Cirrus Aircraft is adding a pair of features to its Vision Jet to improve situational awareness and connectivity for pilots. The company on Wednesday announced that Garmin’s Auto Radar will now be a feature of the light jet, along with the Cirrus IQ mobile app.
Auto Radar allows pilots to select their desired radar range and then scans airspace and displays a composite, real-time depiction of weather conditions. By automatically selecting an optimal horizontal scan pattern and vertical tilt combination, the system creates an in-depth view of the weather ahead with automatic ground-clutter suppression.
Meanwhile, the Cirrus IQ app helps pilots proactively check key aircraft readiness items that can be updated after each flight. These include fuel and oxygen supply levels, the aircraft location, flight hours, and engine cycles.
The Cirrus IQ hardware is now standard on current production G2+ Vision Jets, and Auto Radar is available as part of the manufacturer’s Enhanced Awareness Package, with a fully loaded Vision Jet priced at $3.29 million. The app is available as part of the JetStream contract offered to owners, and Cirrus intends to make both new features available for retrofit on older aircraft.