Cirrus SR20, 1999

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.

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