PERSONAL JET Cirrus Vision SF50 update Cirrus Vision SF50 is a composite fully pressurized aircraft. The OEM is considered one of the pioneers of composite airframe construction. To date, Cirrus has delivered 6300 composite airframes without a single structural failure. Certification of the $1.96 million single-engine personal jet enters the home stretch with customer deliveries expected mid-year. By Stuart Lau Order book 18 to 24 months later, full produc- ATP/FE/CFII Airbus A300-600, tion will peak out at over 100 aircraft Boeing 747, 747-400, 757/767, Popularity of the Cirrus SR20 and per year. CRJ and Saab 340 SR22 series continues as the Vision Jet nears certiication. For the past 2 irrus Aircraft is entering the years, Cirrus has delivered over 300 An integrated digital aircraft inal stages of certiication for new aircraft annually maintaining its Cirrus Perspective Touch by Garmin Cthe world’s irst single-engine leading-in-deliveries position. In all, was introduced in late 2015 as the personal jet: The Cirrus Vision SF50. Cirrus has delivered over 6300 high new avionics system designed spe- Targeting mid-2016 for certiication performance single-engine piston ciically for the Vision SF50. Based and entry into service, this $1.96 aircraft. Many of these current Cir- on the Garmin 3000 avionics suite, million aircraft will establish a new rus customers have placed deposits the Perspective Touch system fea- category positioned neatly between for the new Vision SF50. To date, the tures the latest turbine-class touch- the single-engine turboprop and company has chalked up nearly 600 screen-based lightdeck. This avion- light business jet. orders for its revolutionary new jet. ics suite for the Vision Jet includes Focusing on getting it done right, “Cirrus Aircraft is encouraged on dual over-sized widescreen light dis- the manufacturer will deliver its irst the initial market acceptance of our plays with multi-pane capabilities. Vision aircraft this year without any Vision Jet,” adds Bergwall. “Cirrus Cirrus claims that personalization operational restrictions. According- continues to have mature conversa- and ease of use are hallmarks of the ly, “The aircraft will be fully capable tions with many different operators Perspective Touch suite. This new at the time of irst delivery to include who are looking at how the Vision lightdeck enables pilots to custom- certiication for light into known SF50 will it their business needs and ize the layout of the primary light icing conditions, a fully function- are anxiously awaiting certiication.” display (PFD), multifunction light al avionics system and a very high Currently, a full scale SF50 mockup display (MFD) and touchscreen con- quality interior,” states Cirrus Vision with a conforming interior is tour- trollers. The 3 Garmin touchscreen SF50 Project Mgr Matt Bergwall. ing North America and continues to controllers increase the speed at “The engineering team is now fo- gain interest. which a wide range of aircraft sys- cusing on inalizing certiication by According to Cirrus, in anticipa- tems and functions can be assessed, inishing up all the FAA system light tion of certiication, production in which is a great advantage as oth- tests, Cirrus Airframe Parachute Sys- Duluth is beginning to ramp up with er manufacturers offer only 1 or 2 tem (CAPS) testing, report writing 4 Vision SF50s on the inal assembly controllers. Bergwall adds, “The 3 and paperwork.” At press time, FAA line. Within the irst 12 months of landscape touchscreen controllers certiication is imminent with EASA certiication, Cirrus plans on deliv- replace all keys around the avionics certiication to follow by 6 months. ering up to 50 of the new jets. And and keypad controllers. Every phys- 88 PROFESSIONAL PILOT / May 2016 Cirrus and Garmin have worked together to create the Cirrus Perspective Touch avionics suite. Most system controls, navigation and communications are integrated in this state-of-the-art suite. Based on the Garmin G3000 series, Cirrus adds features that would be found on aircraft 10-times the price of its SF50 Vision. ical knob, switch or button had to count and FADEC. All these factors Safety irst earn its way into the cockpit.” contribute to a low cost of owner- Standard or optional features may ship and excellent performance. A Cirrus Aircraft’s philosophy of a include synthetic vision, real-time modular design allows quick assem- layered safety strategy on the Vision weather radar, a digital automatic bly, disassembly and maintenance. Jet begins with a well-trained pilot. light control system, electronic sta- For the FJ33-5A turbofan, Williams On the Vision SF50, Cirrus offers a bility control (while hand lying), au- offers the TAP Blue maintenance couple of very unique and high-tech tomatic pressurization scheduling, program that covers all maintenance safety systems such as the emergen- automated system alerts, graphical costs—both scheduled and unsched- cy descent mode and the Cirrus Air- depictions of aircraft system status, uled—for a ixed hourly rate. TAP frame Parachute System (CAPS), and integrated weight and balance, glob- Blue is the only engine maintenance provides a number of innovative fea- al datalink weather, satellite phone program that covers FOD and light- tures such as the electronic stability and texting, enhanced runway ning strike damage, and is included protection, synthetic vision systems awareness and integrated backup in Cirrus’ comprehensive aircraft (SVS), stall protection system (stick instrument displays. All of these fea- maintenance program for the SF50. shaker/pusher) and great low speed tures, combined with the Williams International FJ33-5A full authori- ty digital engine control (FADEC), result in a fully integrated digital lightdeck. The perfect powerplant for the Vision SF50 The Williams FJ33-5A is a scaled down version of the widely popular FJ44 engine. According to Williams, over 5000 FJ44s are in service and have accumulated over 10 million light hours. Legendary reliability, a superior thrust-to-weight ratio and world class customer service are some of the reasons why Cirrus se- lected the Williams FJ33 to power the Vision Jet. The FJ33-5A (1800 lbs of thrust) is a twin-spool turbofan with many Williams International is a perennial favorite in the Pro Pilot Powerplant Product Support Survey. Over advanced features such as “blisks” the 18 years Williams has been included in the Survey, the company has outscored its nearest rival (integral blades and disks), effu- by 5%. The FJ33-5A is based on the same technologies as the larger FJ44 powerplant, which has a sion-cooled combustors, low parts pedigree 2nd-to-none with over 5000 engines in service accumulating more than 10 million hours. PROFESSIONAL PILOT / May 2016 89 Vision SF50 technical specifications Vision SF50 range vs payload WEIGHT (lbs) Max ramp....................................................6040 Max takeoff.................................................6000 1400 Basic empty.................................................3500 Max 0 fuel...................................................4900 1200 240 Ktas (Economy cruise) Max usable fuel...........................................2000 300 Ktas (High speed cruise) 1000 ENGINE Manufacturer....................Williams International Model.....................................................FJ33-5A 800 Thrust approximately (lbs).........................1800 600 Payload (lbs) PERFORMANCE Takeoff (ft)..................................................2036 400 Takeoff over 50 ft obstacle (ft).......................3192 Max operating altitude...............................FL280 200 Stall speed with flaps (kts)..............................67 High speed cruise (kts)...................................300 0 Landing ground roll (ft)...............................1721 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 DIMENSIONS (ft) NBAA IFR range (nm) Wingspan....................................................38.7 Length.........................................................30.7 Height.......................................................10.9 Cabin width....................................................5.1 CAPS deploys from the top of the the Vision Center, the new campus Cabin height...................................................4.1 passenger cabin, but the SF50 CAPS will include all Cirrus pilot, owner will deploy from the nose of the air- and customer activities to include craft. Unique to the SF50, its CAPS training, sales, delivery, mainte- handling characteristics. is integrated with the avionics soft- nance, support and FBO. Emergency descent mode is trig- ware and provides an extra layer of At the groundbreaking ceremony, gered by a loss of pressurization, a protection. In the event that a pilot Cirrus Aircraft Cofounder and CEO feature similar to that available on deploys the SF50 CAPS, the avion- Dale Klapmeier said, “Our mission newer Dassault Falcon bizjets. Once ics will automatically maneuver the to deliver an aviation experience that pressurization is lost, the automatic aircraft to ensure that the parachute is the pinnacle of innovation, quali- light control system will safely ly is released within its operating en- ty and safety is taking a giant leap the aircraft to a lower, more inhabit- velope—a speed ranging from 67 to forward with our expansion here in able, altitude. 160 KCAS. Tennessee. Cirrus Aircraft’s story is Over 15 years ago, Cirrus certi- one of growth and expansion—irst ied CAPS on the SR20 series air- SF50 operators will receive