![]() ![]() On the takeoff roll, you need to get it rolling–with autothrottles armed, you just advance the throttle to the stops–before the rudder becomes effective. Just as you do with the Cirrus SR22 single-engine piston plane, you steer the SF50 with differential braking. It is, I admit, a pretty remote possibility with the FJ33s, a development of the FJ44, which is possibly the most time-tested private jet engine ever. Takeoff is pretty simple, though on our pre-takeoff briefing instead of discussing V1 cuts (there is no second engine) we briefed what to do if the one and only engine were to fail, depending, of course, on what altitude you get to before the engine stops doing its job. The design of its systems, a collaboration mainly between Cirrus and Garmin International, is nothing short of brilliant. Of the jets I’ve spent time in, the SF50 is the easiest jet to fly, and not by a little. The console gives passengers a place to store their stuff and set their drinks and tablets and quarterly reports. Cirrus also added a removable console between the two second-row seats (which I did not get a chance to see). Passengers will enjoy the numerous interior upgrades, too, the most noteworthy of which is the addition of more comfortable, more fully-padded second-row chairs (there are three rows of seats in the seven-seat jet). ![]() The added oomph allows the jet to go faster at its previous ceiling of FL 280-we had it up to 317 knots true at 280-while allowing it to cruise at its previous numbers (actually, a bit faster in my test of it) while burning less fuel and stretching the range by about 150 nm, a very substantial increase. Cirrus also worked with engine maker Williams International to turn up the wick on the FJ-33 turbofan above 24,000 feet (essentially by upping the allowable temps) so the jet can climb faster to its new RVSM ceiling of 31,000 feet. They cleaned up the wing, eliminating aerodynamic fences between the flaps and ailerons, along with removing the vortex generators. With the G2, Cirrus has improved the plane in multiple ways, and not just by adding the Garmin autothrottles (which I’d flown before on a couple of Citations). I have single pilot type ratings in a jet, the Cessna CitationJet CJ through CJ4, none of which have autothrottles, yet at least (and that’s me, not Textron speculating here), and I know from simulator experience that when things get busy with emergencies, managing airspeed and engine health on non-FADEC, non-autothrottle engines make already challenging circumstances even more difficult to safely manage. ![]()
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