Train in the airplane you'll actually go on to fly.
The Cirrus SR22 Turbo is the best-selling piston single in the world — the airplane pilots buy once they can choose. 310 turbonormalized horsepower, 215 knots, full sea-level power to FL250, Garmin Perspective glass and a CAPS airframe parachute. Learn it here and you graduate already fluent.
The flagship of the fleet
Most training airplanes are a compromise you fly until you can afford something better. The Cirrus SR22 Turbo is the something better. It has been the best-selling piston single in the world for two decades, and it is overwhelmingly the airplane private owners buy when the choice is genuinely theirs. Training in it isn't a luxury upgrade — it's the shortest path to being current in the airplane you'll spend the rest of your flying life around.
Turbonormalized, not just turbocharged
The distinction matters. A conventional turbocharger pushes manifold pressure above sea-level values to make extra power — more heat, more stress, more engine management. A turbonormalized system does something more elegant: it maintains sea-level manifold pressure as you climb, all the way to 25,000 feet. The engine never knows it left the ground.
In practice that changes what the airplane can do. Naturally aspirated singles bleed performance as they climb; this one doesn't. You get above the terrain, above most of the weather, and into the winds that matter — while still turning in a real 215-knot cruise. Los Angeles to San Francisco becomes an afternoon. Over the Sierras, the airplane climbs rather than negotiates.
Garmin Perspective — the panel you'll keep flying
The Garmin Perspective flight deck is a full glass cockpit: primary flight display, multifunction display, integrated autopilot, and the flight-management logic that carries directly into the avionics you'll meet in turbines and light jets. Learn to fly the boxes properly here — flight plan entry, vertical navigation, autopilot modes, failure reversion — and the transition upward stops being a transition at all.
CAPS is a decision skill, not a marketing feature
Every Cirrus carries CAPS — the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System, a rocket-deployed canopy that lowers the entire airplane under a parachute. Owning one is not the same as knowing when to use it. Our syllabus treats CAPS as a trained decision: the specific scenarios where pulling is the correct action, the altitude and airspeed envelope, and — critically — the mental habit of deciding before the day you need it. Pilots who have rehearsed that decision act on it; pilots who haven't, hesitate.
One airplane, maintained in-house
We operate a single SR22 Turbo — N422SN — serviced in-house at Van Nuys. Cirrus training also carries its own instructor standard here: our Cirrus CFI rate is $300/hr, or $199 on the package, because this airplane deserves an instructor who lives in it.
The spec sheet
Every number that separates the flagship from everything else on the line.
Hourly rate, wet: $649 standard · $449 package when you're enrolled in a course. Cirrus instruction is billed at the Cirrus CFI rate — $300/hr standard, $199/hr package.
The SR22 Turbo at Van Nuys
Coastline, canyons and the Class B shelf — flown at 215 knots from KVNY, seven days a week.
High-Performance Endorsement — $1,799
Five hours in the flagship. One permanent endorsement. A completely different class of airplane.
Under FAR 61.31(f), you need a logbook endorsement before acting as pilot in command of an airplane with more than 200 horsepower. The SR22 Turbo has 310. Once an authorized instructor signs you off, the endorsement is permanent — no renewal, no expiry, no checkride.
But the endorsement is the paperwork, not the point. The point is walking out fluent in three things that don't exist in a trainer: turbo engine management — power settings, mixture and temperatures when altitude no longer costs you manifold pressure; Garmin Perspective — flight plans, vertical navigation, autopilot modes and what to do when a display goes dark; and CAPS decision-making — the specific scenarios where deploying the parachute is the correct action, rehearsed until it's a decision you've already made.
- ✓3 hours in the SR22 Turbo — high-performance handling, energy management, real approaches
- ✓1 hour Redbird simulator — failures, avionics reversion and CAPS scenarios flown safely
- ✓1 hour classroom ground — turbonormalizing, Perspective systems, POH limitations, CAPS envelope
- ✓FAR 61.31(f) endorsement in your logbook on completion — permanent
- ✓Ideal preparation for Cirrus ownership or a Cirrus transition
- ✓Taught by a Cirrus-specialist CFI — flexible scheduling, 7 days a week
Cirrus SR22 Turbo · N422SN
Never flown a Cirrus?
Start with the Luxury Discovery Flight. Left seat of N422SN with a Cirrus instructor, hands on the side-yoke, the Perspective displays lit up in front of you and Los Angeles underneath — no experience required.
Fly it on the ground first
Glass-cockpit fluency is built by repetition, and repetition is expensive at 215 knots. Our Redbird MCX full-motion simulator lets you drill flight-plan entry, vertical navigation, autopilot modes, display failures and CAPS decision scenarios as many times as it takes — then step into the airplane already knowing where everything lives. One hour of the high-performance endorsement happens right here.
Where the SR22 Turbo fits in your training
Endorsement, instrument upgrade, or simply the best hour in the fleet. Here's what it costs to fly the flagship.
High-Performance Endorsement
Five hours — three in the SR22, one on the Redbird, one in the classroom — for the permanent FAR 61.31(f) endorsement, plus real fluency in turbo management, Perspective avionics and CAPS decision-making.
Instrument Rating
Our $11,700 IFR course runs in the Warrior, Arrow and DA20 — with a Cirrus SR22 Turbo upgrade available for an additional charge. If you intend to fly IFR in a Cirrus, train for the rating in one.
Luxury Discovery Flight
Left seat of N422SN with a Cirrus instructor. Hands on the side-yoke, Perspective displays live, Los Angeles below. The single best introduction to flying we offer.
Cirrus SR22 Turbo hourly rate
All rates are wet — fuel included, no surcharge at the end of the flight. Effective March 2026.
Cirrus instruction is billed at the Cirrus CFI rate: $300/hr standard · $199/hr package.
At 215 knots, the SR22 Turbo is also the fleet's best value per mile — a $449 package hour covers ground the trainers need nearly two hours to reach. Rates are per aircraft hour and do not include instructor time.
One fleet, designed as a career ladder
Six aircraft types, arranged so each one hands you to the next. The Cirrus is the top of it.
Piper Arrow · N316EF
Retractable gear and a constant-speed prop. The complex endorsement and the FAR 61.129 hours that turn a private pilot into a commercial candidate.
Piper Seminole · N311EF
Two 180 hp engines and counter-rotating props — no critical engine. Seven accelerated days to the multi-engine rating airlines read first.
Cirrus SR22 Turbo · N422SN
310 turbonormalized horsepower, 215 knots, FL250, Garmin Perspective glass and CAPS. The flagship — and the airplane many pilots go on to own.
Step 1 is where every logbook starts — Skycatcher, Warrior and DA20, from $179/hr package. See the whole fleet →
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Cirrus SR22 Turbo FAQ
A conventional turbocharger pushes manifold pressure above sea-level values to produce extra power, which adds heat and stress. A turbonormalized system instead maintains sea-level manifold pressure as you climb — so the engine makes its rated 310 horsepower all the way to FL250 (25,000 feet) instead of losing performance with altitude. Practically, it means the airplane climbs over terrain and weather rather than negotiating with them, and still cruises at 215 knots.
$1,799 for the complete program — 5 hours total: 3 hours of flight training in the SR22 Turbo, 1 hour on our Redbird full-motion simulator, and 1 hour of classroom ground instruction. On satisfactory completion your instructor signs the FAR 61.31(f) endorsement in your logbook, and it never expires.
FAR 61.31(f) requires a one-time logbook endorsement before you may act as pilot in command of an airplane with an engine of more than 200 horsepower. The SR22 Turbo has 310, so the endorsement is mandatory. You can still fly the airplane with one of our instructors before you hold it — that's exactly what the three flight hours in this program are.
CAPS is the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System — a rocket-deployed parachute that lowers the entire airplane, not the occupants individually. We treat it as a trained decision skill, not a feature: which scenarios call for it, the altitude and airspeed envelope in which it works, and the mental habit of deciding before you're in the situation. Pilots who have rehearsed the decision act on it; pilots who haven't tend to hesitate, and hesitation is the actual risk.
The Garmin Perspective glass flight deck — primary flight display, multifunction display, integrated autopilot and flight-management logic. It's the same family of thinking you'll meet in turbine and light-jet cockpits, which is a large part of why training in this airplane pays off later. We drill flight-plan entry, vertical navigation, autopilot modes and display-failure reversion on the Redbird before doing them at 215 knots.
$649 per hour standard and $449 per hour on the package rate once you're enrolled in a course. Both are wet — fuel included. Cirrus instruction is billed at our Cirrus CFI rate, $300/hr standard or $199/hr package, because this airplane is taught by instructors who specialise in it.
Yes — the Luxury Discovery Flight is $399. You'll sit in the left seat of N422SN with a Cirrus instructor, hands on the side-yoke, and fly the airplane yourself over Los Angeles. No experience or certificate required, and if you enrol within 24 hours, 100% of it credits toward your training. Book a discovery flight →
Our $11,700 Instrument Rating course is flown in the Piper Warrior, Piper Arrow and Diamond DA20, with a Cirrus SR22 Turbo upgrade available for an additional charge. If you own a Cirrus or intend to buy one, doing the rating in the airplane you'll actually fly IFR is worth every dollar of the upgrade. See the IFR course →
It cruises at roughly 215 knots — about 247 mph — which is around 50 knots quicker than our twin and 80 knots quicker than the Arrow. Los Angeles to San Francisco, Las Vegas or Phoenix stop being expeditions. Combined with the FL250 ceiling, you fly over the Sierras and most Southern California weather rather than around them.
One — N422SN, an SR22 Turbo, maintained in-house at Van Nuys Airport alongside the rest of our 12-aircraft, six-type fleet. Because it's a single airplane in high demand for both training and discovery flights, we recommend booking Cirrus time a few days ahead.
Los Angeles Flight School operates from Van Nuys Airport (KVNY) — 7900 Balboa Blvd. Suite 108A, Van Nuys, CA 91406. We're open 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week, and we serve Encino, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Santa Clarita, Pasadena, Canoga Park and the greater Los Angeles area. Call (818) 290-8249.
Fly the flagship. Keep the endorsement forever.
Five hours in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo and you're signed off for anything over 200 horsepower — and fluent in the avionics, the engine and the parachute decision. Van Nuys Airport (KVNY) · Open 7 days, 9 AM – 9 PM.