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How The Cirrus SR22 Revolutionized Aviation
In 1995 when Cirrus first announced its “Hangar X”, where its original Cirrus SR20 was eagerly awaiting its release to the skies, pilots were waiting with bated breath at what was deemed to be the most modern airplane yet. After the SR20 was released, however, aviators who had anticipated a revitalized and modern design were disappointed at the lack of creativity and simplicity of the highly anticipated airplane. (aeroxplorer.com) עוד...
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Hi Shalom I’m the author of the article. I do think you bring up a couple of good points. Yes, the 20 and 22 do have a lot of similarities, and I should’ve spoken about the Cirrus training system that also helped with reducing their accident fatality rate. The SR20 was the first GA aircraft to be widely produced with BRS parachute, which revolutionized GA. I do agree that they’re incredibly smooth and easy airplanes to fly, aided by their side stick technology. I do think I could’ve spoken more to the differences in useful load between the 20 and 22. The main point of the article was to demonstrate the advanced technology that Cirrus implemented that was far ahead of its time, and still is in many ways. Yes, the cuffed wings are on every Cirrus airplane, but the wheel pants are not. Also, the aerodynamic designs have progressed on the model over time. And yes, there are differences in wing size and engine size between the 20 and 22. Once again though, the main point of the article isn’t about the major differences between the SR20 and 22, but more about how Cirrus revolutionized aviation with state of the art technology and advances ahead of its time. I appreciate your feedback.
Thank you Luke,
I agree 100% about Cirrus changing the landscape, and mostly in a good way, however I believe that it was done with both the 20 and the 22. As I sai8d I owned one of each.
The education plan may have been one of Cirrus's major ground breaking. When it started it was designed to truly improve the training, and were supported by numerous aviation greats (including my friend and super-instructor Jeff Van West). However after a relatively short time Cirrus turned the CSIP institute into a profit center which stressed profit at least to the same level as safety. But they deserve the credit for voluntarily initiating the specific type of training for an airplane this size, which the industry learned only far later.
I believe that the revolution that Cirrus brought to the industry began with the SR20, most specifically with the BRS, the spin resistance, and the simplicity of the cockpit. The 22 was an incremental, if significant advantage. Additional revolutionary steps came later with the early adoption of the full electric followed by the glass cockpit. Adding the TKS (I think Mooney did that first) was what made the SR22 the gorilla: simple, capable, fast, comfortable.
You are right that since then Cirrus continued development. In 2003 when I purchased my SR20, Cirrus VP of sales told me in no uncertain terms that Cirrus will never use Garmin (Yeah, right. I think it was about a year later...). I never flown the Perspective but from what I hear it is a great system. And Cirrus continues to innovate. Unfortunately they also get more and more greedy over time.
I agree 100% about Cirrus changing the landscape, and mostly in a good way, however I believe that it was done with both the 20 and the 22. As I sai8d I owned one of each.
The education plan may have been one of Cirrus's major ground breaking. When it started it was designed to truly improve the training, and were supported by numerous aviation greats (including my friend and super-instructor Jeff Van West). However after a relatively short time Cirrus turned the CSIP institute into a profit center which stressed profit at least to the same level as safety. But they deserve the credit for voluntarily initiating the specific type of training for an airplane this size, which the industry learned only far later.
I believe that the revolution that Cirrus brought to the industry began with the SR20, most specifically with the BRS, the spin resistance, and the simplicity of the cockpit. The 22 was an incremental, if significant advantage. Additional revolutionary steps came later with the early adoption of the full electric followed by the glass cockpit. Adding the TKS (I think Mooney did that first) was what made the SR22 the gorilla: simple, capable, fast, comfortable.
You are right that since then Cirrus continued development. In 2003 when I purchased my SR20, Cirrus VP of sales told me in no uncertain terms that Cirrus will never use Garmin (Yeah, right. I think it was about a year later...). I never flown the Perspective but from what I hear it is a great system. And Cirrus continues to innovate. Unfortunately they also get more and more greedy over time.
Ok thanks for the reply and if I could rewrite the article I’d emphasize that the 20 and 22 have more similarities and differences. I’d also talk about the Cirrus training system. Unfortunately there’s only so much I can fit in 1 article while holding the attention span of my audience. That’s cool to hear you had a friend that was one of the main instructors. Ive always wanted to fly the Cirrus but my home airport runs about $350/hr, so I’ll stick with the old 172s for now, but I’d love to do a follow up article with some first hand experience flying the airplane. Overall i think you brought up some great points and I will keep them in mind. Also the addition of TKS is certainly a big advantage.
With the gas fuel shortage across the country for automobiles, is there a similar problem finding IOO low led. I'm looking for a Mooney M20J 201 that is cross country capable and in the 1983-5 range. There are a few Canadian planes that look good, but don't know if there is a problem moving one into US? Having lived in WA state...there was a huge problem driving to and returning from Canada via autos.
What a measurable bunch of BS!
1) When released, the SR-22 was practically the same aircraft as the SR20, except for different engine and different, longer, wing tips. The BRS was in the 210 as well as in the 22, the side-stick, the newer avionics (at the time only an MFD), in short same aircraft. It gained popularity because it is a great airplane: fast, comfortable, and so easy to fly I believe a chimpanzee could fly it with a little training. However all those insinuations - sr20 was just a blah aircraft, everything changed with the SR-22, the SR22 being composite based (exactly as the 20, but this is not the impression you will get from the this 'article'), the SR22 getting carbon fiber (only in recent models), the cuffed wings were in the SR20, and so much more.
I owned both an SR20 and an SR22 (still do). Both aircraft fly mostly similarly, with the differences being the speeds, and the natural tendency of the 22 to be nose heavy, because of eh heavier engine. Both aircraft s are super easy to fly, and are predictable in all phases. They suffer from extremely high maintenance costs (to a significant extent company driven), and are more expensive to upgrade and modernize than numerous other planes. But every time I fly in another airplane, I conclude that I would find it hard to replace mine. Granted, I love the DA-40 'thought controlled aircraft' handling, a 172/182 are great haulers, the AA5 Tiger is a pure beauty and superbly efficient, and there are many other great aircrafts. However for me, the Ciri is likely one of the best aircraft you can find, if you can afford to own it.
1) When released, the SR-22 was practically the same aircraft as the SR20, except for different engine and different, longer, wing tips. The BRS was in the 210 as well as in the 22, the side-stick, the newer avionics (at the time only an MFD), in short same aircraft. It gained popularity because it is a great airplane: fast, comfortable, and so easy to fly I believe a chimpanzee could fly it with a little training. However all those insinuations - sr20 was just a blah aircraft, everything changed with the SR-22, the SR22 being composite based (exactly as the 20, but this is not the impression you will get from the this 'article'), the SR22 getting carbon fiber (only in recent models), the cuffed wings were in the SR20, and so much more.
I owned both an SR20 and an SR22 (still do). Both aircraft fly mostly similarly, with the differences being the speeds, and the natural tendency of the 22 to be nose heavy, because of eh heavier engine. Both aircraft s are super easy to fly, and are predictable in all phases. They suffer from extremely high maintenance costs (to a significant extent company driven), and are more expensive to upgrade and modernize than numerous other planes. But every time I fly in another airplane, I conclude that I would find it hard to replace mine. Granted, I love the DA-40 'thought controlled aircraft' handling, a 172/182 are great haulers, the AA5 Tiger is a pure beauty and superbly efficient, and there are many other great aircrafts. However for me, the Ciri is likely one of the best aircraft you can find, if you can afford to own it.
