The Cirrus Aircraft piston singles are so popular by now that it’s hard for even those of us who were around at the inception to remember how much of a market stir they caused when the then-small Minnesota-based company launched them. The first model off the line was the 200-hp SR20, and while its follow-on, the more powerful SR22, has eclipsed the SR20 in sales, and by a lot, the original had the DNA from the start. That recipe of innovation after innovation included the all-composite airframe—it isn’t the first successful all-composite GA plane. Both the Diamond DA-20 trainer (1994) and DA40 four seater (1997) beat the Cirrus to production, but the SR20’s combination of innovative features—a whole-airplane recovery parachute system, simplified power controls, large multifunction display, side yoke, fixed gear, big windows and high overall performance—created a new standard for piston single design.
And Then This Happened: Nine Ground-Breaking Aviation Breakthroughs
