Something "big" at Cirrus
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Something "big" at Cirrus
Big announcement due from Cirrus on 18th .... any clues anyone? pressurised? Turbine? Diesel?
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On an American forum somebody thinks Cirrus are going to announce a turboprop, and it will be the ex Farnborough Aircraft project which ended up split off into a) the Epic Dynasty (which appears to have gone bust) and b) the Kestrel, and Klapmeier got involved with the latter, and if he returned to Cirrus then................ it would be a bit like Apple, with Jobs coming back to rescue it from dwindling sales 
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If one uses other a/c manufacturers (I do wish Flight Mag would stop calling them airframers
) there is a common product progression.
You know where this is going already - singles then twins. Tecnam, Diamond
DynAero and I' sure others have all followed this route with varying success.
Has Cirrus spotted the fact that some customers leave their orbit to step up to a twin and that to hold onto them they need the right equipment? After all it's easier to retain repeat business than to spend money attracting new buyers.
Single engined turbines are OK but the market is smaller than for twins engined a/c. Doesn't the PiperJet failure support that?
SGC
) there is a common product progression. You know where this is going already - singles then twins. Tecnam, Diamond
DynAero and I' sure others have all followed this route with varying success.
Has Cirrus spotted the fact that some customers leave their orbit to step up to a twin and that to hold onto them they need the right equipment? After all it's easier to retain repeat business than to spend money attracting new buyers.
Single engined turbines are OK but the market is smaller than for twins engined a/c. Doesn't the PiperJet failure support that?
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That's very old news.
You can buy a TBM (etc) for the money which will go further, carry more, burn less juice, cost less... the market is full of jets, with the only advantage here is that you don't need an ME PPL
You can buy a TBM (etc) for the money which will go further, carry more, burn less juice, cost less... the market is full of jets, with the only advantage here is that you don't need an ME PPL
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Thats quite an anticlimax!
Difficult to see who's going to buy this? Those flying SR22's are unlikely to unless the price is a (relatively) small step up from a top of the range SR22, which it won't be. And its not going to appeal to those want to trade down from a twin, so who is going to buy it?
I know they took a few hundred deposits for it a few years back before they scaled right back on production in 2008 and with new Chinese investment, they will no doubt, create new jobs and can start turning it out within a couple of years or so, so perhaps they've done their homework and think that they can clear up the (almost completely) vacated VLJ scene?
What a shame, a turbine, pressurised, 4 seat Cirrus would have been great!
Difficult to see who's going to buy this? Those flying SR22's are unlikely to unless the price is a (relatively) small step up from a top of the range SR22, which it won't be. And its not going to appeal to those want to trade down from a twin, so who is going to buy it?
I know they took a few hundred deposits for it a few years back before they scaled right back on production in 2008 and with new Chinese investment, they will no doubt, create new jobs and can start turning it out within a couple of years or so, so perhaps they've done their homework and think that they can clear up the (almost completely) vacated VLJ scene?
What a shame, a turbine, pressurised, 4 seat Cirrus would have been great!
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It's a jet
Seriously - this is oooooold news indeed. They already had this one in the pipeline at some stage, didn't they?
What a shame, a turbine, pressurised, 4 seat Cirrus would have been great!
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with the only advantage here is that you don't need an ME PPL
Personally I don't see much future for the SF50. Maybe 5-10 years ago, when conspicuous consumption was rampant, and the planned VLJ cost delta wasn't this big.
In the meantime VLJ acquisition costs doubled, and no longer fits the natural progression of an SR22 upgrader. A tiny market of people are able to put USD2-2.5m cash on the table, and those that could probably already bought a TBM, Mustang or Phenom.
Seriously, does anyone really "need" VLJ's?
Last edited by Hodja; 18th Apr 2012 at 13:55.
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Unfortunately you need a type rating instead. And those aren't trivial in terms of training commitment & costs.
Not that I believe this would translate into concrete action but there is a lot of fear stacked up among the regulators and associated gravy train riders, of VLJs. I've been to both Eurocontrol and UK ATC (West Drayton and Swanwick) presentations where this was voiced, along the lines of "thousands of VLJs clogging up the skies" etc. And this was years after the "VLJ dream" was dead and buried. One speaker claimed the Germans would demand an ATPL for any SE jet (which is kinda hard... how will you get the 500hrs in a multi pilot airplane
) and another one claimed they would ban SP jets from their airspace.... then one old boy in the audience sat up and asked what will happen to all the Citation 1s But in the current climate (vis the N-reg debacle) it may be better to not push this... especially if the said jet is 1999kg
And if it isn't, it's going to cost a packet more to fly in Europe.I've never believed there was a latent market for privately flown VLJs. All people I personally know who fly a SE TP are very smart pilots who know all the figures exactly and they would not ditch their present capability (short runways, load, etc).
If it was going to work anywhere it would work in the USA but even there it failed totally.
The money is still there and always has been, but a VLJ offers little over a TP.
And you can buy an Eclipse now; apparently quite well sorted too.
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Peter
I'd be surprised if this was more expensive than a TBM. I would personally choose the TBM any day over this, but would imagine it will be cheaper. Sadly I think Socata are way off the mark price wise.
I'd be surprised if this was more expensive than a TBM. I would personally choose the TBM any day over this, but would imagine it will be cheaper. Sadly I think Socata are way off the mark price wise.