The Cirrus Vision SF50 personal jet is on track for a year-end entry into service. The company says that the Vision SF50 is on target to become the world’s first certificated single-engined personal jet to enter service. The airframer expects to be fully certificated by the fourth quarter. “We have been working at full steam to get this aircraft to market,” says company co-founder and chief executive Dale Klapmeier. “We should deliver at least one aircraft this year.” There are at least 50 airplanes of the type anticipated to be delivered to customers in 2016. That's just a small slice of the 500 orders made for this tiny 1.96 million aircraft to-date.
This aircraft like all the other lighter and smaller Cirrus models will be equipped with a parachute system. Of course this is a much larger and also heavier aircraft so testing has to be extensive to justify that the last resort safety system is indeed, safe! Ben Kowalski announced recently that Cirrus has now completed its 50th parachute drop, all from a helicopter. Much larger than the chute in the SR22, the hybrid rocket deployed chute is working well, Kowalski said, and he expressed confidence in chute certification being completed on time despite the obstacles the chute system has faced, being installed in a much faster and heavier airplane than the chute in the SR series models.
Cirrus Aircraft announced that it will establish a new campus called the Vision Center in Knoxville, Tennessee's McGhee Tyson Airport (KTYS) that will focus on all customer interactions, including training, aircraft deliveries and aircraft maintenance and repair. The center is slated to open by the middle of 2016, with the service center being the first part of the campus to open for business. Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam joined Cirrus CEO and co-founder Dale Klapmeier in making the announcement that will initially bring 50 jobs to the Knoxville area, increasing to about 175 when the facility is fully up and running. (FM)
Cirrus Aircraft is pleased to announce that they recently delivered their 6000th aircraft. The plane is specially painted and has '6thousand' marked on it. More on this aircraft and the monumental achievement by Cirrus in the News section.
Cirrus will soon start testing the CAPS system on the SF50 personal jet. Stay tuned for more on this in the news section.
There is news of yet another successful CAPS deployment on a Cirrus SR22 after a failed engine incident. It happened on Saturday when a father and daughter onboard lost engine power over Long Island. The duo climbed out of the crash-landed Cirrus SR22 without any injuries. They floated to a what has been described as a grassy area in an industrial park in Hauppauge. That location was approximately 8 miles from Farmingdale’s Republic Airport, where they were supposed to land at.
Cirrus Aircraft has launched the G6, the latest upgrade of its SR series of single-engine piston aircraft. The new models feature Garmin’s Cirrus Perspective+ flight deck, “inspired” by Garmin’s just announced G1000 NXi integrated platform and Cirrus-designed wingtips.
Cirrus Aircraft [today], April 18th, announced that Ben Kowalski has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing. In this leadership role on the Customer Experience Team, Kowalski will now lead all sales and marketing efforts for the enterprise. “At Cirrus, we strive to be as innovative in our approach to Sales, Marketing and the growth of our brand as we are in producing and delivering game-changing personal aircraft” said Todd Simmons, President, Customer Experience at Cirrus Aircraft. “Ben’s seasoned leadership, compass thinking and industry presence will continue to drive these key customer experience functions at Cirrus in new and creative ways ahead.”
It appears as though Dale Klapmeier is stepping down from the helm at Cirrus Aircraft next year. Dale and his brother Alan help founded Cirrus Aircraft which became one of the most successful piston engine plane manufacturers around. And he was instrumental in the Vision Jet SF50 project coming to market. "Re-imagining personal transportation has been our lifelong mission at Cirrus Aircraft," Klapmeier said. "We’ve changed the face of aviation over the past 30 years: from delivering more than 7,000 of the world’s best-selling high-performance piston aircraft, to fundamentally rethinking how we travel, with the introduction of the world’s first single-engine personal jet — the Vision Jet — to transforming our business into a lifestyle company that defines our path ahead."
Cirrus Aircraft announced today that Zean Nielsen has been selected to succeed Co-founder Dale Klapmeier as its next Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Nielsen has held senior leadership roles at a range of global world-class organizations, including Tesla Motors, James Hardie and Bang & Olufsen. "Cirrus Aircraft has a remarkably bright future ahead," noted Dale Klapmeier, Co-founder and National Aviation Hall of Fame member. "We are fortunate to have someone of Zean’s caliber and experience to lead us into the next era of growth. I am looking forward to moving into a Senior Advisory role and continuing to work with our exceptional team on reinventing the future of personal transportation".
Cirrus Aircraft announced the 2019 Partner Awards at the annual customer experience conference – CX 2020 – in Orlando, Florida. The Partner Awards recognize Training and Service partners around the world for their enthusiastic and dedicated efforts in world-class Cirrus training and service. TRAINING PARTNERS 2019 Cirrus Approach Safety Award COPA CPPP Instructors 2019 Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot (CSIP) of the Year – North America Jim Ratliff 2019 Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot (CSIP) of the Year – Export David DeVries 2019 Cirrus Training Center (CTC) of the Year – North America Jato Aviation 2019 Cirrus Training Center (CTC) of the Year – Export Air Training – Brazil 2019 Training Referral Source of the Year Aero Atlanta SERVICE PARTNERS Service Diving Catch Award Air Service Basel Service Rising Star Award Gryphon Aircraft Services 2019 SF50 Line Maintenance Facility of the Year University Air Center 2019 Cirrus ASSIST Mobile Team Award Mather Aviation 2019 Cirrus Direct Customer of the Year General Enterprises 2019 Service Center of the Year flyADVANCED 2019 Team Player Award Sierra Aero 2019 Warranty Facility of the Year flyADVANCED
Cirrus Aircraft released their new VisionAir program. This is to provide SF50 Vision Jet owners with a number of services to make their lives easier. Some of these services under the program include, pilot, maintenance, and other aircraft management services. The new program was actually revealed last month as Cirrus Aircraft handed over the keys to the 200th Vision Jet. As more and more new owners come onboard, the new service is geared to making life easier for them and providing, "everything needed to own, operate, and manage" the single-engine jet, the company said."Our mission is to make personal aviation more accessible," said Cirrus Aircraft CEO Zean Nielsen. "Now, more than ever, people are looking for alternative ways to travel, with the added assurance of safety and privacy. We are excited to provide a direct pathway to complete ownership that allows our customers to enjoy all of the benefits of personal aviation while we take care of the details."
In preparation for the 8,000th SR series aircraft to be delivered by Cirrus the company is creating a limited edition to commemorate that milestone. "The SR Series has an incredible history of innovation, evolution and invention," said Zean Nielsen, CEO at Cirrus Aircraft. "Our team took that as inspiration to create a Limited Edition that breaks out of the boundaries of traditional aircraft design to reflect the energy and excitement of where we are going next."