This year 4 words changed general aviation

On October 30, 2016 at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) meeting in Orlando Florida a major announcement was made by Cirrus Aircraft and its leaders who are known for innovation. It was this year that 4 words have again changed general aviation – “Cirrus Jet is certified.” It’s the world’s first single engine personal jet to meet FAA certification. This milestone is acclaimed as a new era in general aviation personal transportation.

Dale Klapmeier, Cirrus Aircraft co-founder, CEO and U.S. National Aviation Hall of Fame member said, “Just as the SR series of high-performance piston aircraft has forever changed aviation, the impact of the Vision Jet on personal and regional transportation is going to be even more profound. Never before has a turbine aircraft solution come along that rewrites the rules in so many ways – iconic design, ease of operation, smart economics, simplified ownership and more.”

A New Category by Design

“The Vision Jet defines the new single-engine Personal Jet category by its spacious, pilot and passenger-friendly cabin with expansive windows, reclining seats and comfortable legroom that can accommodate up to five adults and two children. The cabin is complemented by the proprietary Cirrus Perspective® Touch™ by Garmin® flight deck, which delivers a wide array of highly sophisticated, easy-to-use global navigation capabilities and safety features to the pilot at the touch of a finger. Powering the Flight-Into-Known-Ice (FIKI) approved Vision Jet is a single, smart FADEC-controlled Williams International FJ33-5A turbofan engine.”

Pat Waddick, Cirrus President of innovation and operations and Todd Simmons, President of customer experience were on hand in Florida and accepted the Cirrus Vision SF50 Jet type certification from John Kolin, Manager of the FAA Orlando Manufacturing and Inspection office.

Patrick Waddick, said “The art of innovation is achieving elegance and simplicity while changing people’s lives.  This is not just a product, it’s an experience.  Not only did our development team deliver on that target, we put an exclamation point on it by designing a highly reliable airplane and going a step further by incorporating the life-saving Cirrus Airframe Parachute System®.”

Todd Simmons, President of Customer Experience said,  “. . . what’s really unique about this airplane is that we have stayed true to our ideals of recognizing the important relationship between the owner-pilot and friends, family and colleagues on board. Simply, we have taken the pilot and passenger in-flight experience to a new level with a wide range of innovative design elements and features.”

For the second year, AOPA Pilot has offered the exclusive analysis from Conklin and de Decker on jets and turboprops operating costs.  The Cirrus Vision SF50 Personal Jet has the lowest variable operating cost among any jet on the market at $595.30 per hour.

Initial customer deliveries of the Vision Jet are scheduled to begin in 2016, with production ramping up throughout 2017.  Cirrus says it has position holders for more than 600 Vision Jet orders.

Best-Selling Aircraft

In 2015, Cirrus sold 301 planes.  The Cirrus “SR-series of high-performance piston airplanes are the best-selling aircraft in the world for 13 consecutive years – with over 6,500 aircraft operating in over 60 countries.”  And now the innovation story continues with the Personal Jet.

Congratulations to the entire Cirrus Aircraft team.

Reference

• Cirrus Aircraft Press Annoucements, Cirrus Aircraft Vision Jet Achieves FAA Certification, October 31, 2016
• Haines, Thomas B., Editor in Chief AOPA, “Cirrus Earns Vision Jet Certification,” AOPA ePilot Special Report NBAA, November 1, 2016

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