Fri, Jan 09, 2009
And REALLY Soon?
Garmin's G1000-derived cockpit, already a sales leader in
many new SR22s coming from the Duluth, MN aircraft manufacturer, is
apparently about to debut on Cirrus' much-heralded single engine
jet, the SJ50 Vision...
Since the program debuted, there were
questions about the three way competition that existed for control
of the Cirrus SJ50 Vision cockpit...a race being run by mighty
Garmin, a resurgent and aggressive Avidyne, and the talented 'dark
horse' L-3 Avionics, which built the flight deck that has been
flying on the V-Tailed dream machine since its first flight a few
weeks before Oshkosh 2008.
Cirrus officials aren't talking and have refused official
comments on the rumors, but a solid source (that ANN has named
"Deep Snow"), has confirmed to ANN that the decision has been made
by Cirrus Design to not only select the Garmin flight deck as the
primary avionics supplier for their jet program but that the only
prototype currently flying is likely to have a Garmin installation
performed "really soon now."
The move makes some sense to those familiar with the
planemaker... and provides a solid upgrade path from their hottest
selling variants of the SR22-G3 airframe, which are equipped with a
much upgraded version of the G1000 system, named "Perspective"
(shown above), utilizing larger displays, SVS (Synthetic
Vision), EVS (Enhanced Vision) and their GFC700 digital autopilot.
Since a large number of the 500 some jet positions already
committed were bought by happy SR22 owners (some of whom are on
their third or fourth Cirrus airframe purchase), the alleged ease
of an upgrade to the jet, with a familiar cockpit
installed, might just be an additional incentive at a time
when selling million dollar++ jets is not a game for the faint of
heart.
ANN is trying to get more info and (hopefully) a confirmation
from CD bosses, but so far, no one's talking. We'll keep you
informed as soon as know something a mite more concrete.
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