Cirrus To Take Wraps Off Turbofan Offering At M5... And ANN Will Be There

When it comes to secret flying projects, the folks at Area 51 have nothing on two brothers from Minnesota... but the time is fast approaching when Alan and Dale Klapmeier will take the wraps off a full-size mockup of "the-jet," at the fifth annual Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association "migration" to Duluth.

The unveiling of "the-jet" will occur Thursday, the first day of the "M5" event. And ANN will be on hand to bring our readers some of the first pictures of the mockup, as well as the latest information on the aircraft.

There's little doubt the gang at Cirrus has had some fun in teasing the aviation public about it's jet. The planemaker has been deliberately coy in releasing information about the offering -- we know it will be powered by a single Williams turbofan, it will seat at least four people, and will sell for about $1 million. It will sport retractable gear, and a BRS whole-plane emergency parachute system.

"We've designed the-jet to be the next step up from an SR22. It should be a logical progression," said Dale Klapmeier, who along with brother Alan co-founded Cirrus Design.

A graphic on the Cirrus jet website, with several key "puzzle" pieces missing, appears to show an aircraft with a definite heritage to the SR20 and SR22, and even further back to the Klapmeiers' original VK30 homebuilt offering. The most tantalizing pieces of the puzzle -- those showing engine location and tail configuration -- are curiously (grin) absent from the graphic, however.

The lack of hard information hasn't dissuaded potential customers, however. More than 150 have each placed a $100,000 deposit to secure a place in line, according to the Duluth News Tribune. Those depositers have been granted special security clearance to view the mockup Wednesday; the public unveiling will occur Thursday.

In all, about 550 people have already registered for M5, and about 270 Cirrus planes are expected to fly into Duluth later this week, according to COPA President Mike Radomsky.

"Our members are diehard Cirrus fans, by and large," he said, adding a number of COPA members have placed orders for "the-jet."

FMI: www.cirrusdesign.com, www.the-jet.com, http://migration.cirruspilots.org/m5/info/