The Pilots of America forums might be a good place to post this, too. I've seen other threads in the past over there about people researching GA (general aviation) planes before, for movie scripts and that kind of thing.
I don't have a pilot's license nor own a plane, but I hope to start training in another year or so, so I've been doing a lot of research on it over on those forums. From my (VERY LIMITED) knowledge about GA aircraft, I'll throw in my .02 but will certainly defer to others with practical experience and owning planes:
1. There seem to be many models of GA airplanes that would fall into this category, from "cheaper" (keep in mind "cheap" is relative in General Aviation) Cessna 172/182 up to brand new Cirrus SR22 and the like. I could see advanced avionics like glass cockpits (Garmin G1000 and the like) being susceptible to EMP, but a lot (most? all?) GA planes have analog (aka "steam") backup gauges that might not be susceptible to EMP. That's something for the experts to answer, how "steam" gauges would behave in an EMP scenario. I don't think any primary flight controls (elevator, rudder, ailerons, etc) would be affected by an EMP because most of those are mechnical, and directly linked to the control input (yoke, sidestick, etc). Unless it was a fly-by-wire system where the flight controls were electronically driven, but I'm not aware of any "typical" GA aircraft that's fly-by-wire. So, even though an EMP event might knock out a glass cockpit, avionics, and the radio, the analog gauges and flight controls might be just fine, leaving the plane perfectly flyable.
2. Yes, there are many people out there who participate in flying clubs that share ownership and maintenance of aircraft, or even small groups of people that go in together and buy a plane.
3. In all the topics I've read about GA, I've never read anything about pilots having access to parachutes. All the threads I've read where an emergency situation arises in air, the pilot is expect to fly the plane, fly the plane, and fly the plane, not bail out of it. Skydiving operations might be an exception, where the pilot does have access to a chute. But I believe 99.999% of normal GA pilots do not carry chutes in their planes. Be aware there are models of planes available now with parachutes for the plane itself. The Cirrus SR22 is one example. There are videos and articles out there of pilots having to activate the chute in planes like this. One of the companies making technology like this is BRS (
http://www.brsaerospace.com)
Anyway, hope this little bit of info helps. Keep in mind this is all just from my LIMITED knowledge thus far of research GA for my own purposes. It might even help to go buy the chief instructor of a local flight school lunch and pick their brain. I'm sure a good knowledgeable pilot could contribute a lot to research like this.
Good luck!
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