Cirrus Jet makes First Flight

DougRobertson

Cirrus Design has announced their single engine V-tail jet made its first flight from Duluth, MN International Airport DLH yesterday, 3 July 2008. The 45 minute flight was entirely successful. Cirrus is on a fast track with their jet aircraft development, which, as I recall, was first announced just earlier this year.

FloridaMetal

I wasn't even aware that they had a full scale model yet. They had a 1/50 scale model of it at Sun N Fun, looked just like that new V Tailed Eclipse Jet. Hopefully I will see it this fall at the NBAA in Orlando

DougRobertson

Daniel, See my photos of N281CJ and check its registration date.. It was not easy to photograph it in a limited space and with constant crowd interest. The similar Eclipse 400 vee-tail was also at EAA AirVenture 2008 and photographed, but is smaller than the Cirrus jet, which they are calling VISION SJ50. Cirrus established a separate company to build the jet: Cirrus Jet Company rather than Cirrus Design Corp.

We continued on to Ohio in the Bonanza on 3 August to visit the USAF National Air and Space Museum at Wright-Pat, then visited Eclipse Jet final flight test and delivery hangar at Albuquerque's airport. Had the tour of the Eclipse 500 mockup with sales rep and the hangar. They had an executive shakeout at the top announced at Oshkosh. They have delivered 230 Eclipse 500s, and I saw another 30-40 with personalized N numbers getting ready for delivery. My opinion is Eclipse needs to deliver far more 500s before thinking of producing the 400. They have spent a ton of money and need to get better cash flow. Layoffs were announced. There is a side market of customers selling their Eclipse 500 early delivery positions for a profit and good European order flow because of the current Euro/Dollar exchange rate.

FloridaMetal

Yeah I saw the pictures, not much bigger than one of the props. I didnt see you post any pictures of the Eclipse 400, or haven't you gotten to it yet in your posting?

I saw the Eclipse 400 at Sun N Fun in Florida. I went the day before the festivities began for the week and was fortunate to catch it flying in. I didn't know what it was at first, for some strange reason I thought it was the Diamond Jet ather than the Eclipse.

They might have the Cirrus Jet at the NBAA Convention down here in Orlando if it is flying now. I will be attending that since I can get in free because I work for the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. Hopefully the new Embraer jets will be there too.

GlennE.Chatfield

I am one of those technical kind of guys (some people call me "Monk"), so I thought I'd correct Doug's name for the museum in Dayton, OH. It is the National Museum of the United States Air Force. The National Air & Space Museum is the one in Washington, DC. Nevertheless, the Air Force Museum (as it used to be called) is the best museum I've ever been to, which is probably why I've been there about 80 times!

Glenn

DougRobertson

Thanks, Glenn, I realize I have used a couple different names for it here from imperfect aging memory, and I have yet to get to the associated photos taken there as extension of the OSH trip. There are actually several National Air & Space Museums, I first visited the original in 1979 in Washincton, D.C. and there is a second one at Dulles Airport IAD. The US Navy one at Pensacola is affiliated with the Smithsonian as the National Naval Air & Space Museum because the US Navy officially does not have "Museums". (The Naval aircraft carrier museums are privately endowed or city-sponsored). The missile "Museum" building at Point Mugu, recognized as a Historixc Site by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, is officially called The Command History Storage Facility, and the extensive outdoor display of missiles and an F-14 and a QF-4 mounted aircraft is officially called the Missile Park at Point Mugu, California.

I first visited the USAF museum at Wright-Pat in the 1970s, and it it totally different, much better and enlarged now, including an IMAX Theater which we attended. I would put the USAF's aviation museum at Warner-Robins AFB and Logistics Center as number two in USAF aviation museums. The US Army Aviation museum at Fort Rucker, Alabama is, well, not quite in the same league.

DougRobertson

For Daniel re the Eclipse 400 photo mention and your question: I knew the mention would come back to bite me. Yes, there is a photo taken by me but not uploaded yet. I am slowly working through the backlog. (I was hospitalized with minor surgery last week). Though a prototype and perhaps registered Experimental-I might just list it in Civil Production Aircraft alphabetically along with the Eclipse 500 photos and label the caption Experimentaal if so. I have a lot more Eclipse 500 photos taken at ABQ yet to be uploaded, also. Thanks for your interest and additional info. The Cirrus VISION SJ50 N281CJ is flying.

GlennE.Chatfield

Hi Doug,

I know how it is to be getting old! My first visit to the United States Air Force Museum was in 1969 after we moved back to Ohio from Colorado in my junior year of high school. It was still at Patterson Field, with the entrance at downtown Fairborn (the city where my wife and I married). It moved to Wright Field in 1971, if I remember correctly, and my first visit after the move was in March 1972 while on leave from the Army. Such changes over the years! I don't get down there as often any more since it is now an 8-hour drive for me. Last visit was in May.

Anyway, the Pensacolo museum is now called the National Museum of Naval Aviation. All the government museums are being renamed like that, which is why the AFM was renamed. Only about 5 years or so ago.

My first trip the the NASM was in 1977 not many months after it opened, and have been there once since back in 1991. I'm eager to get a chance to see the stuff at the airport. In 1991 I was able to get a tour of the restoration facility and the Enola Gay was there in pieces (as you can see in my gallery).

My first trip to the Army Aviation Museum in Sept 2003 was only for outside shots, since the museum was closed for repairs due to flooding. however, we got inside in December the following year. Fortunately during our first trip we got the XCH-62 shots because that has since been scrapped. I'm really wanting to get to Warner-Robbins, since I've seen Daniel's shots there.

DougRobertson

Thank you, Glenn. I have probably 20+ years on you but you are more up to date on aviation museum info. Meanwhile, until you actually get to Warner Robins, GA for the Museum of Aviation there, take their great virtual tour at www.museumofaviation.org The actual museum is open 9 to 5 daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New year's. It is free and enter by WR-AFB South Gate. In Ohio we saw the terrific Operation Red Flag Exercises film, which put the viewer right in the cockpit looking out during ACM.

DougRobertson

Adding a follow-up answer to this discussion, my photo of the Eclipse 400 concept jet (similar configuration to the Cirrus VISION SJ50) is uploaded on this site. The aircraft was developed by Swift Engineering, Inc. for Eclipse and is so titled by the FAA records, so search through my aircraft listings might be confusing as it is NOT grouped under Eclipse as an EA400.

The aircraft is listed by me under Swift Engineering Mark 400 alphabetically in my Experimental class section. The N number is N5184U. Only one photo was taken. The 400 concept prototype for Eclipse uses one 900 lb st turbofan, while the Cirrus VISION SJ50 uses one 1,900 lb st turbofan, over double the thrust. The SJ50 is also a V-tail configuration, but is larger than the 400, seating up to seven.

Two other VLJ prototypes-Very Light Jets- were photographed at EAA AirVenture 2008 by me. Look at the EAA Museum's historic N222FJ-the Williams V-Jet II one-off built for Williams International Corporation by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites and also see C-FPTM, the Diamond D-Jet, also using Williams jet power.