Vision Jet production to increase

The production certificate represents the culmination of a certification effort that also saw the SF50 Vision Jet single-engine turbine earn certification in October, following a decade of development.

The Vision Jet is not only the first turbine-powered model Cirrus has produced, but the first of its kind, a seven-seat aircraft powered by a single Williams FJ33-5A. The engine puts out 1,800 pounds of thrust and is controlled by a dual-channel, full-authority digital engine control (FADEC) system. The SF50 has a pressurized cabin for comfortable cruising at 28,000 feet, a top speed of 300 knots, and a 1,000-nautical-mile range. It also is the first jet equipped with an airframe parachute system.

Co-founder and CEO Dale Klapmeier was not shy about the company’s Vision when the aircraft’s certificate was delivered in October.

“It is a plane that is going to change the industry—change how we think about travel,” Klapmeier said at the time.  

The first Vision Jet customer took delivery in December from the company’s facility in Duluth, Minnesota, and two more during the grand opening in January of a new Cirrus Vision Center Campus in Knoxville, Tennessee. The production certificate allows Cirrus to speed up production to begin taking bigger bites out of the 600-order backlog and get more SF50s into the active Cirrus fleet.

The company has delivered 6,500 piston aircraft, and created the Vision Jet to be a natural step up from Cirrus pistons.