Price Jacked To $1.96 Million, Deliveries Starting In 2015??? Really? Oh, Please...

News/Analysis By Jim Campbell, ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief

After a fair bit of hype, smoke, and mirrors... the "Major Announcement" promised last week by Cirrus Aircraft is that they're going to do what they said they were going to do... last year...

and the year before...

and the year before that.

In simpler terms, Cirrus claims that their Chinese state-owned parent, CAIGA, (China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co., Ltd.) has committed to the 'full' funding of the nearly dormant Cirrus SF50 single engine jet, first conceived of over a decade ago (as secretly developed in their humorously nicknamed "Moose Works") and publicly proposed in 2008 by Cirrus Founder and Visionary Alan Klapmeier (a vision, we must note for accuracy's sake, that was NOT originally shared by brother Dale... who, at first, opposed the project -- and now seems more than willing to take credit for the whole thing).

The announcement does not come without the inevitable "Gotcha" -- such as a price increase to a staggering $1.96 million... nearly twice as much as the original target price for the aircraft -- and an 'expected' first delivery date of some time in 2015. Mind you; much of the original brain trust has been laid off, fired, terminated or otherwise found other work, while a number of others are looking for positions outside of Cirrus as recently as the last few weeks.

This leads one to question how Cirrus can take a (now) dated Proof of Concept vehicle that is not remotely production-ready, find the necessary staff, build the requisite production test vehicles, develop a cohesive test program, pursue Type Certification, and also achieve a production certificate for an all-new vehicle with no commonality with previous aircraft production systems -- all in 2 and a half years? As usual, Cirrus' credibility on this issue would seem to have a problem passing the smell test and industry experts, including those who have accomplished or are currently involved in active certification and production development programs, scoff at Cirrus's overly-optimistic timeline. And let's face it... they've been promising all this, over and over again, for a number of years (and we have the audio/video to prove it--as usual).

In addition, the SF50 has bigger problems that it did NOT have in 2008 and would not have had, had the bird been certified in the timeframe originally proposed. After several years of economic malaise, Eclipse Aerospace Boss Mason Holland is poised to start producing NEW Eclipse 550 twinjets as early as NEXT YEAR for $2.7 million (which may be closer to the 'real' price a certified SF50 might eventually command... IF completed), with the equivalent of an Aerospace 600 pound Gorilla, namely Sikorsky, as its partner. Additionally; Diamond Aircraft, a company that has weathered a number of tough times and managed to maintain its integrity and credibility throughout, should be delivering single-engine D-Jets long before Cirrus can even think of earning a TC (Type Certificate), much less a Production Certificate. 

Aero-Summary/Analysis: OK... let us get this straight. The company that swore it wasn't being sold to China... and castigated those who said they were, and then eventually admitted that they were being sold to China (telling a number of fibs and whoppers in the process)... is now asking the GA community to believe that they are really going to build the SF50 Jet that has been in limbo since Cirrus Founder Alan Klapmeier was tossed out in a power struggle a few years ago? This is also the company that has been a part of so many documented (and admitted) breaches of contract, bad deals, false statements and internal difficulties as we have reported over the course of a number of years. In short... while we want nothing more than to see a vibrant, ethical, prosperous Cirrus take a positive place in the GA hierarchy... THIS company and (more importantly) THIS leadership (Dale Klapmeier and Todd Simmons, in particular) does not seem to be that company... and we simply don't have much faith in them.

We'll do our best to keep you up to date.... but no matter what, it should be entertaining.

FMI: No Good Deed Ever Goes Unpunished: Taking On The Cirrus Fiasco, Part 1, No Good Deed Ever Goes Unpunished: Taking On The Cirrus Fiasco, Part 2