You want to fly a Cirrus. Perhaps you just bought one or the flying club has one for rent. Maybe you are
looking for longer cross-countries and speed and comfort are appealing. Maybe the parachute is an important
safety features for you or for your significant other. No matter the reasons, you will not regret that decision,
but you have to consider training. Cirrus is not more complicated to fly than other high performance singles,
but the available training resources will make you safer pilot, if you take advantage of them.
As a CSIP and Cirrus owner, I can set up a training that fits your particular needs.
Certificate Training
Can you and should you train in a Cirrus for a private pilot certificate? Yes, most definitely. There are
many pilots flying who obtainined the certificate in a SR20 or SR22. Particulary if Cirrus is an
aircraft you will be flying, it makes sense to do the training in it.
If you already have pilot license and are looking to add instrument rating, it would be hard to find a
better aircraft. With modern avionics, Cirrus Perspective is an ideal airplane for IFR flying.
With recent changes to FARs, it is now possible to do all of the training and a practical test for
commercial certificate in a Cirrus.
Transition Training
Cirrus Design offers several types of transition training, targetting pilots who already have a license, but
are either new to Cirrus or new to a specific model or avionics package.
Cirrus Training Portal offers
various computer presentations, simulations and online learning courses. A completion certificate may
lead to lower insurance premiums or may facilitate aircraft rental.
- Transition Training introduces pilots unfamiliar with Cirrus
to flying these aircrafts in VFR condition. The course includes normal operations, avionics and
autopilot procedures, recommended traffic patttern operations, takeoffs and landings, abnormal operations,
malfunctions, simulated CAPS deployments and high altitude operations for turbo models. Typical course
duration is three days.
- Advanced Transition Training course is designed to prepare a
proficient instrument-rated pilot for an instrument Proficiency Check in a Cirrus.
More than for transition training, access to a good simulator with Perspective or Avidyne panel is beneficial.
It includes traffic pattern and landing practice, aircraft maneuvering, avionics training, basic
instrument skills review, normal IFR operations (IAPs, DPs and STARs), holds, DME arcs, airway
navigation, as well as abnormal procedure including loss of PFD or other parts of avionics suite and
finally emergency procedures. Typical course duration is five days.
- Avionics Differences course is designed for pilots familiar with Cirrus
transitionning to a different avionics package, for example from Avidyne to Perspective.
- Airframe and Powerplant Differences course details operational
differences between Cirrus aircraft engine and airframe models, for example from SR20 to SR22.
- Recurrent Training The recurrent check cycle is designed to allow
a pilot to follow alternating training sequence. Following initial training, a 90 day
Refresher Course
is recommended with subsequent adherence to a six month recurrent schedule composed of
Schedule A focusing on IFR procedure and
Schedule B focusing on VFR procedure. If followed, this sequence
could permit a flight review and an IPC on an annual basis while accomplishing recurrent Cirrus training.
Note that completion of Cirrus Pilot Proficency Program (CPPP) weekend seminar is actually a recommended
substitution for a recurent training check.
Who should I train with?
Transition training should really be done with a CSIP (Cirrus Standarized Instructor Pilot) or at a
CTC (Cirrus Training Center). There are many great instructors who are not CSIPs and pilots naturally like
to fly with those instructors they are familiar with. However, consider that CSIPs and CTCs train pilots
predominantly in those aircrafts, accumulated thousands of hours of experience and worked hard to obtain
a certification. Cirrus Design enforces high professional standards on their training network and verifies
on continued basis that CSIPs and CTCs are training pilots to those standards. These labels are not
just brands, they do represent knowledge, experience and access to training materials that an outside
CFI would be lacking. So do yourself a favor and choose a CSIP or a CTC.
Cirrus Embark
Did you know that even when you buy a used Cirrus, you may qualify for a free transition
training?
Cirrus Embark program is unique in the industry and includes:
- Access to the Cirrus Approach Learning Portal
- Redemption code for the iFOM (Flight Operation Manual)
- One-on- One Cirrus Transition Training with an authorized Cirrus training provider, tailored to your training needs
all of it free of charge!