The more I fly the Cirrus SR20, the more I’ve come to appreciate Cirrus’s exemplary approach to safety. I don’t fly the SR20 that often, but before a recent IFR proficiency flight, I used the Cirrus Flight Operations Manual (FOM) and Cirrus Online Training portal to prepare. I studied the precision and non-precision approach chapters online, then went over the procedures and cockpit flows outlined in the FOM. The preparation clearly worked because the flight went well, and I learned more about using the complex and capable Garmin-based Perspective avionics suite in the SR20.

A chance meeting at last week’s Bombardier Safety Standdown got me thinking about FOMs. I was discussing safety issues with two flight instructors from a college flight training program, and they told me that they had developed their own FOM-like procedures for the aircraft they fly. They had to develop their own cockpit flows and processes because like most light aircraft manufacturers, their manufacturer doesn’t publish an FOM. When I showed them the Cirrus FOM on my iPad, they were amazed, having never seen anything like it. 

The concept of the FOM has been around for a while, but my impression is that not all general aviation manufacturers have figured out that publishing safety information in this format is a good idea. 

Fortunately, much of the information that should be in an FOM can be found in simulator training company materials. I used the profiles and processes for each phase of flight that FlightSafety publishes for the G550 during my type-rating training earlier this year (in the Standard Maneuvers and Callouts chapter). That was helpful, although it isn’t interactive like the Cirrus iPad-based FOM.

The FOM concept still needs more attention, and here are two suggestions that I think the general aviation industry ought to consider. 

First, if an aircraft manufacturer or its training partner doesn’t publish an FOM, why not? The FOM puts pertinent operational information into an easy-to-interpret format and helps pilots understand step-by-step operational procedures, without having to try to pull information from disparate sources or query other pilots about how they fly.

Second, if we introduced the concepts captured by FOMs to new student pilots from the beginning, they would have a much better understanding of the importance of consistency in flying procedures. And the FOM would help a student learn new procedures faster, by giving them a clearly outlined process to follow. It can also help experienced pilots refresh their knowledge as well as better prepare them to transition into a new aircraft. 

For those flying aircraft or in operations without an FOM, there are some resources to help develop an FOM. NBAA publishes recommendations for light business aircraft operators, although this could apply to any size operation. Another excellent resource is the SKYbrary electronic safety repository, which has a whole section on developing an operations manual. 

These recommendations are more for operator-specific documents, not for a general manufacturer-created FOM. But if aircraft manufacturers made FOMs part of their document-development processes, then operators could easily use them as a starting point to create their own specific operations manuals.

Cirrus deserves credit for taking the FOM concept and turning it into a useful, well designed and safety-focused product. I hope other manufacturers take note and follow Cirrus’s lead.