Cirrus Training Center or a CSIP near you:https://cirrusaircraft.com/training-network/
• Becoming a CSIP (Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot): http://csip.cirrusaircraft.com
• Becoming a Cirrus Training Center: https://cirrusaircraft.formstack.com/forms/ctc_application
• Cirrus flight training overview: https://cirrusaircraft.com/approach/caps-training-course/

Also mentioned

• COPA — Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association: https://www.cirruspilots.org/
• Cirrus IQ (the data platform, built on the Garmin GDL 60):