Start here
A few places to begin, from the aircraft’s story to the people who fly it.
Meet the aircraft
The SR20 received certification in 1998 and entered production the following year. It established Cirrus's certified-aircraft line before the larger-engined SR22. Seating and cockpit equipment evolved across versions. The simulator products include Entegra and G1000 flight decks, identified separately.
Aircraft background
Wikipedia contributors · Read more ↗Living with a G2, from touring to teaching
Greenspun’s experience extended well beyond a demonstration flight. He collected his G2 at Duluth, travelled from Boston into northern Canada and Alaska, and later taught in the aircraft. The cabin gave passengers room to stretch, and the low panel provided a view he especially valued from the instructor’s seat. The side control also left useful space for charts in his lap. Getting comfortable with the handling took longer.
Owner’s review, updated April 2018. Principally the Avidyne-equipped 2005 SR20 G2 N707WT; later models are discussed separately.
Philip Greenspun · Read more ↗The Entegra edition has its own avionics
TorqueSim’s Entegra SR20 includes custom Avidyne R8 primary and multifunction displays, an S-TEC 55X autopilot and selectable GPS stacks. Its pages cover terrain, route progress, nearby airports, checklists and engine information. The developer explicitly lists X-Plane 12 support.
Cirrus SR20 · TorqueSim · TorqueSim · X-Plane 12
TorqueSim · Read more ↗Into the cockpit
YouTube Melbourne Flight Training · 3 min ·
Cockpit Tour - Cirrus SR20 G7+
A flight school tours its SR20 G7+ cockpit and avionics.
Real aircraft · SR20 G7+
Watch on YouTube ↗Preview images are served by AirframeDB. Videos open on YouTube only when you choose to watch.
Meet Cirrus SR20
The SR20 received certification in 1998 and entered production the following year. It established Cirrus's certified-aircraft line before the larger-engined SR22. Seating and cockpit equipment evolved across versions. The simulator products include Entegra and G1000 flight decks, identified separately.
Cirrus SR series
Cirrus → · Explore the family →
Cirrus SR20
Wikipedia contributors · Cirrus SR20 ↗TorqueSim · X-Plane 12 →Aircraft type designators
Use the code for the model you are flying. The linked authority lists the applicable aircraft.
History & design
A familiar outline with changing interiors
Haines’s 2006 return to serial number 9 highlighted the contrast between early instruments and later glass displays, along with revised doors and interior fittings. The SR20’s appearance therefore conceals meaningful differences between generations.
AOPA Pilot · Waypoints: The changing face of Cirrus ↗AOPA retrospective · early aircraft and subsequent development
A different engine for the G6
The 2017 G6 introduced a 215 hp Lycoming in place of the earlier 200 hp Continental. Southwick’s review describes the newer avionics and increased permitted weight alongside that engine change; his G6 experience should be distinguished from accounts of the G2 and G3.
AOPA Pilot Australia · Cirrus SR20 G6 ↗AOPA Pilot Australia · October–November 2018, p.52
Development milestones
First flight: 21 March 1995
Wikipedia contributors · Cirrus SR20 ↗Cirrus SR20 · family/variant named by the source · Wikipedia revision 1366843970
Pilot accounts
Living with a G2, from touring to teaching
Greenspun’s experience extended well beyond a demonstration flight. He collected his G2 at Duluth, travelled from Boston into northern Canada and Alaska, and later taught in the aircraft. The cabin gave passengers room to stretch, and the low panel provided a view he especially valued from the instructor’s seat. The side control also left useful space for charts in his lap.
Getting comfortable with the handling took longer. His first efforts to trim precisely produced unwanted climbs, descents and turns; he remembers the satisfaction of eventually settling into a steady hands-off climb through cloud in Quebec. He also found that long periods of hand-flying in turbulence could be tiring. The review combines affection for the aircraft’s travelling comfort with candid criticism drawn from his particular G2 and its equipment.
Owner’s review, updated April 2018. Principally the Avidyne-equipped 2005 SR20 G2 N707WT; later models are discussed separately.
Read the full account · Philip Greenspun ↗Revisiting one of the first customer-era airframes
Haines returned to an early SR20 to see how the original aircraft felt after years of development elsewhere in the range. Flying beside Lake Superior with Dillon brought him back to earlier factory visits and handling demonstrations. The aircraft still served employees as both a trainer and a way to travel, despite having accumulated substantial flying time.
The visit also reminded him of less polished prototype days. He had once broken a door latch while taxiing out, an episode the founders continued to tease him about. Looking from that early cockpit to newer models made the changes in doors, interior fittings and avionics particularly clear.
AOPA Pilot · December 2006. September flight with Justin Dillon in N109CD, serial number 9, then used by the Cirrus employee flying club.
Read the full account · AOPA Pilot ↗A Melbourne flight shows the newer SR20’s character
Southwick had flown the aircraft when it first arrived in Australia, before returning for a longer review in its Australian registration and new colour scheme. This time the plan combined photographs over central Melbourne with a flight down Port Phillip Bay. Lower cloud kept the assessment below the more typical cruise altitude he had hoped to use.
He enjoyed the view over the city and stadiums, while the busy surrounding airspace kept radio and traffic awareness prominent. Farther south, he and Simmons remarked on the smoothness of the four-cylinder engine and compared speed with fuel consumption. The return brought a good landing after a little over an hour. His favourable impression came from both the cabin and the flying, with the day’s weather limiting how broadly he could assess performance.
AOPA Pilot Australia · October–November 2018. Lycoming-powered G6 VH-ZPZ from Moorabbin, with Stuart Simmons; earlier G3 and G6 flights provided context.
Read the full account · AOPA Pilot Australia ↗In your simulator
Systems, equipment and documentation for each developer’s aircraft.
X-Plane 12Cirrus SR20 · TorqueSim
TorqueSim · Released
Cirrus SR20 · TorqueSim
TorqueSim · Released
Aircraft specifications
Published figures for the named real-aircraft variant. Simulator equipment and performance can differ.
| Specification | Published value |
|---|---|
| Length | 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m) |
| Wingspan | 38 ft 4 in (11.68 m) |
| Height | 8 ft 11 in (2.72 m) |
| Empty weight | 2,126 lb (964 kg) |
| Gross weight | 3,050 lb (1,383 kg) |
| Powerplant | 1 × Continental IO-360-ES six cylinder, horizontally-opposed piston aircraft engine , 200 hp (150 kW) |
| Propellers | 3-bladed |
| Cruise speed | 155 kn (178 mph, 287 km/h) TAS |
| Stall speed | 56 kn (64 mph, 104 km/h) CAS |
| Service ceiling | 17,500 ft (5,300 m) |
| Rate of climb | 828 ft/min (4.21 m/s) |
Manuals & resources
Find your next read
Choose a topic for a short introduction and a link to the original source. Simulator references identify the developer and edition they cover.
Simulator documentation
The Entegra edition has its own avionicsCirrus SR20 · TorqueSim · TorqueSim · X-Plane 12
TorqueSim’s Entegra SR20 includes custom Avidyne R8 primary and multifunction displays, an S-TEC 55X autopilot and selectable GPS stacks. Its pages cover terrain, route progress, nearby airports, checklists and engine information. The developer explicitly lists X-Plane 12 support.
Gathered TorqueSim Entegra page · package revision not stated
TorqueSim · Read the source ↗An explicit limit on the default GPS mapCirrus SR20 · TorqueSim · TorqueSim · X-Plane 12
The listing says Laminar’s default GNS 430 does not expose approach waypoints to the Entegra MFD. It distinguishes that missing map depiction from the HSI’s ability to follow an approach. Optional RealityXP avionics, sold separately, provide approach-waypoint display according to the developer.
TorqueSim’s documented integration limitation
TorqueSim · Read the source ↗Wear and condition remain part of ownershipCirrus SR20 · TorqueSim · TorqueSim · X-Plane 12
The package describes a Continental IO-360-ES engine model, individual electrical buses and breakers, and fuel behaviour that includes sloshing and vapour formation. Maintenance and wear cover components such as tyres, brakes and the propeller. Persistent state means returning to an aircraft whose condition reflects earlier sessions.
Developer feature description; no real-aircraft qualification inferred
TorqueSim · Read the source ↗The G1000 alternative represents an earlier engine generationCirrus SR20 · TorqueSim · TorqueSim · X-Plane 12
TorqueSim’s G1000 SR20 also specifies the 200 hp Continental IO-360-ES. Its Perspective-style enhancements include synthetic vision, custom engine pages, lean assistance, checklists and a fuel-calculator interface. This documented engine choice distinguishes the package from the later Lycoming-powered G6 described in Southwick’s flight report.
Gathered TorqueSim G1000 page · X-Plane 12 support; revision not stated
TorqueSim · Read the source ↗Pilot account
Living with a G2, from touring to teachingOwner’s review, updated April 2018. Principally the Avidyne-equipped 2005 SR20 G2 N707WT; later models are discussed separately.
Greenspun’s experience extended well beyond a demonstration flight. He collected his G2 at Duluth, travelled from Boston into northern Canada and Alaska, and later taught in the aircraft. The cabin gave passengers room to stretch, and the low panel provided a view he especially valued from the instructor’s seat. The side control also left useful space for charts in his lap. Getting comfortable with the handling took longer.
Philip Greenspun
Philip Greenspun · Read the source ↗Revisiting one of the first customer-era airframesAOPA Pilot · December 2006. September flight with Justin Dillon in N109CD, serial number 9, then used by the Cirrus employee flying club.
Haines returned to an early SR20 to see how the original aircraft felt after years of development elsewhere in the range. Flying beside Lake Superior with Dillon brought him back to earlier factory visits and handling demonstrations. The aircraft still served employees as both a trainer and a way to travel, despite having accumulated substantial flying time. The visit also reminded him of less polished prototype days.
Thomas B. Haines
AOPA Pilot · Read the source ↗Read the original documentation from the people who created it. Manuals open on their publisher’s website.
Aircraft background
Cirrus SR20Wikipedia contributors · Research background · retrieved 2026-09-12Product
SR20 EntegraTorqueSim · Official developer / designated store catalogue · checked 2026-09-12 SR20 G1000TorqueSim · Official developer / designated store catalogue · checked 2026-09-12Type designator
ICAO Doc 8643 — aircraft type designatorsInternational Civil Aviation Organization · Public search data retrieved 2026-09-14; authority update 2026-09-03Built-in force-feedback profiles
Read the documentary basis, editable starting settings and remaining questions for the aircraft you fly. Each explanation refers to the exact profile revision shown.
Catalogue programme-20261022-v1 · 3 profile choices
TorqueSim SR20
TorqueSim · Free and Pro · Revision 3 · Inherited starting point
X-Plane 12
TorqueSim SR20: Mechanical side yokes retain aerodynamic/control loading; their location beside the seat does not imply passive fly-by-wire feel.
X-Aerodynamics Cirrus SR20 EFM
X-Aerodynamics · Free and Pro · Revision 3 · Inherited starting point
X-Plane 12
X-Aerodynamics Cirrus SR20 EFM: Mechanical side yokes retain aerodynamic/control loading; their location beside the seat does not imply passive fly-by-wire feel.
Cirrus SR20
Free and Pro · Revision 2 · Partial review
X-Plane 12
Cirrus SR20: Mechanical side yokes retain aerodynamic/control loading; their location beside the seat does not imply passive fly-by-wire feel.
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