It was the first production general aviation (GA) aircraft equipped with a parachute to lower the airplane safely to the ground after a loss of control, structural failure, or midair collision. The SR series was also the first mass-manufactured light aircraft with all-composite construction and flat-panel avionics.[4][5]
The SR20 was developed into the Cirrus SR22, which was introduced in 2001 and is the most-produced GA aircraft of the 21st century.
Design and development
Early production model Cirrus SR20Cirrus SR20 landingSR20 GTS
The SR20 mock-up was unveiled in 1994.[6] The aircraft first flew on 21 March 1995 and FAA certification was achieved on 23 October 1998.[7][8] At the time of the airplane's release, the GA industry was struggling; the SR20 was one of the first of its kind to earn FAA Part 23 certification in several years.[9] Over a thousand SR20s have been sold since deliveries began in July 1999. From 1999 to 2015, more than 6,000 SR-series aircraft had been delivered,[10] something that no other aviation company had accomplished for the last half-century.[11]
One of the major selling points for the SR20 is its Garmin Cirrus Perspective avionics suite with dual 10-inch (250mm) or 12-inch (300mm) screens: one primary flight display (PFD) and one multifunction display (MFD), first introduced by the company in May 2008. This provides all standard communication, navigation (GPS and conventional VHF), and surveillance (Mode Stransponder) functions. Other avionics features include in-flight weather information and TCAS-like traffic information.
SR20s made from 1999 to 2003 were equipped with traditional analog instruments and a 10" MFD. In July 2003, Cirrus made Avidyne Entegra PFDs standard on the SR20 and faster SR22, pioneering the use of glass cockpits in the light aircraft GA industry.[12]
The SR-series remains the only airplane in its class to include side-stick flight controls that combine aspects of a traditional yoke handle (this has been referred to in the industry as a "side yoke").[5]
The SR20 and SR22 are equipped with the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS), a large parachute that can be deployed in an emergency to lower the entire aircraft to the ground safely.[8]
In 2004, Cirrus introduced the SR20 G2 (Generation 2) and in 2008, the SR20 G3 (Generation 3). Both were defined by airframe modifications, G2 by fuselage and G3 by wing/landing gear changes.
In 2012, "60/40 flex seating" was introduced, allowing up to three passengers in the rear with a split fold-down seat arrangement. This five-seat configuration was optional in 2012, but became standard equipment for 2013 SR20 models.[13]
In 2016, Cirrus introduced enhancements to the SR series, including Bluetooth wireless connectivity, a remote keyless entry, a convenience lighting system, and a new easy-access door latch, among other interior and exterior improvements.[14][15]
In 2017, the company introduced the SR20 G6 (Generation 6), with several upgrades to the avionics, new navigation lights, and an increased useful load.[16]
In September 2019, Cirrus unveiled the TRAC, a training-oriented version of the SR20, with a simplified interior, more durable seat material, backseat radio transmit switch to allow an observer to communicate with air traffic control, electronic stability and protection system, integrated engine indication and crew alerting/warning systems, and simulated retractable landing gear controls and position lights to allow cadets and instructors to feign landing-gear operation and failures during instructional flights (the actual landing gear remains permanently fixed).[17][18]
In January 2020, the company introduced a new mobile application for the SR series, called "Cirrus IQ", which enables remote aircraft communication including access to preflight status information such as fuel and oxygen levels, battery voltage, oil temperature, aircraft location, and flight hours. Upgrades also included a new stabilized approach-advisory system for the flight deck.[19] In January 2022, speed and aesthetic improvements were added to the G6 SR-series, with a 9 knots (17km/h) increased cruise speed, upgrades to the mobile IQ app, USB-A and USB-C charging ports and more.[20][21]
In January 2024, the company announced the SR20 G7 (Generation 7), with a major overhaul to the interior and avionics, making it more comparable to the cockpit of a Cirrus Vision Jet, as well as safety and engine-start improvements and an automatic fuel selection system.[22]
Operational history
SR20 deploying CAPS during certification flight-testing in 1998
In 2011, the accident records of the SR20 and -22 were the subject of a detailed examination by Aviation Consumer magazine. The review concluded that the series has an overall accident record that is better than average for light aircraft, exceeded only by the Diamond DA40 and DA42. However, its fatal accident rate is much worse at 1.6/100,000 hours, placing it higher than the U.S. general aviation rate of 1.2 and higher than the Diamond DA40 (0.35), Cessna 172 (0.45), Diamond DA42 (0.54), Cessna 182 (0.69), and Cessna 400 (1.0), despite the Cirrus's CAPS.[23]
By 2014, the accident rate had been dramatically reduced, with a 2013 fatal rate of 1.01 per 100,000 flight hours. This was attributed to better training, particularly in when to deploy the ballistic parachute system.[24]
By 2015, the accident rate had continued to decrease, with a 2014 fatal rate of 0.42 per 100,000 flight hours, making it one of the best safety records in the industry. This marked the fewest fatalities in a single year for Cirrus since 2001, and the first year where the number of CAPS deployments (12) exceeded the number of fatal accidents (3).[25][26][27]
As of September 2018, the SR-series has had its parachute system deployed 79 times, with 163 survivors.[28]
Variants
SR20
Original version produced from 1999
Cirrus SR20 G2
SR20 G2
Improved variant introduced in 2004, including Avidyne Entegra avionics
SRV
Introduced at the 2003 EAA AirVenture Convention and brought to market in 2004, the Cirrus SRV was a VFR-only version of the SR20 for the low-end private ownership and flight-training market.[29] As such, it omitted some standard equipment available on the SR20 such as wheel fairings.[30] For 2008, the SRV model was updated to G3 configuration, with the SR22 wing.[31] Cirrus discontinued the SRV for the 2010 model year.
SR20 G3
Introduced in 2007, the G3 has a lighter wing of greater area, incorporating a carbon-fiber spar. The new wing increased the SR20's cruise speed by 6–7 knots (11–13km/h). The G3 also added a 50 pounds (23kg) increased useful load by increasing the take-off weight to 3,050 pounds (1,380kg), a redesigned main landing gear that is 2inches (5cm) taller, giving greater propeller and tail clearance, improved aircraft handling due to increased dihedral, improved aerodynamics including new wing root fairings, LED recognition lights, improved heat and ventilation, dual-redundant GPSWAAS-certified Garmin GNS 430W comm-navigators (that include a VHF radio and a VOR/LOC/ILS receiver) and an S-Tec Autopilot.[32][33][34]
United States Air Force T-53A
T-53A
In 2011, the SR20 was selected for cadet flight training with the 557th Flying Training Squadron at the United States Air Force Academy and given an Air Force model/design/series (MDS) designation as the T-53A. Twenty-five examples were to be purchased to replace the academy's current stock of 20 leased T-52As by May 2012, and included new features such as Cirrus Perspective avionics (by Garmin) as well as airbag seat belts.[35][36]
SR20 G6
Introduced in January 2017, the G6 model adds a Lycoming IO-390 engine of 215hp (160kW), an enhanced "Perspective-Plus" flight deck with a 10-times faster instrument processing speed, new LED wingtip lights and a useful load increase of 150lb (68kg).[16]
TRAC
Introduced in September 2019, the TRAC is a flight-training version with a simplified, more durable interior, IO-390 engine, Perspective+ flight deck, rear seat push-to-talk functionality, and simulated landing gear controls.[17][18]
SR20 G7
On 11 January 2024, Cirrus announced the G7 of the SR series, including a redesigned interior, Cirrus Perspective Touch+ flight deck with 35% larger instrument touch screens, a contextualized 3D taxi guide, stick shaker functions for the side-yokes to warn of an approaching stall condition, a new flap airspeed protection system, an automatic fuel selection system, a pushbutton engine start interface, an updated automated flight control system (AFCS), and a lower glareshield for better forward visibility, in addition to other improvements to the cockpit.[22][37][38] The 2024 base price for the SR20 was $634,900 and the SR20 Premium started at $694,900. Air conditioning was available as a $39,900 option weighing 55 lbs.[citation needed]
Between 1999 and September 2022, the SR20 was involved in 40 known fatal accidents.[47] Listed below are some of the most notable ones.
On March 23, 1999, Duluth native Scott D. Anderson was killed in a plane crash while flight-testing the first production model SR20 before it went on sale. Anderson was a pilot, author, engineer, and adventurer who served as chief test pilot at Cirrus in the mid- to late 1990s, performing all the in-flight test deployments of the CAPS. His plane, which had not yet been equipped with CAPS, experienced an aileron jam during experimental stress-testing and went down in a field near the Duluth International Airport. Anderson was posthumously inducted into the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame in 2010.[48][49][50][51]
A glass cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features an array of electronic (digital) flight instrument displays, typically large LCD screens, rather than traditional analog dials and gauges. While a traditional cockpit relies on numerous mechanical gauges to display information, a glass cockpit uses several multi-function displays and a primary flight display driven by flight management systems, that can be adjusted to show flight information as needed. This simplifies aircraft operation and navigation and allows pilots to focus only on the most pertinent information. They are also popular with airline companies as they usually eliminate the need for a flight engineer, saving costs. In recent years the technology has also become widely available in small aircraft.
The Cessna 182 Skylane is an American four-seat, single-engined light airplane built by Cessna of Wichita, Kansas. It has the option of adding two child seats in the baggage area.
The Cirrus Design Corporation, doing business as Cirrus Aircraft, is an aircraft design, manufacturing, maintenance and management company, as well as a provider of flight training services, that was founded in 1984 by Alan and Dale Klapmeier to produce the VK-30 homebuilt aircraft. The company is headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota, United States, with operational locations in six other states across the US including North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, Florida and Michigan, and additional sales locations in France and the Netherlands. It is majority-owned by a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).
The Cessna 400, marketed as the Cessna TTx, is a single-engine, fixed-gear, low-wing general aviation aircraft built from composite materials by Cessna Aircraft. The Cessna 400 was originally built by Columbia Aircraft as the Columbia 400 until December 2007. From 2013, the aircraft was built as the Cessna TTx Model T240.
The Cessna Citation Mustang is a very light jet that was built by Cessna. Launched at the 2002 NBAA convention, the Model 510 first flew on April 23, 2005. It received its FAA type certification on September 8, 2006, and was first delivered on November 22. Production ended in 2017 after 479 aircraft were built. The 8,645 lb (3,921 kg) maximum take-off weight jet is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW615F 1,460 lbf (6.5 kN) turbofans, can reach 340 kn (630 km/h), and has a range of 1,167 nmi (2,161 km).
Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc., doing business as BRS Aerospace, is a manufacturer of aircraft ballistic parachutes.
The Cirrus VK-30 is a single-engine pusher-propeller homebuilt aircraft originally sold as a kit by Cirrus Design, and was the company's first model, introduced in 1987.
The Cirrus SR22 is a single-engine four- or five-seat composite aircraft built since 2001 by Cirrus Aircraft of Duluth, Minnesota, United States.
The Cessna Next Generation Propeller Aircraft (NGP) was a proof-of-concept design for a future family of single engine, fixed-gear, high cantilever wing, light aircraft intended for personal, flight training and commercial use.
The Diamond DA40 Diamond Star is an Austrian four-seat, single-engine, light aircraft constructed from composite materials. Built in both Austria and Canada, it was developed as a four-seat version of the earlier DA20 by Diamond Aircraft Industries.
The Cirrus Vision SF50, also known as the Vision Jet, is a single-engine very light jet designed and produced by Cirrus Aircraft of Duluth, Minnesota, United States.
Avidyne Entegra is an integrated aircraft instrumentation system, produced by Avidyne Corporation, consisting of a primary flight display (PFD), and multi-function display (MFD). Cirrus became the first customer of the Entegra system and began offering it on the SR20 and SR22 aircraft in 2003 as the first integrated flight deck for light general aviation (GA). The original Entegra system was designed to use third-party components such as a GPS from Garmin and an autopilot system from S-TEC Corporation.
The ICON A5 is an American amphibious light-sport aircraft (LSA) designed and produced by ICON Aircraft. A concept aircraft was first flown in 2008, and creation of the production tooling began in December 2012. The first production aircraft made its first flight on July 7, 2014, and made its public debut at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh on July 27, 2014. A year later at AirVenture, it was temporarily donated to the youth group Young Eagles, with the first official A5 customer deliveries occurring in 2016. As of 2019, 100 A5s had been delivered, although company legal and financial issues have slowed production since 2016.
The Lycoming IO-390 engine is a horizontally opposed, four-cylinder aircraft engine, manufactured by Lycoming Engines.
ICON Aircraft, Inc. is a privately held aircraft manufacturing company headquartered in Vacaville, California, USA.
The Garmin G3000 is an avionics interface system designed by Garmin Aviation for light turbine aircraft. The integrated touchscreen system contains multiple glass cockpit displays for operating a synthetic vision system and a three-dimensional rendering of terrain.
The Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) is a whole-plane ballistic parachute recovery system designed specifically for Cirrus Aircraft's line of general aviation light aircraft including the SR20, SR22 and SF50. The design became the first of its kind to become certified with the FAA, achieving certification in October 1998, and as of 2022 was the only aircraft ballistic parachute used as standard equipment by an aviation company.
The Klapmeier brothers, Alan Lee Klapmeier and Dale Edward Klapmeier, are retired American aircraft designers and aviation entrepreneurs who together founded the Cirrus Design Corporation in 1984. Under the leadership of the Klapmeiers, Cirrus was the first aircraft manufacturer to install a whole-plane parachute recovery system as a standard on all its models—designed to lower the airplane safely to the ground in case of an emergency. The device is attributed with saving over 200 lives to date. From the brothers' use of all-composite airframe construction and glass panel cockpits on production aircraft, Cirrus is known for having revolutionized general aviation for modern light aircraft pilots.
Major Scott Douglas Anderson was an American aviator, engineer, outdoor adventurer, and award-winning author. He flew F-16s and instructed pilots for the Air National Guard, and was a general aviation test pilot and flight operations officer. In 1998, he completed the flight-testing of the first certified whole-plane parachute recovery system, the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS), which is credited with saving over 200 lives as standard equipment on Duluth, Minnesota-based Cirrus Aircraft's line of single-engine light aircraft.
On 12 May 2021, Key Lime Air Flight 970, a Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner operating a chartered cargo flight from Salida to Centennial, Colorado collided in mid-air with a private Cirrus SR22. Despite having sustained severe damage, the Swearingen Metroliner managed to land safely while the Cirrus SR22 deployed its CAPS system and safely parachuted to the ground. All three occupants on board both aircraft survived uninjured.
↑ Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association (October 12, 2018). "Cirrus CAPS History". Archived from the original on October 13, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
↑ Colby, Douglas (2004). "The New Cirrus SRV". Plane & Pilot. Archived from the original on June 29, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
↑ Fallows, James (November 21, 1999). "Turn Left at Cloud 109". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
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