cirrus sr22 graphite gray carbon interior

The bright and flexible all-LED system is anchored by a long light rope than can act as a strobe, a pulse light, or path lighting.

The new Spectra wingtip lighting system is many things at once – a recognition system, bright nav lights, strobes, and landing lights all in one. I met her on the ramp, and even before she tied the G6 down, she pulled out some wingtip covers to hide them from prying eyes, as we were still nearly a month from the official launch date of the plane. With its distinctive paint scheme and otherworldly wingtip lighting, the plane attracts a lot of attention, so Ivy found the most out-of-the-way piece of ramp she could to park the plane. I met Cirrus’ single-engine product line manager Ivy McIver in San Marcos, Texas, to go flying in the new G6. And, yes, it also has the smooth and powerful Continental TSIO-550 factory turbocharged engine for 200-plus-knots true airspeed in cruise, 1,000-plus fpm rate of climb with the simplicity and the user-friendliness of a fixed-gear single. It has air conditioning, built-in oxygen and USB ports everywhere you turn. It has flight into known icing capability with a powerful and redundant certified TKS system. It has better seats, including the 60/40 Flex Seating that allows for a fifth passenger or split fold-down for hauling larger items. The airframe is nearly identical to the G5 model introduced two years ago, so it features more carbon fiber than ever, taller gear, better lights, and more interior and exterior options. It builds on the impressive incremental progress the company has made over the 15-plus years of production. The new model, which Cirrus has dubbed the SR22 G6, isn’t a new airframe. And the way the company did it is surprising, though at this point maybe it shouldn’t be. With the introduction of its best-selling SR22 G6 high-performance piston single, Cirrus has raised the bar in the category once again. When visions of glass cockpits dance in our heads, we personal aviation pilots usually think of the Garmin G1000 avionics suite, which for more than 15 years has been the de facto standard avionics package in the vast majority of new production Part 23 light planes.

Cirrus sr22 graphite gray carbon interior