Cirrus Aircraft has unveiled the 2022 G6 SR Series featuring “a refined aircraft design with reduced drag for increased fuel efficiency.”
Now in its sixth generation with more than 8,000 aircraft delivered, the SR Series leads the market as the best-selling, high-performance, single-engine piston aircraft for 20 years in a row, Cirrus officials note.
The 2022 model is the “fastest to date featuring sleeker wing and tail surfaces and redesigned wheel pants, resulting in true airspeeds of up to 9 knots faster,” company officials reported. “The new model’s ice panel transition seams are smoothed and wheel pant tolerances tightened to reduce drag. These aerodynamic refinements contribute to both reduced fuel consumption and faster flight segments.”
Other updates include:
- A redesigned luggage compartment that includes remote unlock capability and keyless entry. The door opens past 90°, stays open during loading, and has been redesigned to feature a deeper pocket that can easily accommodate two quarts of oil.
- Cirrus Aircraft Spectra illuminated steps, which offer better visibility for a more secure entry and exit during dark or low light conditions.
- A new USB panel with USB-A and USB-C ports to keep mobile devices, such as phones or laptops, charged throughout a trip.
- An update to the Cirrus IQ app, which includes a redesigned status screen that includes a new navigation bar featuring aircraft status, inspection intervals, and warranty expiration. Other updates includes the addition of My Trips, which automatically logs every flight and curates trip statistics and achievements earned while flying. My Trips will be released in February 2022.
- Eight new exterior paint colors were also introduced for the new model.
For more information: CirrusAircraft.com
Yes, GA and particularly single piston aircraft ownership will eventually land on the endangered species list. Today’s pilots are groomed to move on to Part 121 and 135 professions.
The FAA Medical department is absolutely the biggest threat there is to general- aviation pilots. I had an experienced attorney / pilot tell that the FAA would be happiest if they could ground ALL GA pilots, and then they could boast of a perfect safety record . The FAA medical department will abuse you with no accountability, and no due process. After having my medical stolen by the FAA when it expired nearly three years ago ( when you take something you shouldn’t , that’s stealing ) , I have been to numerous FAA – approved doctors who have certified in writing that I’m qualified for an unrestricted medical, however the FAA listens to only their hitman , AKA “panelist ” , who stated that the FAA-approved doctors don’t know how to read charts. The “panelist” has never examined, tested, met . nor even talked to me , but he has more power than those who have . ( he didn’t sign his name to the denial . If I was abusing people like that i wouldn’t want them to know who I was, either ). It’s like being in prison for a crime you didn’t commit, you don’t get to send any evidence , you don’t get to attend the trial, your attorney doesn’t get to attend , and one other minor thing -YOU’RE GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT . I was recently examined by an AME ,at the request of the FAA in answer to my most recent appeal , because it’s been more than two years since my medical was stolen and he again stated he would pass me easily, however the FAA took that authority away. The AME asked ” why are they doing this to you? ” I responded “I guess because they can . I didn’t start the fight . As the saying goes – when the FAA stated that the doctors who examined me don’t know how to read charts “-that’s when the fight started ” . The AME also stated that in 36 years of doing exams he had never examined anyone, any age ,who is a physically fit as I am . BTW, an FAA doctor in OKC told me “Basic Med is a TERRIBLE program “. Of course he thinks so, because it reduces the FAA’s ability to control and abuse pilots. That doctor was upset because I called his cell phone after I had received NO response to my appeal filed several months earlier. I’ve had numerous doctors ,who are knowledgeable in FAA practices , tell me to “never have another exam that isn’t required ” . They know you’re going to be abused . Unfortunately , for me it’s too late for that advice , even though I will never give up, and I WILL fly for many more years . The exam that started my whole abuse was simply a pro-active exam in 2017 that wasn’t required, and I had no symptoms or performance restrictions before or after that exam. I flew 424 hours after that exam until my medical expired in 2019, but because I had that exam the AME had to send the data to the FAA , even though he would have approved me. I have 13,000 hours over 43+ years , mostly in high performance planes up to King Air 200’s, with no accidents or violations. Take heed- NEVER TRUST THE FAA MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. They exist for one reason only – to find or fabricate an excuse to ground you. Don’t think that it can’t happen to you. The FAA has never responded to numerous inquiries I have made, and they only sent the “releasable portion ” of my file . It make me wonder what isn’t “releasable”. It’s ironic that the FAA medical department is one of the biggest detriment to pilot’s health and safety , because they force pilots to forgo exams they would otherwise have.
I charted my workouts in 2021. I lifted weights for 948 hours & 36 minutes, averaging a lift every 1.42 seconds , and rode a stationary bike 1,314 miles in 96 hours. That’s in addition to working full time and wasting hundreds of hours driving when I should have been flying. Of course that is all ignored by the FAA because it doesn’t support their witch-hunt that I’m a “high risk of incapacitation ” doing something as easy as sitting in the front seat of an airplane , which is the easiest thing I’ve ever done. I have worn a “Fitbit” tracker for years . During my workouts my HR is from 100-120 BPM , and occasionally up to 150 during the all-out, maximum effort lifts. At T-O in a plane it reads about 80 , and during cruise it’s in the 60’s. I asked the FAA to send any doctor, any age, any size to my city so we can do a workout together . I said ” send the best you have , and tell him to be prepared to be embarrassed by a guy who weighs 165 LBs , because you don’t have anybody who can do what I do. ” Of course- no response . I sent the math and methodology showing that IF I have a heart attack ( which is NOT going to happen ) it’s 76,000 times more likely to happen during my extreme workouts than flying – making the probability of it happening while flying 200 hours per year to be 0.00001.
BTW, I’ve had many pleasant experiences with the other departments of the FAA .
Beautiful, capable aircraft, that is (apparently) getting even more capable. I’d honestly love to have one. (Of course, it’s not alone on the list of “wants”.)
Unfortunately, I would have needed a winning lottery ticket to afford one even *before* the worst inflation (so far) in my lifetime set in. So, I guess it is back to the “for sale” listings for me, to lust after 40, 50, and 60 year old aircraft, many of which are *still* too expensive for a mere mortal like me.
But, that does bring an interesting question to mind: With the nature of their construction and acknowledging the life-limited nature of their airframe certifications, does that mean that sometime in the (probably not-that-distant) future we are going to suddenly find ourselves with a bunch of worthless Cirrus airframes? (I’m not intending to pick on Cirrus here, they just happen to provide a ready example.) And, if that happens, won’t that leave everyone (that still can’t just go buy a new Cirrus/Diamond/whatever) competing in the market for the legacy airframes?
Worse yet: Should we find ourselves in that scenario where a significant portion of the newest used airframes evaporate from a market that is painfully anemic already, what will we do when the legacy fleet is no longer viable? It doesn’t take long to see that most of the used aircraft on the market are as old to very-much-older than the people looking to buy them. And given the recent, hard turn towards we’re-from-the-Government-and-we-know-best ruling in Washington, it is easy for me to imagine that the FAA could, in its (politically-fueled-and-guided) “wisdom”, suddenly decide it is “best” that us commoner pilots not be hurtling through the sky in aluminum cans that (in many cases) will be closer to their 100th birthday than their 1st.
Am I the only one that is concerned there is a slow, March towards utterly erasing general aviation for all but the chosen few who can afford a nice jet or turboprop and a personal pilot? Maybe it’s unintentional strangulation-by-regulation, maybe it’s benign neglect, or maybe it is even a slow, but deliberate march towards a goal by those who don’t see an upside to having us in the air. But, in any case, I really wonder how much longer the general aviation market can survive while seemingly ignoring the realities of economics.
The real issue is selective over-regulation – theoretically in the interest of safety, but in reality for the sole benefit of the regulators. In most states a 16-year-old kid can buy a street-legal 840-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, which is produced and sold that way without any lengthy and costly FAA-certification process – or for that matter any other Federal certification process. And without any kind of STC or other paper hassle required, he can have it upgraded to 1035 hp.
Can you really with a straight face tell me that a hypothetical, non-FAA-approved 180-horsepower puddle jumper flown by a licensed pilot would be more dangerous to the public than the above described Demon – driven by a 16-year old kid with a fresh driver’s license??
Similarly, in many states 85-year-old great-grandpa Bob can legally drive his 60,000-pound (non-FAA-approved!) Mega-Motorhome with a 600-horsepower diesel pulling a 20,000-pound toy-trailer on a regular driver’s license. And, in some states he will even get to enjoy the same 80 mph speed limit on the Interstate as passenger cars – and without any kind of medical certificate!
And, btw, thanks to the FAA’s over-regulation, an FAA-approved 180-hp puddle jumper costs roughly the same as 2 or 3 of the 60,000-pound Mega-Motorhomes – which is one of the main reasons why private light-aircraft aviation is dying.
We absolutely need to get the FAA out of the private light-aircraft approval and certification business. Unfortunately, the right political environment to make that happen came and went. We can always hope things will get better in 2025…