Watching this new launch, it’s pretty interesting. It’s all about screen real estate, recognizable icons, touch screens, removing complexity (who needs an avionics master switch), flap speed protection, stick shaker.

They are selling airplanes, and that’s great, but not a single mention about engine upgrades or performance or capability.

As a Tesla owner I can assure you we’re a long way from them driving themselves. I was one of the suckers that paid for the “full self driving” software almost five years ago that is anything but, and I can’t tell much difference between how it drove when I bought it and however many billions they put into software development since. My next car will probably be a Polestar that has Lidar.

The G3000 isn’t a leap in capabilities, it was available on the TTX many years ago. I’m not sure I’d prefer it over the NXi (I’ve grown backwards to like knobs), but the other incremental upgrades are nice.

The next great leap in GA won’t be technology it will be when someone figures out how to make it affordable. A 4 seat BMW equivalent shouldn’t cost over a million dollars.

I have to say, I have SuperCruise on my Denali, sales guy was all about it, like you I had zero interest. Then Amy and I took a long road trip.

My wife said “you want me to drive?” and I replied, “why so I can set over there with my hands in my lap instead of here?”

I use it anytime I’m on the highway, it hugs the centerline too much in curves, but other than that it’s awesome!

I haven’t driven the Tesla, but assume it’s even better.

Whoop de do.

Still no beacon. Not like it would change much, just another light for a Cirrus pilot to turn on to blind everyone as they try to start the engine.

It's really interesting to me to read these comments. Almost all, no big deal, etc.

Actually, these are really smart and improvements.

1. The G3000 is a major change in GA, piston avionics. The level of integration with the plane is above anything else, EVER, in mass production GA piston airplanes. BTW, it's a VJ cockpit basically and now when you go from the G7 to your VJ, the difference is a Jet, not a prop.
2. Auto fuel tank switching in a Cirrus! Say what?!!! That would have been awesome in the two Cirrus I owned on really long cross countries.
3. The cockpit has incrementally improved, and it shows. The G6 is way more comfortable then my G2's were. Love the auto style environmental panel. It's smart and makes sense.
4. All the small ergonomic improvements show that Cirrus is always paying attention to improvement. Small sometimes, but improving.
5. I think they have wrung most 'performance' improvements out of the 22/22T. What engine is going to get them better fuel/knots performance that is going to make a difference to most piston owners? None without major development and $'s. We yawn, they laugh in #'s sold and $'s
6. People like the chute. Period. Mooney should have figured a way to add one, and still be able to put two full size adults in it. I love the 182, but it's slow as Sh*T.

We all want improvement in aviation and the platforms. Yet, we yawn Cirrus. It's been said before that Textron/Cessna/Beech have given up the high-performance GA market. They have.
Cirrus is single handedly improving the GA piston market and keeping it alive. In my opinion.

I applaud Cirrus while they continue to improve their product, while the 172/182/Baron/etc, stagnate.

BTW.......in 2022 (Just used the report I had saved, Cirrus sold 439 SR22/22t's total. Let's use an AVG sales price of $750K for that grouping. You do the math, $329Million. Add in the 100 SR20's at 100 units at $500K, and that number runs up to $379Million. This does not include the VJ.

The 22/22T profit is probably pretty high considering their long availability and Cirrus' experience building them.

So, we have a profitable GA manufacturer improving their products and apparently that's not good enough. I'll

I'm in the camp of anyone who hates the Tesla Autopilot has never owned one. Anyone who praises the Tesla Autopilot has never owned one.

Does it work? Yes. Does it make highway driving much more enjoyable? Yes. Will it try and kill you? Yes. Is it a horrible passenger experience? Also yes. Would I give mine up? No way.

Chip-

They did this avionics platform with better human factors over a decade ago in the TTx. Seeing the Cirrus GTC placement makes me twitch.

I wonder about that auto-switching fuel valve. Is it a solenoid that physically moves the pilot-accessible handle? Hopefully there is a collared breaker or some sort of interlock to prevent HAL from going crazy.

I think the most innovative thing Cirrus has ever done, is to make money producing small airplanes. Everything else is secondary.

Do you have any evidence that Cirrus is profitable?

Textron on the other hand is expected to announce (in two weeks) EPS of around $5.50 a share for 2023. Based on capitalization of 196M shares, that's over $1B in earnings. Of course TXT is publicly traded, so they report earnings every quarter.

Which company is "successful", and If you could invest in both companies, which would you choose?

HAL may be an exaggeration. All it needs to be is a timer circuit and a valve with enough logic to make sure that it doesn't create an imbalance or run a tank dry. There are SETPs that have done this for years, and yes I would absolutely expect that there is a manual backup/override.

Personally, I've flown low wing airplanes for most of my life and never had a problem with flipping the valve from left to right and back again every 30 minutes or so, but if you have the tech, why not make it easier?

HAL may be an exaggeration. All it needs to be is a timer circuit and a valve with enough logic to make sure that it doesn't create an imbalance or run a tank dry. There are SETPs that have done this for years, and yes I would absolutely expect that there is a manual backup/override.

Personally, I've flown low wing airplanes for most of my life and never had a problem with flipping the valve from left to right and back again every 30 minutes or so, but if you have the tech, why not make it easier?

HAL may be an exaggeration. All it needs to be is a timer circuit and a valve with enough logic to make sure that it doesn't create an imbalance or run a tank dry. There are SETPs that have done this for years, and yes I would absolutely expect that there is a manual backup/override

I own an unknown amount of TXT through ETFs and mutual funds. But making money in the airplane business isn't as big a trick as making money in the small airplane business. You're right, maybe they aren't profitable. But they're extraordinarily good at selling in volumes others can't reach, and in so doing, convincing capital to continue to fund operations, if profitability isn't doing it.

Do you have any evidence that Cirrus is profitable?

Textron on the other hand is expected to announce (in two weeks) EPS of around $5.50 a share for 2023. Based on capitalization of 196M shares, that's over $1B in earnings. Of course TXT is publicly traded, so they report earnings every quarter.

Which company is "successful", and If you could invest in both companies, which would you choose?