Shown To Customers Wednesday; Public Unveiling Thursday
Afternoon
"the-jet"... is here. On Wednesday, Cirrus Design Corporation
fulfilled its promise to a select group of customers by giving them
the world's first look at "the-jet" -- the most anticipated new
aircraft in the company's history. Each guest had placed a $100,000
deposit for their first "personal" jet.
The company’s tight control of the project was evidenced
even further by the fact its own employees who were not directly
working on the project were not able to see "the-jet" until hours
before the depositors' showing Wednesday night. The rest of the
world got its first peek at "the-jet" mockup at a special event
held at the company's Duluth, MN headquarters Thursday
afternoon.
"We're calling it a 'personal jet', not because of its size but
because it's a natural extension of our SR22 line," said Cirrus
co-founder and CEO Alan Klapmeier. "Like the SR22, 'the-jet' is
designed to be owner flown and it will be loaded with innovative
features, including the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System. While
it's technologically advanced, it's designed to be exceptionally
easy to fly, offering customers the opportunity to grow into yet
another lifestyle change with Cirrus."
Most striking about "the-jet's" shape is the v-tail empennage
arrangement, to make room for the single Williams turbofan, carried
atop the raked fuselage in a smoothly integrated fairing. The lines
of the fuselage carry forward to a bulbous roofline over the
cockpit, which offers seating for a pilot and four adult passengers
-- one in the right seat, and three behind.
What's more, seating is configurable for as many as seven
passengers, including smaller seats for children, in a
configuration Cirrus calls "five-plus."
"We are in the early design and development phase and
didn’t want to limit ourselves in any way. It is also
important that any data we released was absolutely accurate," said
co-founder and Vice Chairman Dale Klapmeier.
Cirrus says there are many more details to be announced, and
information will be released as they are finalized.
"The information we were trying to protect during the past years
of product development was the unusual amount of versatility and
flexibility that has been incorporated into an airplane of this
size," Vice President of Advanced Development Mike Van Staagen
said. "The flexibility is even more surprising given this airplane
is designed specifically for a single owner/operator.
"The design is precisely configured to maximize flexibility for
the owner," he added. "Mountain bikes, camping equipment, golf
clubs, skis, bigger families, antique spinning wheel? No problem!
'the-jet' will deliver more value because its cavernous interior
accommodates very diverse usage, and while doing this all at about
300 kts."