28 November 2014
Cirrus Aircraft has announced the successful first flight of its second certification flight test aircraft, ‘C-One’ (C1), in their Vision SF50 personal jet programme.
According to CirrusThis achievement marks the most recent significant milestone for the programme as C1 joins C0 in FAA certification activities and continues to accelerate the Vision SF50 towards entry into service.
C1’s first flight took place on 25 November at approximately 3:30 PM CST from Duluth International Airport. Upon completion of the forty-five minute flight, Experimental Flight Test Pilot Terry LeSage reported, “All systems operated as expected and C1 handled quite nicely, just as we predicted. This latest ‘first flight’ is a validation of our dedication and commitment to the design goals of this game-changing airplane.”
Cirrus Aircraft currently plans to have three aircraft dedicated to certification flight-testing in the Vision SF50 personal jet programme. C1 is the second aircraft to join the programme and will be used for an array of certification efforts including Flight Into Known Icing (FIKI) testing. C0, the first certification flight test aircraft, joined the program on 24 March 2014 and has accumulated nearly 220 flight hours over 150 flights. This aircraft has primarily been used for aerodynamic performance and handling testing and will continue to expand its flight test regime as the program progresses. The third and final flight test aircraft, ‘C-Two’ (C2), will be used for reliability testing, optional equipment testing and is expected to join the program in the near future.
The Vision SF50 is a personal jet designed to fill the gap between high-performance piston singles and light jets. It features a cruise speed of 300 KTAS, advanced avionics, the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS™) and an all-carbon fibre structure. It has a current list price of $1.96 million and seating up to five adults and two smaller passengers. First customer deliveries of the aircraft are currently planned for the fourth quarter of 2015.
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