Cirrus SR20/SR22 Cockpit Cirrus SR20/SR22 Cockpit

For Cirrus, being FAA certifiable isn't always good enough.

Some years ago Cirrus rejected "needle, ball, and airspeed" as backup to a full set of instruments.

Instead, Cirrus has always installed an autopilot that uses a different source for its information than the pilot uses. In case of flight instrument failure you always had that autopilot available.

As Cirrus pioneered the glass cockpit the first level of backup remained the autopilot. It requires two independent system failures before you have to hand-fly on backup instruments. And these are three-and-a-half-inch gauges - just like you use in traditional cockpits.

The Cirrus Approach

Over the past ten years, Cirrus has been the leader in innovation when it comes to avionics in general aviation aircraft. Cirrus has a long list of firsts:

  • Standard dual GPS
  • Large screen MFD (multi-function display)
  • Standard Autopilot with altitude function
  • PFD (Primary Flight Display) development
  • PFD as standard equipment
  • Weather in the cockpit (XM)
  • Terrain awareness standard on all aircraft

This has not happened by accident. Cirrus does not select "off the shelf" avionics that may merely cater to a trend, or offer some perceived competitive edge. Cirrus people think about how the whole airplane, engine, and avionics work together for the benefit of our customers.

At Cirrus, we have developed our own ideas around avionics and work with different avionics suppliers to turn those ideas into reality; ideas that constantly evolve as new technologies emerge.

The Cirrus view is often the pilot's view, "What would a pilot want to happen if ..?"

An example would be the Cirrus thinking about "graceful degradation" of capability.

In our view, no single equipment failure should demand an immediate transition from a full glass cockpit to hand-flying using backup "steam gauge" instruments.

Common sense? Some manufacturers offer glass cockpits with only one AHRS (Attitude and Heading Reference System - the electronic equivalent of a gyro) in such a way that just that one AHRS failure will disable the whole glass cockpit and autopilot; all at once.