Arriving at the field a few days ago not expecting much to happen – just some quiet and calm flying around – I was pleasantly surprised when my flight instructor (who’d be flying with me for a checkup) informed me that instead of the usual dull circuits and maneuvers, we’d be heading to Zagreb Intl. to fire up a privately-owned Cirrus SR-22 that had been sitting on the ground for a spell and needed to be flown to Germany for maintenance. Having only been in a Cirrus once in my life – in a brand-new SR-22 G3 at the Paris Air Show – I was naturally through the roof, especially it being a beautiful and calm sunny day just begging for some camera work :).
The aircraft in question is a SR-22 G2, registered 9A-BDG, bought new a couple of years ago (and had as such represented a quantum leap for Croatian general aviation :D). Our mission for the day was to fire it up and run the engine for about 10-15 minutes so it could “catch some air”. Not moving from the same spot, it gave us the opportunity to run through its excellent Avidyne Entegra FlightMax glass cockpit system – though, with the aircraft vibrating from the big six pack up front and me totally engrossed in the display, I didn’t take all that many photos…
9A-BDG shining proudly in the mid-day sun. Though not as elegant as other similar aircraft - the Lancair ES comes to mind - the SR-22 is still a sight to look at. As you can see, the aircraft is lavishly equipped with deicing systems, including the state-of-the-art TKS fluid-based system on the wing and horizontal stab leading edgesRear quarterview. Completely fascinated by the Cirrus, I had completely failed to notice a much rarer Fairchild Metro in the background 😀The office :). There's a whole farm worth of cow in here :D. Unlike its follow-on, the G2 sports the Avidyne glass cockpit system, as opposed to the G1000-based Cirrus Perspective system on the G3. The sidesticks - which are also the trim controls - give the front seats a lot of roomWarming up the computer :). To feed all the electronics on board, the SR-22 has two alternators and two batteries, though as far as I've seen, Alternator No.2 comes online only at about 1500 RPM... presumably not to overburden the engine when it's running on idle. As you can also see, the G2 comes with a number of backups, including primary flight and complete engine instrumentsUnlike the G1000, the Entegra does not have comms and nav radios integrated into the system. Hence, two Garmin GNS 430 units provide the interface with the system, though which you can also load the flight plan to be followed using GPS. Below it is a juicy Garmin GTX 330 Mode S transponder, with an autopilot and audio selector panel situated belowAn artsy view of the PFD and MFD. Everything's in here - moving map, TCAS, strikefinder/stormscope, comprehensive engine information...A view from the passenger's seat. Firing up the engine for the first time in awhile, we had asked for a fire truck to keep watch nearby, should the 310 HP engine fail to cooperate...An interesting feature - the deicing system refuel valve :). The system has an autonomy of about 4 hours on the G2 I think (and 6 on the G3 if I'm not mistaken)
Achtung, Skyhawk! 