Cirrus Aircraft has added Auto Radar powered by Garmin and Cirrus IQ as new advanced features on the Vision Jet. These upgrades now provide pilots with increased situational awareness and connectivity during all stages of pre-flight and inflight activities.

“Cirrus Aircraft incorporates intelligent and award-winning innovations into its ecosystem to make flying simpler, safer and more approachable for the pilot and passengers,” says CEO Zean Nielsen. “The award-winning Vision Jet is a testament to our team's ongoing dedication to advancing the personal aviation industry. Over the years, the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) and Safe Return Autoland have revolutionised the personal aviation industry. Now with Auto Radar and Cirrus IQ connectivity, pilots have more situational awareness inflight and can streamline the preflight process.”

Auto Radar allows the pilot to select the desired radar range which then automatically scans the area ahead and displays a composite, real-time depiction of the weather. By automatically selecting an optimal horizontal scan pattern and vertical tilt combination, the Auto Radar system works to create an in-depth view of the weather ahead. It volumetrically profiles areas of precipitation to provide the pilot with a real-time composite view of radar returns. The imagery is clear with a 16-colour palette and improved automatic ground-clutter suppression.

Cirrus IQ is now available in the Vision Jet with the addition of LTE-enabled hardware. With the Cirrus IQ mobile app, pilots can proactively check key aircraft readiness items, updated after each flight from virtually anywhere in the world, that currently include the last known status of fuel and oxygen levels, aircraft location, flight hours, engine cycles and more.

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 My Trips and Achievements features automatically log each flight completed along with flight achievements. The Find Us feature allows owners to quickly locate Cirrus Aircraft Campuses, Cirrus authorised service centres and training partners nearby directly within the app.

The LTE-enabled hardware that powers Cirrus IQ is standard on newly manufactured G2+ Vision Jets and Auto Radar is available as part of the Enhanced Awareness Package. The Cirrus IQ mobile app is available to owners with an active JetStream contract. Auto Radar and Cirrus IQ retrofits will be available for G2 and G2+ Vision Jet owners in the future through Cirrus upgrades and accessories.