Duluth-based Cirrus Aircraft announced Monday that its single-engine personal jet has ahcieved FAA certification.
The long journey to certification means that deliveries can begin in 2016 for the new Cirrus Vision Jet. Customers have been putting down deposits for years to insure they can buy one of the first parachute-equipped airplanes in the industry that does not use propellers.
Manufacturing, which began months ago in anticipation of the FAA certification, will ramp up in 2017. The new and unique jet, houses its engine on its roof and can fly up to seven passengers - five adults and two children, company officials said.
Cirrus is better known for its small and all composite prop planes that go by the names SR20, SR22 and the turbocharged SR22T.
"What an amazing and impactful day for Cirrus Aircraft and the entire aviation and aerospace industry," said Cirrus Aircraft co-founder and CEO Dale Klapmeier. "Just as the SR series of high-performance piston aircraft has forever changed aviation, the impact of the Vision Jet on personal and regional transportation is going to be even more profound. Never before has a turbine aircraft solution come along that rewrites the rules in so many ways – iconic design, ease of operation, smart economics, simplified ownership and more."
