Cirrus SR22 Checklist

What the Cirrus SR22 is

A four- or five-seat composite single, in production since 2001, and the big-engine end of the SR line: every normally-aspirated SR22 runs a Continental IO-550-N at 310 hp where the SR20 gets 200-215. Fixed gear, injected in every generation so no carb heat, side yoke, and differential braking on a free-castering nosewheel. The fuel selector reads LEFT, OFF, RIGHT with no BOTH, so tank balance is work you do in cruise. CAPS, the whole-airframe parachute, changes the emergency philosophy: for a genuine loss of control the trained response is the handle, not a conventional recovery. G1 through G6 all use the IO-550, and the turbo-normalized SR22T is its own animal.

The SR22 is a lot of airplane behind that Continental 550, and the emergency mindset comes back to one question: is this a CAPS situation or not. I built the checklist around the G3/G5 with the Perspective panel, since that is what most people rent or buy used, and left every CAPS speed and altitude off it on purpose. Print it or save the PDF, add your tail number, and treat the parachute as trained, not as a gimmick.

Normal procedures

The checklist runs preflight through securing in phase order, with takeoff split into normal and short/soft field, plus a G3/G5-era table of SR22 V-speeds. The fuel selector repeats at before start, run-up, cruise, descent, before landing, and shutdown, because with no BOTH position a forgotten tank is an engine-out you built yourself.

Emergency procedures

The SR22 emergency checklist turns on one decision, CAPS situation or not. It covers engine failure on the roll, after takeoff, and in flight with a restart attempt, engine fire, electrical fire and smoke in the cabin, a CAPS activation flow, and an alternator/electrical abnormal, memory items in bold. No CAPS deployment speed or minimum altitude appears on it: those move with generation, and a wrong number is worse than none.

Verify it against your POH

What genuinely varies by generation, serial, and operator. Settle these with your POH and a Cirrus-standardized CFI before you fly the checklist:

• Engine, SR22 vs SR22T. Normally-aspirated IO-550-N, 310 hp here; the SR22T adds wastegate and turbo management steps this checklist skips. One stray source claimed a “Lycoming IO-390, 215 hp” G6, against every other reference putting the IO-550 throughout.
• CAPS speed and minimum altitude. Maximum demonstrated deployment speed gets cited from ~140 KIAS on early airframes to ~185 on later ones. Neither number is on the checklist; take both from your POH revision.
• CAPS decision altitude and altitude loss. A ~2,000 ft AGL threshold and losses of roughly 400-1,100 ft by attitude, airspeed, and generation circulate in training material, unconfirmed here against a primary CAPS guide.
• Memory items. Standard doctrine for the type, not a transcription of your revision’s boxed items, which have changed across revisions. Top of the CFI sign-off list.
• V-speeds, especially Vfe. Flap limits spread unusually wide across sources, likely 50%/100% detent differences between generations. Work from one POH.
• Fuel and drains. Usable fuel ranged from 81 to 94.5 gallons across generations and total-vs-usable definitions; the checklist assumes ~92 usable on later airframes. Confirm it and your drain count.
• Short- and soft-field flaps and speeds. Cited generically here; degrees and speeds differ by generation.