Cirrus SR20 Checklist

What the Cirrus SR20 is

A four- or five-seat composite single, in production since 1999, and it flies nothing like the aluminum trainer you learned in. Fixed tricycle gear, fuel-injected in every generation (no carburetor, no carb heat), side yoke. The selector reads LEFT, OFF, RIGHT with no BOTH, so tank balance in cruise is your job, and CAPS, the whole-airframe parachute, rewrites the emergency section. G1 through G5 run a Continental IO-360 near 200 hp; the G6 moved to a Lycoming IO-390 near 215 hp with Perspective+ glass. This checklist is built on the G6. On an earlier Continental SR20, start technique, some V-speeds, and avionics steps come from that serial’s POH.

The SR20 made me rethink what “emergency procedure” means, because most of it reduces to one question: is this a CAPS situation or not. I built the checklist on the G6 and left every CAPS speed and altitude off it, since those you confirm with your own POH and a Cirrus-standardized instructor. Print it, add your tail number, treat the parachute as trained equipment.

Normal procedures

Preflight and walkaround through shutdown and securing, phase by phase, plus a G6 V-speed table; the full block list is below. The fuel selector reappears at before start, run-up, cruise, before landing, and shutdown, because with no BOTH position tank management is an active task. No carb-heat line anywhere. Electric fuel pump logic before and after landing reads “per your revision,” since POH wording differs across serials.

Emergency procedures

Everything turns on one question: is this a CAPS situation or not. The section runs engine failure on the takeoff roll, after takeoff, and in flight with a restart attempt, then engine fire, electrical fire and smoke, CAPS activation, and an alternator abnormal, memory items in bold. No CAPS deployment speed or minimum altitude appears on the checklist. Both move by generation and serial, and a wrong number on a kneeboard is worse than none, so the figures come from your POH and a Cirrus-standardized CFI.

Verify it against your POH

These vary by generation, serial, and operator. Check them against your approved POH and a Cirrus-standardized CFI.

• Start and priming. The Continental IO-360 (G1–G5) and Lycoming IO-390 (G6) prime differently; the checklist says “per installed engine.”
• CAPS speed and minimum altitude. Vpd is commonly cited near 133 KIAS, and minimum recommended altitude varies by generation and serial. Neither is printed here.
• Unlatching the doors before CAPS ground contact. Listed as “consider” — sources disagree on whether it is taught as a memory step.
• Loss-of-control and spin guidance. Not approved for spins, and type guidance points to CAPS over a conventional recovery.
• Short- and soft-field flaps and speeds. Generic here; degrees and speeds differ by generation.
• Fuel pump logic before and after landing. Revisions disagree on when the electric pump is required.
• Five fuel drains (two wing sumps, two collector/sump-tank drains, one gascolator) and independently latched cabin doors.