Latest Cirrus SR22 Is Faster? How Much Faster?
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But it also brought about some much needed operational benefits, including new airframe and flap testing that ultimately improved wing flap operating speeds. After revising the production processes, the production rate rapidly increased. By late March the goal of starting and finishing an airplane a day had been met.
Maintenance Costs
Horsepower is an amazing thing, and in this case it transforms the perky Cirrus into a real get-up-and-go traveling machine. Even the lofty field elevation at Jefferson County Airport near Denver didn't blunt the SR22's snappy performance. With two on board and full fuel, we still climbed away at an initial rate of 1,500 feet per minute.
We Fly: Cirrus SR22 G6
We'll explore the ins and outs of the sky and how to travel through it. Owning and operating this aircraft is generally on the higher side compared to its peers. But if you can spend this much, the performance and features are worth every dime.
What Is the Cost of the Cirrus SR22?
When Cirrus went to the G2 in 2004, both the SR20 and SR22 were equipped with the Entegra. Despite the sobering asking price, Cirrus delivers a lot of airplane to buyers with qualifying bank accounts. The starting price of the base SR22T G5 is $569,900, which includes XM datalink weather and entertainment, ADS-B transponder, electronic charts and SVT synthetic vision. Add popular options like dual 12-inch Perspective displays, certified icing protection, traffic alerting and air conditioning, and the price soars to around $700,000. To accommodate the new gross weight increase, Cirrus beefed up the main spar, strengthened the landing gear and added extra layers of composites to the airframe. But strengthening the airplane also meant shaving some structural weight wherever possible—a problem not solved with the CAPS (Cirrus Airframe Parachute System).
Certified Flight Into Known Ice Package:
What's most unusual about the SR22's panel configuration is that it is all electric. Dual alternators and dual batteries provide the power to the 24-volt system. In addition, the electrical system has two buses — primary and essential. In the extremely unlikely event that the number-one alternator, the number-one battery, and the number-two alternator are all rendered inop, you can still operate for 45 minutes on the number-two battery. It powers the essential bus, which is protected from the rest of the circuitry by a circuit breaker. The essential bus includes the number-one Garmin 430, the attitude indicator, turn coordinator, and the autopilot.
Cirrus Unveils the G7 Editions of the SR20, SR22, and SR22T - Plane & Pilot
Cirrus Unveils the G7 Editions of the SR20, SR22, and SR22T.
Posted: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
The aircraft is powered by a Teledyne Continental Motors (TCM) TSIO-55-K engine. Other enhancements to the aircraft include modern environmental control system, lighter nose landing gear and redesigned cowl. The aircraft is powered by a single engine, and comes with a parachute designed by BRS and a turbo normalising option. The SR22 by Cirrus Design is a single-engine piston-powered high-performance aircraft. Launched in 2000, the aircraft is an improved and advanced version of the SR20, a general aviation aircraft.
A longer, lighter, and stronger internal spar built from carbon fiber, allowed more room for larger fuel tanks to be fitted, increasing the fuel carrying capacity from 81 gallons (310 L) to 92 gallons (350 L). A unique feature of the Cirrus that drew it into the limelight is its emergency parachute system (something that we will look into later). Its advanced technology and the fact that it is the only aircraft within its class that features side yoke flight controls. The Spectra exterior lighting system was introduced with the G6 in 2017—Whelen Engineering partnered to develop the wingtip light assemblies and other elements—and it has proven its value.
The lack of an access door meant that the fuselage would have to be cut open to get to the system. Cirrus would take until the fourth generation to add an access door, but that issue has also been solved. An SR22 has a useful life of 12,000 hours, which the company claims are equivalent to 60 years of use. Every 10 years the CAPS will need to be repacked and serviced to ensure that the system will work in case of emergency. Considering if you don’t own a hanger, the cost of renting one will depend on the type of hanger, and the area that you are in. The cost of maintaining a Cirrus SR22 (depending on the model and use) averages at approximately $71,849 per year.
As much as you will have to compromise on the feeling of owning a brand new aircraft. Getting a pre-owned Cirrus is still a viable option, with some out there in very good condition that you might not be able to tell the difference. If these prices are out of your budget, there is always the option to go for a pre-owned model. The canopy is deployed within seconds and the aircraft floats to the ground.
The SR22T is certified to 25,000 feet, where it cruises at 213 knots true. After one brief level off, we climbed directly to 19,000 feet—where time-to-climb was approximately 40 minutes. Burning 17 GPH, the aircraft settled into 195 knots true, which is right out of the book. At one point, the airspeed indicator flirted with 200 knots true at that same fuel flow. Rich-of-peak climb is a simple full-power affair and lean of peak is equally as easy, especially with the Perspective Lean Assist mode, which is standard on the normally aspirated model. When the ASSIST soft key is pressed, the system initially highlights the number and places a light blue box around the EGT readout of the cylinder with the hottest EGT.
The GTS version is priced at $902,900 with the icing package included. However, for those who do not require the icing package, the GTS version is available at a slightly lower price of $872,900. Equipped with the Garmin 1000NXi-based Cirrus Perspective+ flight deck, the SR22 offers a wide range of functionalities desired by pilots. It can be further enhanced with additional systems for an exceptional user experience. The fully electric aircraft features redundant alternators and independent batteries for safety and reliability.
There is also an enhanced vision system (EVS) that uses an EVS-600 camera to detect and display night vision and visible light on the multifunction displays. If any other transponder-equipped aircraft nears an SR22, a traffic information system displays the message on the multifunction display. Ironically, Good Charlotte’s members today are grown men with families who admit to using aviation to its full advantage to see their kids more often while on tour. They just so happen to be rich and famous themselves now too, thanks to a string of hit songs, and are no longer trying to stick it to the man. As we rode in the golf cart to retrieve our rental car from the sleepy airline terminal next door to the Marathon General Aviation FBO, I thought back to the journey that had brought us here.
The Cessna TTx, also known as the Cessna 400, entered the market in 2004 as a direct competitor to the SR22. It shares similarities with the SR22, such as being predominantly constructed from composite materials. Powered by a turbocharged Continental TSIO-550-C engine, the TTx generates 310 hp (230 kW) at a peak RPM of 2,600.
I contemplated the complexity that the underlying system required in order to create a simple power interface that reduces workload. And yet, Cirrus made the decision to give the pilot the task of actually adjusting the mixture. I’ve concluded that it’s because pilots just need something to fiddle with, rather than for any big performance or efficiency reasons. With all of the options loaded on the SR22 I flew first, the “Eight Grand” series promised to take the experience up a notch. So, a couple of weeks following my trip to Knoxville, McIver brought the hard-to-miss N225HL up to Hagerstown (KHGR), Maryland, so my introduction to the latest SR could be complete. FlightGlobal is the global aviation community’s primary source of news, data, insight, knowledge and expertise.
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