Cirrus pushes SR22 as pilot trainer

North American or European visitors at Asian Aerospace might be surprised to see the Cirrus SR22 being displayed as a training platform. But the move is deliberate, says John Bingham, managing director of Cirrus Design.

“The SR22 in Europe or the US is typically used for recreation or as a business tool. In this part of the world it is ideal for training because it has the power and the performance needed to operate in the “hot and high” conditions that are found here.

“Not only does it have good performance, but being equipped with a full glass cockpit makes flying easier,” says Bingham. “While older aircraft still rely on ‘steam gauges’, the glass cockpit makes flying safer.”

Cirrus is also working with the Chinese government to help develop the infrastructure to support general aviation safely. Part of that work is fitting its aircraft with ADS-B Technologies’GNSS-based radar-style tracking system for the Chinese market from January 2008.

ADS-B has already been adopted by some training schools in China. China now has ADS-B ground stations at five airports in central China. This technology allows real-time surveillance of aircraft. Skip Nelson, president of ADS-B Technologies, says “We support the Civil Aviation Flight University of China (CAFUC) with ADS-B ground and avionics systems and this allows real time surveillance of virtually all university aircraft operations over a distance of 1,000km across central China.”

Chinese students will soon be learning in Cirrus aircraft too. Cirrus fleet customer FTS International has been awarded CAAC training authorisation for its CAPT Program to train future Chinese airline pilots. The first group of cadets will start the programme in the coming weeks at the Palm Coast, Florida, US facility.

CAPT uses a fleet of 30 Cirrus SR20 and SR22 aircraft for training. FTS president and CEO Shawn Raker says: “These aircraft are safe, especially with the parachute. They are quality aircraft that are easy to use and the Avidyne glass cockpit avionics mean the students are much better placed to go on from type rating to line pilot. The avionics are of the same style used on the Airbus A320s or Boeing 737s that these students are likely to fly when they get home.”

Bingham says that several airline pilots have commented that the SR22 is actually better equipped than the legacy airliners they have been flying. Cirrus certainly has the accolades to support its push for a solid training platform. “The SR22 is not too complex for a PPL – it is very intuitive and logical that increases safety. We are a forward looking company and the future lies in glass cockpits. Glass cockpits help our focus on safety.”

Source: Flight Daily News