The Cirrus SR-20 is an American designed four seat light aircraft of all-composite construction, powered by a six cylinder horizontally opposed Continental engine.  Built by Cirrus Aircraft, Duluth, MN, the Cirrus 20 was first flown in March 1995, customer deliveries began in 1999 and over 1000 SR-20 type aircraft have been produced since that time.  The SR-20 was the first general aviation aircraft equipped with a parachute to lower the entire aircraft to the ground following a terminal inflight emergency and the first light aircraft equipped with “flat panel avionics.”

The SR-20, as the T-53A, was selected by the Unite States Air Force as a new primary flight trainer for the Air Force Academy in 2011, replacing a leased fleet of twenty T-52A (Diamond D-40) aircraft. USAF purchased 25 T-53As, with deliveries by 2012.

The Decarli Model kit of the Cirrus SR-20/T-53A consists of 26 finely cast grey resin parts with engraved control surfaces and a one piece clear cast resin windscreen and canopy.  The fuselage and wings are cast as one piece with a separate nose cowling, vertical and horizontal tail pieces.  The main landing gear struts consist of a one piece cast white metal part.  Kit fuselage and wingspan dimensions are accurate in 1/72 scale.   The 3” x 3½” decal sheet provides clearly printed color markings for a single French Air Force SR-20 and a single USAF T-53 in AF Academy markings for the 557 Flying Training Squadron (FTS) “Boss Bird.”  Instructions include a single 8 ½ x 11 1/2” sheet of “exploded view” assembly and a similar size page of 4-view color painting and marking placement for both the French and USAF versions.

Options in this kit:

  • Both 2 blade (USAF) and 3 blade propellers (SR-20)
  • Box top photo of the USAFA T-53A on decal sheet
  • Build USAF or French AF versions

This should be a popular kit for those who model modern trainer aircraft and particularly those who model USAF primary trainers.  Recommended!

Review by Chuck Holte, provided courtesy of Cyber Modeler.