First Class

Cirrus Personal Jet Makes First Flight

posted: 05 July 2008 11:37 am ET

: Cirrus Design's single-engine 'The-Jet' personal jet made its first flight on July 3, 2008, from Duluth International Airport, Minn.

The first jet aircraft to be built by leading light-aircraft manufacturer Cirrus Design Corporation has made its first flight.

The single-engine Cirrus jet, which the company currently calls 'The-Jet', made its first flight at approximately 10 a.m. CDT on Thursday from the company's base at Duluth International Airport in Duluth, Minn. The flight lasted 45 minutes and Cirrus said afterwards that "the aircraft performed flawlessly."

Because of Cirrus Design's strong innovation and sales record with its existing SR20 and SR222 lines of single-engine piston light aircraft, aviation industry insiders expect 'The-Jet' to be a leading contender in the new and rapidly evolving "personal jet" category of aircraft.

In almost all cases featuring just a single engine, these jets are designed to be even smaller and lighter than the twin-engine very light jets that are now beginning to revolutionize private aviation in the U.S. and internationally. Other aircraft expected to be leading contenders in the personal-jet market are the DiamondJet made by Diamond Aviation in Canada, and the forthcoming new single-engine jets from Piper Aviation and Eclipse Aviation.

Powered by a small Williams FJ-33 turbofan jet engine mounted on the spine of the aircraft near its V-tail twin tails, Cirrus Design's 'The-Jet' is designed to be flown by a single pilot, seat up to seven people in a pressurized cabin and take off in about the same distance as a single-engine piston light aircraft.

Its design specifications call for 'The-Jet' to be able to climb at a rate of 3,000 feet a minute, reach a maximum operating altitude of 25,000 feet and cruise at around 300 knots (346 mph). Its range with a medium load and required fuel reserves is planned to be some 1,000 nautical miles (1,152 miles).The aircraft will feature state-of-the-art advanced avionics and flight systems to make it simple to fly.

'The-Jet' also will have a scaled-up version of the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) whole-aircraft parachute that has already proved a popular and operationally successful feature of Cirrus Design's SR20 and SR22 light-aircraft designs. By deploying in-flight, the CAPS allows Cirrus aircraft to float safely to the ground in the event of an engine failure or other in-flight emergency. Cirrus has already conducted successful ground tests of the CAPS for 'The-Jet.'

"The-Jet serves as a smarter, simpler and more efficient way to use transportation dollars," said Alan Klapmeier, Cirrus Design's chairman and CEO. "It provides an entirely new transportation option for personal and business travel. Just as important, it does so without conflicting with airline operations. The-Jet cruises below airline flight levels and offers easy and convenient access to thousands of local airports not served by airline operations."

"This 'first flight' is a historically significant moment for Cirrus," said Steve Serfling, vice president of Cirrus Design's Advanced Development Group. "More than 125 dedicated engineers and technicians ... have worked tirelessly to ensure that this milestone was met in a safe and efficient manner. With this successful flight today, we initiate the next program phase that will support the more rigorous certification program."