Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

Cirrus has delivered the 11,000th SR-series piston-single airplane some 26 years after the first was delivered in 1999. The early models were equipped with vacuum-driven instruments and avionics that at the time were advanced, adding electronic features that would later morph into sophisticated glass cockpits with highly capable autopilots.
The milestone 11,000th Cirrus is a top-of-the-line turbocharged SR22T with the Garmin-based Perspective Touch+ avionics suite and Safe Return Emergency Autoland, which are also featured in the SR20 and SR22 G7+ models.&nbsp;Featuring a dark green “Monteverde” paint scheme, the interior of S/N 11,000 is fitted with premium materials in Vision Green, Concrete Alcantara, and matte carbon fiber.
Other features of the G7+ series include automatic, remote avionics database updates via Wi-Fi or cellular data; runway occupancy awareness system that predicts and alerts “pilots of potential runway incursions from nearby airborne aircraft or other aircraft on or approaching the runway;” and smart pitot heat that switches on and off automatically in flight based on outside air temperatures.
Although performance of the all-composite airplanes has changed little since 1999, Cirrus has consistently upgraded each generation, from the original G1 through the current G7+. All are equipped with the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System, which has been used 142 times, saving 287 people as of November 13, according to the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association.

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N11000 Marks Delivery of the 11,000th Cirrus SR Series Piston Airplane

First generation, all-composite aircraft entered service in 1999

Although performance of the all-composite airplanes has changed little since 1999, Cirrus has consistently upgraded each generation, from the original G1 through the G7+. 

N11000 Marks Delivery of the 11,000th Cirrus SR Series

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