controllers, one of which can act as a standby
primary flight display. The touchscreens can also be
set up to individual preferences – for example, on my
flights I kept one for quick and easy entry of radio
frequencies.
This is a seriously capable going-places machine –
a range of up to 1,200nm, or 1,000 at high-speed
cruise, means that from the Knoxville, Tennessee
Vision Jet delivery center we could fly to almost
anywhere on the US east coast without stopping for
fuel. To the west, Amarillo would be within range.
Fuel burn is startling to anyone coming from
piston planes – the first hour of a trip uses 80-85 US
gallons, but at cruise the jet uses only about 70
gallons an hour. Overall, that’s roughly $300 per
hour). You can cover a lot of ground in each hour –
high-speed cruise is 300kts.
Landing speeds are low for a jet – stall speed is
just 67kts (against 60kts for the SR22) and I found
that the aircraft was easy to settle into a stable
descent, at the bottom of which the trailing-link
landing gear makes every landing look good.
Pilots will need a specific type rating, and training
for one pilot is included in the airplane’s price. An
instrument rating, allowing the pilot to fly in cloud, is
required but that can be added into the training
syllabus. You need it to fly at the altitudes where the
SF50 is most efficient –at, or near 28,000ft.
There will also be two Vision Jet full-motion LevelD simulators from July, when the one at Knoxville
becomes operational. The other is in Poznan,
Poland.Healthy Demand
Cirrus stuck with its SF50 while planned rivals such as
the Diamond D-Jet and the PiperJet were shelved.
And it looks like the Minnesota company’s faith in the
concept was justified. Since FAA certification at the
end of 2016 Cirrus has delivered 45 jets and has
orders for more than 600 in hand.
At a current production rate of just over one per
week, this year it will deliver 60 – that’s a healthy
backlog, when output is ramped up to 125 annually.
However, Bergwall says opportunities for earlier
positions do come up from time to time.
Given the pricing ($1.96m base price, and $2.4m
typically equipped) demand is likely to remain strong
from Cirrus piston plane owners seeking to trade up,
and those turned-off by the high price of more
conventional Light jets.
There are also fleet operators for whom the
economics of the aircraft make sense.
While aviation’s history is littered with the
bleached bones of aircraft that were going to change
the way we fly, the Vision Jet might be the aircraft
that extends the benefits of jet ownership to many
more pilots. Full marks to Cirrus for keeping the faith.
More information from http://www.cirrusaircraft.com82 AVBUYERMAGAZINE– July 2018 http://www.AVBUYER.com Aircraft Index see Page 129OPERATING PILOT REPORT
“However, Bergwall says opportunities for
earlier positions do come up from time to time.”
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