Cirrus transition training is the structured course a pilot who already holds a certificate flies before taking an SR-series airplane out alone. It is not a rating and the FAA does not issue anything for it; the people who insist on it are insurance underwriters, and the reason they insist is that an SR22 asks a pilot to manage energy, automation and one irreversible decision that legacy trainers never asked about.
We run transition training at Van Nuys Airport in our Cirrus SR22 Turbo, N422SN, with Perspective glass and a CAPS parachute. If you are looking for the wider picture of what Cirrus flying involves here, start with our Cirrus flight training in Los Angeles overview; this page is the transition course itself, lesson by lesson. Training is Part 61.
What Cirrus Transition Training Actually Is
A transition course sits in the gap between two things the regulations do cover. On one side is the high-performance endorsement in 14 CFR 61.31(f), which applies to any airplane with an engine of more than 200 horsepower and requires ground and flight training plus a one-time logbook endorsement from an authorized instructor certifying that you are proficient. On the other is the flight review in 14 CFR 61.56, which keeps you legal every 24 calendar months but says nothing about type. Neither one is a Cirrus course.
What transition training adds is type-specific competence: the systems on this airframe, the panel in front of you, the numbers in this Pilot's Operating Handbook, and the decision framework that comes with an airframe parachute. A pilot with 800 hours in Cessnas and Pipers is legally entitled to fly an SR22 the moment an instructor signs the high-performance endorsement. Whether that pilot is actually ready is a different question, and the honest answer is usually no, not yet.
The specific things that catch experienced pilots out are narrower than people expect. The airplane is fast and slippery, so it does not slow down when you want it to. The side yoke moves in a different plane from a control column, so your first few landings feel unfamiliar in the flare. The autopilot is capable enough that it will fly the whole flight if you let it, which is exactly how pilots lose the thread. And the parachute handle above your head turns a set of emergencies you have practiced for twenty years into a decision you have never had to make.
Who Needs It And Why Insurance Usually Decides
Four groups come to us for this course. New owners who have just bought an SR20, SR22 or SR22T and have a binder sitting on the desk with a training requirement written into it. Pilots who want to rent or fly a Cirrus and need a checkout. Pilots moving up from a fixed-gear four-seater who want the step to be deliberate rather than accidental. And pilots returning to a Cirrus after a long gap who want their currency and their confidence back at the same time.
In practice the insurer writes the syllabus more often than the pilot does. A typical binder specifies a number of hours of dual in make and model, sometimes a number of landings, sometimes a named training provider, and almost always an annual recurrent requirement thereafter. Those numbers vary by carrier, by your total time, by your instrument currency and by the airframe, and they change year to year. Bring the binder to the first ground session and we will build the course around what it says, rather than selling you a fixed package that may not satisfy it.
One thing worth saying plainly: the number of hours in a binder is a floor, not a target. If a policy says ten hours dual and you are comfortable at eight, fly the ten. If you are not comfortable at ten, fly more. Nobody has ever regretted the extra two hours.
The Syllabus We Fly At Van Nuys
We run the course as ground first, then four flight blocks, then a completion flight that is deliberately unscripted. The blocks below are the shape, not a contract; a pilot with recent glass time and 2,000 hours moves faster than a pilot coming off a steam-gauge Warrior after a two-year layoff.
| Block | Focus | Typical Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Ground 1 | Airframe, engine, fuel, electrical, CAPS, POH navigation | 2 to 3 hours |
| Ground 2 | Perspective avionics, autopilot modes, flight planning for this airplane | 2 hours |
| Flight 1 | Handling, sight picture, side yoke, slow flight, stalls | 1.5 hours |
| Flight 2 | Energy management, pattern work, normal and crosswind landings | 1.5 hours |
| Flight 3 | Automation discipline, instrument approaches, hand-flying back in | 1.5 hours |
| Flight 4 | Emergencies, engine-out decision making, CAPS scenarios | 1.5 hours |
| Completion | Unscripted cross-country with the instructor as a passenger who talks | 2 hours |
Ground: Systems And The Perspective Panel
Ground instruction is $110 per hour and it is where most of the value sits. We go through the airframe and its systems from the POH for the specific airplane you will fly, because Cirrus changed a great deal between generations and a G3 checklist is not a G6 checklist. Fuel system and its management, electrical architecture and what you lose when an alternator quits, the oxygen system if the airframe is turbocharged, the CAPS installation and its limitations, and the way the POH presents performance for a turbonormalised engine.
Then the panel. Perspective is a large-format glass system with a primary flight display, a multifunction display and a flight director-coupled autopilot, and the failure mode that hurts pilots is not ignorance of where the buttons are. It is hesitation. A pilot who has to think for four seconds about how to change the altitude preselect on a busy departure out of Van Nuys is a pilot who has stopped flying the airplane. We drill the half-dozen actions you will need every flight until they are automatic, and leave the long tail of features for later.
Flight One: Handling And The Side Yoke
The first flight is deliberately boring. We go to the practice area, get the airplane slow, feel where the stall lives, look at how much rudder the airplane actually wants, and then fly steep turns until the sight picture stops being a surprise. The side yoke is the thing pilots ask about most and worry about least once they have flown it: it is a control wheel mounted on a side console, springs center it, and after twenty minutes your hand stops thinking about it. What does take longer is the roll rate and the pitch authority, which are both higher than a Warrior's.
Flight Two: Energy Management
This is the flight that separates a comfortable Cirrus pilot from an uncomfortable one. A clean SR22 at low power still wants to go somewhere, and the classic new-owner error is arriving at the pattern high and fast, then trying to fix both problems on final. We fly the pattern to published numbers, we practice arriving at the initial point already configured, and we do enough go-arounds that going around stops feeling like a failure. Landing an SR22 well is a matter of being at the right speed at the right place, not of technique in the flare.
Flight Three: Automation Discipline
Automation is not the enemy and hand-flying is not a virtue in itself. The skill is knowing which one you are doing and why. We fly a departure with the autopilot on from 400 feet and an arrival hand-flown from the final approach fix, then swap, then do an approach where the autopilot does something you did not ask for and you have to notice. If you hold an instrument rating we fly approaches into the Los Angeles basin under the hood; if you do not, this block becomes an introduction to what the airplane can do and a frank conversation about getting the instrument rating, because a fast, capable single without one is a limited airplane.
Flight Four: Emergencies And The Decision
Engine failures, partial power loss, electrical failures, door-open on takeoff, and then the part of the course that is genuinely different from any other transition you have flown: when you pull the handle.
CAPS Decision-Making Is The Course, Not A Footnote
The Cirrus Airframe Parachute System is a whole-airframe recovery parachute fired by a solid rocket from a housing behind the cabin. Our full explanation of CAPS covers how the system works and what Cirrus publishes about it. What matters in transition training is narrower and harder: rewriting reflexes you have spent a career building.
A pilot trained in Cessnas has one answer to an engine failure at 2,000 feet over the San Fernando Valley: pitch for best glide and find a field. In a Cirrus that is one of two answers, and the other one is usually better, because the terrain under a Van Nuys departure is houses. The transition is not learning that the handle exists. It is deciding, on the ground, before the flight, what your personal altitude threshold is, what scenarios are automatic pulls, and accepting that once you are below your threshold with a dead engine over a city you are not going to have time to weigh it up.
We do this as briefed scenarios rather than as surprises. You say out loud what you would do, we fly it, and then we talk about whether what you said matches what you did. The SR22 POH gives a maximum demonstrated deployment speed of about 140 KIAS and altitude guidance that varies with the situation and the airframe; those numbers are specific to the aircraft and its equipment, so we read them from the POH for the airplane you will actually fly rather than from memory.
The High-Performance Endorsement Under 14 CFR 61.31(f)
If you have never flown an airplane with more than 200 horsepower, you need this endorsement before you can act as pilot in command of one. 14 CFR 61.31(f) requires ground and flight training from an authorized instructor in a high-performance airplane, or in a full flight simulator or flight training device representative of one, and a one-time logbook endorsement certifying proficiency. There is no minimum hour requirement written into the rule, which is precisely why the insurance requirement matters more than the regulation.
We price the high-performance endorsement in the SR22T at $1,799. In most cases a pilot doing a full Cirrus transition gets the endorsement inside the course rather than as a separate item, so tell us on the phone which you need and we will price it once, not twice. Our page on complex and high-performance endorsements explains how both sit alongside each other.
How Long It Takes And What It Costs
| Item | Rate |
|---|---|
| Cirrus SR22 Turbo N422SN, retail wet rate | $649 per hour |
| Cirrus SR22 Turbo N422SN, rate inside a course package | $449 per hour |
| Flight instruction | $110 per hour |
| Ground instruction | $110 per hour |
| Redbird MCX full-motion simulator, retail | $200 per hour |
| Redbird MCX full-motion simulator, inside a package | $120 per hour |
| High-performance endorsement in the SR22T | $1,799 |
| Turbo Cirrus Private Pilot course, 38 hours in the SR22T | $23,400 |
Rates are wet, meaning fuel is included. The retail rate applies to pay-as-you-go flying; the package rate applies inside a course. A transition course of six to eight airplane hours with matching instruction and four hours of ground is the realistic middle of the range, and a pilot with an insurance binder demanding fifteen hours will spend more. We will not quote you a single number before we know what your binder says, because a quote that ignores it is worthless to you.
The simulator is worth using. An hour of procedures, avionics drills and emergency scenarios in the Redbird MCX at $120 inside a package buys you more than an hour of the same thing in a $449 airplane, and you can freeze it and talk. See which simulator hours count toward a certificate for how the logging works.
Cirrus's Own Training Program And Where We Fit
Cirrus runs its own training ecosystem under the name Cirrus Approach, describing itself as committed to improving and educating all Cirrus pilots, and it designates Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilots, or CSIPs, who deliver factory-standardized instruction through Cirrus Training Centers. Cirrus also publishes an Embark program for buyers of pre-owned Cirrus aircraft that includes complimentary training.
We are straight about this: You Fly LA is an independent Part 61 flight school at Van Nuys. We are not making a claim to be a Cirrus Training Center or to employ CSIPs. What we offer is our own transition syllabus, flown in our own SR22 Turbo with instructors who fly it every week, at our published rates. If your insurer specifically names a factory program, use the factory program; if it asks for hours of dual in make and model from an authorized instructor, we can give you that here without a trip to Duluth. Buying the Cirrus Approach online courseware alongside the flying you do with us is a good use of money either way.
What Happens After The Course
The endorsement goes in your logbook, we write the training record your insurer will ask for, and you fly. Then the part most owners underrate: recurrent training. Skills fade, and the automation skills fade fastest because they are the least intuitive. Most binders require annual recurrent dual, and the pilots who get the most out of it treat it as a real session rather than a signature, which is what our Cirrus owner services page covers. If you are still choosing between airframes, our comparison of the SR20 and the SR22 is the place to start.
Related Reading
- Cirrus flight training in Los Angeles — the full Cirrus program at Van Nuys, including private pilot in a Cirrus.
- CAPS explained — how the airframe parachute works and what the decision framework looks like.
- Cirrus SR20 vs SR22 — which airframe to train in and why the difference is not just horsepower.
- Cirrus owner services — insurance checkouts, recurrent training and ferry flying.
- Complex and high-performance endorsements — what 61.31(e) and (f) actually require.
- Cirrus SR22 specs and POH guide — the numbers behind the airplane.
Cirrus Transition Training FAQ
How Many Hours Is Cirrus Transition Training?
There is no FAA minimum, because transition training is not a certificate or rating. Insurance binders typically drive the number, and a course of six to eight hours in the airplane plus four hours of ground is a realistic middle for a current private pilot. Bring your binder and we will build the course to satisfy it.
Do I Need A High-Performance Endorsement To Fly An SR22?
Yes, if you have not already logged high-performance time. 14 CFR 61.31(f) applies to any airplane with an engine of more than 200 horsepower and requires ground and flight training plus a one-time logbook endorsement from an authorized instructor. An SR20 does not require it; an SR22 or SR22T does.
Is Transition Training Required By The FAA?
No. The FAA requires the high-performance endorsement under 61.31(f) and a current flight review under 61.56. Everything else is an insurance requirement or good judgment. Every underwriter we have seen treats make and model dual as mandatory for a new Cirrus owner.
Can I Do Cirrus Transition Training In My Own Airplane?
Instruction is $110 per hour whether you fly ours or yours, and training in an owner's aircraft is something to arrange in advance so we can check insurance and airframe documentation first. Call (818) 330-1318 before you plan a date.
Are You A Cirrus Training Center Or A CSIP School?
No. We are an independent Part 61 flight school at Van Nuys flying our own SR22 Turbo with our own transition syllabus. If your insurer specifically names the factory program, use the factory program. If it asks for hours of dual in make and model from an authorized instructor, we can provide that here.
How Much Does It Cost To Fly The Cirrus At Van Nuys?
The SR22 Turbo is $649 per hour wet at the retail pay-as-you-go rate and $449 per hour inside a course package. Instruction and ground instruction are $110 per hour. The high-performance endorsement is priced at $1,799.
Should I Learn CAPS Or Learn Forced Landings?
Both, and in that order of priority for a Cirrus. The airplane changes what the best answer to an engine failure is, particularly over built-up terrain like the San Fernando Valley, and the point of the course is to decide your personal thresholds on the ground rather than at 1,200 feet with a silent engine.
Do I Need An Instrument Rating To Own A Cirrus?
Not legally. In practice a fast, well-equipped single without an instrument rating is a fair-weather airplane, and most owners find that the trips they bought it for are the ones that get canceled. If you do not hold the rating, plan for it early.
Book Your Transition Course
Call (818) 330-1318 and tell us what you are transitioning from, what you are transitioning to, and what your insurer has asked for. We are open 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, seven days, at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406, on Van Nuys Airport. If you have not flown a Cirrus at all yet and want an hour in one first, a discovery flight starts at $229 and you fly it from the left seat, or book a free consultation and we will talk through the course before you commit to anything.