By Skies Magazine | July 19, 2023 Estimated reading time 4 minutes, 16 seconds.
Cirrus Aircraft has added new advanced features to its single-engine personal jet, known as the Vision Jet. The company announced the integration of Garmin’s Auto Radar and Cirrus IQ, aimed at providing pilots with increased situational awareness and improved connectivity throughout their pre-flight and inflight activities.
Auto Radar, one of the newly added features, provides pilots with a comprehensive and real-time weather depiction ahead of their flight path. The system allows the pilot to select their desired radar range, automatically scanning the area ahead to create a volumetric profile of precipitation. The result is clear, 16-color palette imagery that provides pilots with insights into radar returns with improved automatic ground-clutter suppression.
The other advanced feature, Cirrus IQ, is now available in the Vision Jet with the integration of LTE-enabled hardware. According to Cirrus, pilots can use the Cirrus IQ mobile app to stay updated on key aircraft readiness items — such as the last known status of fuel and oxygen levels, aircraft location, flight hours, and engine cycles — from virtually anywhere in the world.
“Cirrus IQ makes aircraft ownership increasingly streamlined with features like Maintenance Minder and Technical Publications for owners to keep track of their aircraft maintenance intervals and stay up to date with any applicable technical publications for their aircraft,” the OEM noted.
Additionally, the “My Trips” and “Achievements” features automatically log each completed flight and associated achievements. The “Find Us” feature helps owners locate nearby Cirrus Aircraft Campuses, Cirrus Authorized Service Centers, and Training Partners directly within the app.
Newly manufactured G2+ Vision Jets are equipped with the LTE-enabled hardware that powers Cirrus IQ as standard, while Auto Radar is available as part of the “Enhanced Awareness Package.”
For existing G2 and G2+ Vision Jet owners, Auto Radar and Cirrus IQ retrofits will be available in the future, Cirrus said.
“The award-winning Vision Jet is a testament to our team’s ongoing dedication to advancing the personal aviation industry,” said Zean Nielsen, CEO of Cirrus Aircraft. “Over the years, the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System and Safe Return Autoland have revolutionized the personal aviation industry. Now with Auto Radar and Cirrus IQ connectivity, pilots have more situational awareness inflight and can streamline the pre-flight process.”
