RC often allows us to experience things that we wouldn't otherwise be able to do. Flying FPV, for example, can put us into the pilot seat of a fast jet that we'd never otherwise get to experience (unless you're Josh Bixler flying in an F-16). This RC Cirrus allows you to own a premium aircraft and a slice of general aviation without having to pay half a million dollars for the real, full-sized thing.
So what's this mini Cirrus like to fly? Well, if you watched the video above, you'll probably see how much fun Josh and Alex had putting the aircraft through its paces. Who'd have known a Cirrus was capable of such manoeuvres?
Not only is it fine going upside down, it's also perfectly happy with low-inverted passes just a couple of feet from the deck!
If you're going to fly the plane a little more responsibly, without having your mini onboard passengers getting ill, the Cirrus performs just as it should with a stable and graceful disposition. Powered by a 2200mah 3s battery, you don't have oodles of power available, but you have enough to fly just as the real one does. In short, it flies very scale and you have to fly that way (until you decide to do some 3D aerobatics like Josh).
The E-flite Cirrus is a licenced model with a 1.5 meter wingspan which means that it has a ton of scale detail. LED navigation lights, for example, are included which would look just great at those times at your flying field when it's just starting to go dark (also known as the evening). It's also got a rugged tricycle landing gear with a steerable nose wheel for taxing. Having a substantial landing gear is great for grass take offs.
The real Cirrus SR22T is a modern four or five-seat aircraft and remains incredibly popular in the world of general aviation. Notably, it popularised the concept of the ballistic parachute for whole-plane recovery with the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System. Although the system isn't bulletproof, with a number of fatal accidents occuring every year since the SR22T's introduction in 2001, during 2014 Cirrus had an accident rate far lower than the industry standard owing in part to the parachute recovery system which was deployed by aircraft in trouble multiple times that year.
If you want some of the numbers on the E-Flite model, check out its stats here.
- Wingspan: 1524 mm
- Fuselage length: 1041 mm
- Flying Weight: 1531 g
- Type of construction/material wing: EPO
- Type of construction/material fuselage: EPO
- Receiver:Spektrum DSMX / AS3X
- Motor: 10 Brushless Outrunner
- ESC: 40 Amp
- Servos: 4x 9g
- Radio: Needs a 5 channel or more
- Batteries: 3S LiPo 2200 - 3200mAh
- Charger: LiPo Charger
Coming in hot! The SR22T really does look full-scale with its three-bladed prop and wing details.
The Cirrus is clearly a very impressive scale model and lots of fun to fly. If you like great flying general aviation models, this one might be for you. If you'd like to find out more about this aircraft, and maybe even pick one of these planes up for yourself, make sure you head over to Horizon Hobby's website.
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Article by James Whomsley
FliteTest.com Editor
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