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The Cirrus Approach
Over the past ten years, Cirrus has been
ackowledged as the major innovator in general
aviation aircraft. Nowhere is this more true
than in cockpit and avionics design.
Cirrus has a long list of avionics firsts.
Sometimes others talk about it first, but Cirrus
is usually first in delivering innovation to our
mainstream general aviation customers :
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First use of Garmin GNS 430
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Dual GPS on all aircraft
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Large screen MFD
(multi-function display)
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PFD (Primary Flight Display)
introduction
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PFD as standard equipment
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Weather in the cockpit (XM)
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Terrain awareness available
on all aircraft
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Large 12-inch displays
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"Blue-button" Spatial
Disorientation assistance
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Synthetic Vision
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Enhanced (infra-red) Vision
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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 we
partner with multiple avionics
suppliers to turn those ideas
into reality, new ideas that add
real value to pilots.
These Cirrus-driven avionics
innovations constantly evolve as
new technologies emerge. For
example, Cirrus rejected the
first generation Garmin G1000
cockpit. Garmin, to its credit,
listened, acted and worked
closely with Cirrus to produce
Cirrus Perspective,
unequivocally the finest general
aviation cockpit available
today.
The Cirrus view is often the
pilot's view, "What would you
want to happen if ..?"
An example would be the Cirrus
thinking about "graceful
degradation" of capability.
In our view, virtually no single
equipment failure should demand
an immediate transition from
autopilot and 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. |
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Cirrus SR22 Perspective Panel
(as of June 2008) |
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Cirrus SR20/SR22 Cockpit (as of
2007) |
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How good
is Cirrus
Perspective (by
Garmin)? |
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“When I visited
Cirrus’ base of
operations in
Duluth, Minn., I
was floored when
I saw
fighter-jet
technology
featured in the
jointly designed
Cirrus/Garmin
flat-panel
system called
Cirrus
Perspective.”
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......
Jeff Berlin,
Plane & Pilot
Magazine
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“My impression?
Simple: Pilots
are going to
love this
system.” |
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......
Robert Goyer,
Flying
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“In a nutshell,
the [Cirrus]
Perspective SR22
is probably the
first truly
no-compromise
automated and
integrated light
aircraft built
with available
technology.”
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......
Paul Bertorelli,
AvWeb
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"Is this the
Ultimate
Panel?"
...... AOPA
Pilot, July
2008
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For
Cirrus, being
FAA certifiable
isn't always
good enough. |
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Some years ago
Cirrus rejected
"needle, ball,
and airspeed" as
backup to a full
set of
instruments. |
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Instead, Cirrus
has always
offered 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.
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