Every time we look at the apron at an airfield and see a Cirrus aircraft (whether it is an SR20 or SR22), we can hardly imagine that that beautiful and modern machine, with slender and aerodynamic lines, which recall the shape of a drop, had its project started almost thirty years ago. Single engine with low wings and built in composite material, the SR20, SR22 and SR22T line (turbocharged) were not the first projects of that small company, founded by two brothers ionate about aeronautics: the VK-30, a plane with a pusher configuration and thin wings, made its appearance at the EAA Convention in Oshkosh, in 1987, allowing, from then on, the public's first with the newly created Cirrus Design, which years later would be renamed Cirrus Aircraft.
Check out a FULL review of a Cirrus SR20:
From the company's birth to commemorating the world's best-selling single-engine piston engine for 18 consecutive years (which includes the three versions above), Cirrus Aircraft recently released its SR22 8000th Limited Edition Commemorative Edition, in celebration of the delivery of over 8000 aircraft.
In view of this important milestone, we have prepared a compilation of the brand's history, in addition to a summary of all versions of this important aircraft for the development of light private aviation in our country, which you can check from today, in the AeroFlap column .
Cirrus Aircraft – the beginning of the manufacturer and its VK-30
Like many American companies, Cirrus started out in a barn on a farm outside Baraboo, Wisconsin, USA. This place belonged to the father of two young brothers named Alan Lee and Dale Edward Klapmeier, who in 1984 started the construction of a small plane, which would be an alternative to the already established planes that were successful at the time, such as the Cessna 172 and Beechcraft Bonanza . The idea was to design a single engine with a more elegant design, low and thin wings, tapered fuselage, built in composite material and achieve greater speed, rivaling the already obsolete Cessna and Beech designs. So, at the 1987 EAA in Oshkosh, the VK-30 model was presented.
The new plane from the new manufacturer achieved interesting feats at the time. In addition to its unusual design, the machine was not manufactured in aluminum like most other aircraft on the market, but in composite materials, lighter, with low drag (due to its design and the non-use of rivets as in competitors), retractable landing gear and equipped with a Continental IO 550G engine, which developed 300hp. Such a setup allowed the VK-30 to fly at speeds of up to 190 knots – quite an achievement for a beginner at the time. The first flight of the new Cirrus took place in February 1988, with interesting results within the flight envelope.
Available in the form of kits, 13 VK-30s were sold by the manufacturer, and to this day 6 aircraft are still in operation around the world. Production of the plane was discontinued in 1993 as the company was focusing on producing no longer kitted but certified aircraft. Thus, Cirrus presented the ST-50, together with Israel Isr Aviation, which came to be a product very similar to the VK-30, but equipped with a turboprop engine, replacing the previous one, the piston.
The ST-50 made its maiden flight on December 7, 1994, but was never put into production. This is because the company's headquarters was moving, leaving Wisconsin for Duluth, Minnesota (where its main manufacturing unit is located today) and, also, it was already focusing on the development of a completely new line of aircraft, the SR20.
The new new aircraft, named SR – which is an acronym for Senglish-engine Rreciprocating piston (or single-engine reciprocating piston, in free translation) and 20 referring to the 200hp engine, it had its certification in October 1998. Since its launch, it has proved to be a great success, as the aircraft delivered a beautiful design, embedded technology ( with a huge ARNAV MFD screen, something unheard of in aircraft of that class), ease of controls, unprecedented comfort, in addition to the exclusive CAPS – Cirrus Airframe Parachute System, which is nothing more than a parachute that can be used in emergencies, bringing the aircraft and its occupants back to the ground, since the first version. Three years later, Cirrus presented the SR22, whose more powerful engine, new , greater take-off weight, more options, etc., would become what is now the biggest sales success in its category in the world. In Brazil alone (Cirrus' second largest market outside the US) there are more than 440 SR20 and 22 aircraft ed with the RAB, showing the success and adaptation of the equipment to operations in our territory.
With consolidated success around the world, in 2008 the company took a new and daring step: it developed the prototype of the single jet Vision Jet SF50. In view of the enormous costs of developing and producing new technologies for the small jet (among other factors), Cirrus had financial difficulties to continue the program and even its very existence. Faced with this situation, in 2011, the company was acquired by the Chinese CAIGA, which replenished the funding for the SF50 project, which was reduced. Thus, in March 2014, the first prototype flew, having been certified by the FAA (Federal Aviation istration) on October 28, 2016, starting the first deliveries in December of the same year.
Although the SF50 is a product with greater weight and reputation in the aeronautical industry, it is in its piston aircraft that Cirrus makes the most effort to produce and update its products. The G1, G2, G3, G5 and newer G6 generations
are proof of this, as they follow their cadence in improvements and novelties in order to keep them constantly updated and in first place in sales, making competitors try to produce something close to the Cirrus SR20/22 standard, but without the same success – as occurred with the Corvallis TT produced by Columbia Aircraft, later changing its name to Cessna 400 when acquired by Textron Inc.
In the next AeroFlap Article about the Cirrus SR line, we will make a general compilation of all versions (from G1 to G6), showing their characteristics, technical data and improvements of all generations.
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Micael Rocha was a flight instructor for four years, is a checker at aeroclubs and CIACs, has flown C525, C525B and C208B Caravan in air taxis and has been flying Cirrus SR22 since 2013.
@aeroereview
