PERSONAL JET Cirrus Vision SF50 update

Cirrus Vision SF50 is a composite fully pressurized . The OEM is considered one of the pioneers of composite construction. To date, Cirrus has delivered 6300 composite 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 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 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 and company has chalked up nearly 600 screen-based lightdeck. This avion- light . orders for its revolutionary new jet. ics suite for the Vision Jet includes Focusing on getting it done right, “ 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 , 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), 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 to Duluth, then Grand Forks and craft. Since that time, 129 lives have Southern hospitality at the now Knoxville. The Vision Center been saved by deploying the whole Vision Center embodies our mission to deliver a airframe parachute system. Cirrus is world class aviation experience.” committed to CAPS and will install In Nov 2015, Cirrus broke ground In Mar 2016, Cirrus and Klapmeier it on the Vision SF50. CAPS on the on its new $15 million customer backed those words by announcing SF50 differs from the SR20 series sys- experience center at TYS (McGhee the addition of Vision Center VP & tem in a number of ways. The SR20 Tyson Airport, Knoxville TN). Called GM Stephen Deuker to lead Cirrus

Artist rendering of the Cirrus Vision Center. This new facility is being built at TYS (McGhee Tyson, Knoxville TN) and will be open for business by mid-2016. It will take over all customer-facing activities. Engineering and manufacturing will continue to operate at the Cirrus factory in Duluth MN.

90 PROFESSIONAL PILOT / May 2016 on a “revolutionary new concept,” an effort that came up short leav- ing early customers with a perfor- mance-limited (VLJ) unable to ly into icing conditions with a less-than-optimal avionics package. In that case, it took the company several months, a bank- ruptcy and new ownership to lift all of the operational restrictions to al- low owners to take full advantage of their new VLJs. Fast forward 10 years and it’s obvi- ous that Cirrus Aircraft is now laying the foundation for a successful intro- duction into service of an innovative new little jet that will ultimately cre- ate a new category of aircraft: The single engine personal jet. It’s no accident that the Vision Cen- ter has been established in Knoxville. Located within 2 hours light time of over 1000 owner-lown SR20 and SR22 aircraft (and a tank of gas nets SF50 Vision offers several modular seating options to improve comfort and flexibility. There are 5 different layout configurations available ranging from a 3+2 to a 5+2 design, pictured above. another 1000 owners), this new lo- cation adds tremendous value to the Cirrus ownership equation, plus the Aircraft’s world class customer ex- by CAE. Level D simulators are so- winters in Knoxville are much more periences. Deuker brings more than phisticated enough to allow the full pleasant than those in Duluth. 25 years of leadership and hospital- type rating to be completed without ity experience from The Ritz Carlton ever lying the actual aircraft. Conclusion Hotel Company. Based in Knoxville, Accordingly, “Through the strategic Deuker will be responsible for deliv- use of technology, simulation, dis- Safety irst! Again, that is by de- ering an unparalleled brand experi- tance learning and professional light sign. Over the past 18 years, Cirrus ence to customers that take delivery, instruction, the Cirrus Vision training has continuously engineered various receive training and other services program will truly be one-of-a-kind safety systems into its aircraft, from at the lagship Vision Center. Cirrus experience,” explains Bergwall. A CAPS to digital avionics to advanced promises to raise the customer expe- tenet of all Cirrus training programs, autolight systems to integral roll rience to a level not seen before in from the SR series through the SF50, cages, to name a few. These features . is that a well-trained pilot is a key el- make lying more enjoyable and in- As the irst building in Knoxville ement required to maximize the air- crease the chances of survival in an opens in June 2016, Cirrus will split craft’s utility in the safest manner pos- accident. its customer delivery and service sible. Throughout the comprehensive Lastly, Cirrus has provided great work from the assembly and design training program, pilots will build support to its customers for nearly 20 operations in Duluth. Composite conidence, skills and judgement. years. That loyalty is now paying div- manufacturing will remain in Grand Each phase of training is tailored to idends with an order book of nearly Forks. Near the end of 2016, the 2nd meet the needs of the student, wheth- 600 new Cirrus Vision SF50 aircraft— building housing the Vision full-mo- er the Vision is their irst jet or they many of those orders come from ex- tion simulator will open at the new are a seasoned professional pilot. isting Cirrus Aircraft owners. Clearly, Vision Center in Knoxville. Upon completion of the type rating, if Cirrus builds it, they will come. Cirrus instructors are available to pro- Training vide pilot mentoring services while Stuart Lau is an FDM the newly minted Vision pilot gains systems manager Like any other jet aircraft, Cir- operational experience in the aircraft. at SkyTrac Systems. rus Vision pilots will be required Likewise, each year, Vision pilots He leads the IHST to obtain a type rating through the must return to the Knoxville Vision HFDM Working manufacturer’s in-house program. Center for annual recurrent training. Group and acts as According to Bergwall, “Cirrus has an IHST liaison to been making investments to ensure Get it done right – the irst time the Global HFDM a training experience as revolution- Steering Group. He is also a pilot ary as the jet itself.” The cornerstone The Cirrus guiding principal of get- for a large international airline and of the factory-direct initial and recur- ting it done right the irst time may a safety and accident investigation rent training is a full-motion, high-i- be a reference to a past manufactur- committee member. Lau has been delity Level D simulator developed er’s rush to gain early certiication associated with Pro Pilot since 1996.

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