Cirrus SR20

The Cirrus SR20 is an American piston-engine, four-or-five-seat, composite monoplane built by Cirrus Aircraft of Duluth, Minnesota.

The SR20 was the first production general aviation aircraft equipped with a parachute to lower the airplane safely to the ground after a loss of control, structural failure or mid-air collision. It was also the first manufactured aircraft with all-composite construction, flat-panel avionics and side-yoke flight controls.

Design and development

The SR20 was first flown on 21 March 1995.FAA certification was achieved on 23 October 1998. At the time of the airplane's release, the general aviation industry was struggling; the SR20 was the first of its kind to earn FAA Part 23 certification in several years. Over a thousand SR20s have been sold since deliveries began in 1999. As of June 2015, more than 6,000 Cirrus aircraft had been delivered, something that no other aviation company has done for decades.

One of the major selling points for the SR20 is its Cirrus Perspective avionics suite (by Garmin) with dual 10-inch (250 mm) or 12-inch (300 mm) screens: one primary flight display (PFD) and one multi-function display (MFD). This provides all standard communication, navigation (GPS and conventional VHF), and surveillance (Mode S transponder) functions. Other avionics features include in-flight weather information and TCAS-like traffic information.