Duluth, Minn. and Dayton, Ohio, (June 18, 2010) Kicking off the eighth annual meeting of the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association, today Cirrus Aircraft introduced the SR22T, the newest member of the SR22 family of composite piston aircraft. The SR22 series is the world’s best-selling four-seat airplane for eight years in a row.
The key feature in the new SR22T is the availability of the Teledyne Continental Motors (TCM) twinturbocharged TSIO-550-K engine. This engine installation was co-developed via a unique partnership between engineers at TCM and Cirrus Aircraft and is not currently available in any other production aircraft.
Commenting on the SR22T’s development, Cirrus Aircraft Executive Vice President, Pat Waddick praised both the partnership and the airplane’s performance. “Thinking forward, sometimes years forward, is a hallmark of Cirrus Aircraft. In addition to a quieter operation, lower weight, a smoother ride and many other refinements, the new SR22T offers Cirrus customers a high performance, twin turbo-charged option with the additional benefit of greater future fuel flexibility.”
Starting with the latest generation SR22 airframe, design improvements for SR22T include the unique installation of the TSIO-550-K engine fully backed by a TCM factory warranty, smoother and lighter nose landing gear and a redesigned cowl with dedicated induction inlets and exit air louvers for improved cooling. The SR22T also features new environmental control system hardware that supports up to 50 degrees of additional cabin heating capability at all altitudes. Finally, all SR22T standard and customer optional systems – flight into known icing, environmental systems, charts, weather, including engine operations, and more – integrate seamlessly with the Cirrus Perspective by Garmin™ cockpit.
Performance is also upgraded in SR22T. Notable enhancements include improved takeoff and climb, quieter takeoff and climb noise levels, higher useful load and better deceleration from high-speed.
Waddick added, “With the introduction of the new SR22T model, Cirrus continues to offer the SR22 Turbo with the twin turbo-normalized “Tornado Alley Turbo” STC. Depending on a customer’s personal priorities and preferences, Cirrus offers a choice of either aircraft with essentially equal performance.”
Commenting on flying the second production SR22T from the U.S. to Europe nonstop just 10 days ago, Cirrus France Director Regis Masson praised the new airplane’s performance and capabilities. “I have just crossed the North Atlantic from Duluth to Paris in a new SR22T in 22 hours. It climbs like a rocket to 25,000 feet and a few times I had to reduce power for others to keep up. The airplane runs like a Swiss clock … it delivers on everything it promises and more!”
The SR22T carries a base price of $475,000 and is well-equipped at $525,900. Orders can be placed immediately as SR22T production is well underway with first customer deliveries on June 21 at company headquarters in Duluth, Minnesota.
