Cirrus Aircraft has introduced a new variant of its popular single-engine SR-series aircraft, with a redesigned interior, updated electronics and displays, advanced safety systems and other comfort and “convenience features” for both pilots and passengers.
The Duluth-based airframer said on 11 January that the SR Series Generation 7 will have Garmin’s Cirrus Perspective Touch+ avionics suite installed, and the version will be the “first-ever piston aircraft to incorporate dual Garmin Touch Controllers”. The company adds that the new electronics are “more intuitive” for non-professional pilots.
Perspective Touch+ features larger, high-resolution displays with expanded systems integration, which will reduce pilot workload and increase situational awareness, the company says.
“Over the years, Cirrus Aircraft has continuously advanced its product lines while ensuring quality, performance and safety are paramount,” says Pat Waddick, president of innovation and operations of Cirrus Aircraft. “The SR Series G7 adds new avionics and autonomous interfaces coupled with all-new styling and comfort.”
“It is the culmination of seamless collaboration between customer, innovation and operations to develop an aircraft with technological and generational advancements that make flying truly exceptional for all,” he says.
The aircraft will also have a push-button start, and an automatic fuel selector system that automatically switches between the tanks every five USgal. The company has also redesigned the interior, and is offering new exterior and interior options and colour schemes.
Cirrus’ executive director of the SR product line Ivy McIver says that the G7 is the “most significant generational change” in the now 24-year-old product line, as it now “combines jet-class avionics in a single-engine piston” aircraft.
The company says the US price for the G7 model will begin at $634,900 for the SR-20 model, $844,900 for the SR-22, and $969,900 for the SR-22 Turbo model, according to the price list on the company’s website. International prices are slightly lower.
Cirrus has so far delivered “nearly 10,000” examples of the high-performance single engine piston aircraft since the SR-20 was introduced in 1999. It was the first single-engine piston outfitted with a full aircraft parachute as a standard feature, the so-called Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) system. CAPS has saved 250 lives so far, the company adds.
