Here's The REALLY Exclusive Coverage Of Cirrus Design's First Jet Test Flight

ANN had THE seat to the historic first flight of Cirrus Design's personal jet prototype, July 3rd, 2008. Not content to use the same, limited, generic pool video available to one and all, ANN put a team in Duluth, Minnesota for most of the week prior to the aircraft's first flight to shoot the best footage we could obtain... with unparalleled access to the design team, build crew, test pilots, and the management team that conceived this 21st century jet plane.

ANN and Aero-TV produced the first news and pix of the first flight to be offered anywhere in the world (even using our new "Aero-Twitter" feature within seconds of the takeoff!) and assigned one of its very best videographers, Nathan Cremisino, and E-I-C Jim Campbell, to oversee this important assignment -- on site.

This is the first of a number of expertly produced programs that will detail this jet program as extensively as we have profiled all the other players in this growing market -- aided by the (always welcome) fact that Cirrus remains one of the most approachable and amicable companies to work with, in our professional experience... which ultimately contributes to the production of truly exceptional programming.

The first flight of 'The Jet' came about after extensive research and careful preparation. Blasting off at approximately 0945 CDT, the 45-minute flight was conducted from company worldwide headquarters at the Duluth International Airport, in Duluth, MN. The aircraft, as attested by this video and the interviews we conducted of the design and test team proved that the aircraft performed tremendously well.

Cirrus notes that 'The-Jet' is an all new personal aircraft that blends the best of both the high performance single-engine class and the very light jet (VLJ) category. Unsurpassed interior space, single engine fuel efficiency, flexible seating options for a family of up to seven, state-of-the-art advanced avionics and flight systems and the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) are each hallmarks of the new design.

"The-Jet serves as a smarter, simpler and more efficient way to use transportation dollars" said Cirrus Chairman and CEO Alan Klapmeier. "Today's first flight of The-Jet holds the unique promise of redefining general aviation. It provides an entirely new transportation option for personal and business travel."

A truly 'team effort' on the part of CD's "Advanced development Group," ADG VP Steve Serfling praised the organization for its efforts and the milestone achievement. "This 'first flight' is a historically significant moment for Cirrus and the opening of a new chapter for all of aviation. Our customer partners can be proud of the team of more than 125 dedicated engineers and technicians that have worked tirelessly to ensure that this milestone was met in a safe and efficient manner. With this successful flight today, we initiate the next program phase that will support the more rigorous certification program."

The-Jet: Aircraft and Program Details

• Airframe N280CJ is called "V1" for verification and validation testing.
• V1 is powered by a Williams International FJ33-4A-19 engine. 
• The-Jet will fly at about 300kts at a maximum operating altitude of 25,000 feet, well below airline traffic. 
• The unique angled backpack mounted engine and vectored thrust makes for smooth handling and excellent engine efficiency.
• The backpack engine mount design keeps the engine itself outside of the fuselage structure. 
• The spherical, pressurized cabin design accommodates up to seven with flexible seating in a "5 plus 2" configuration.
• The rear center sliding seat and flip-up adolescent child seats make for generous leg room and ample space for carry-on items.
• The strength of The-Jet's airframe has been further substantiated by thorough structural load testing of each sub-assembly.
• The-Jet completed a week long wind tunnel test at the Langley Full Scale Tunnel in Hampton, VA this Spring in support of five other smaller scale wind tunnel tests.
• The-Jet marks the first application of the v-tail on a major consumer aircraft in 60 years, which was facilitated due to better understanding of aerodynamics.
• Like all other Cirrus aircraft, the-jet comes with the revolutionary Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) as standard equipment.

  

Let's ALL Join With Aero-TV As We View The EXCLUSIVE Excitement Of Cirrus Design's First Jet Test Flight! 

About Aero-TV: It's DEFINITELY Show Time!!!!

OK, folks, so far, so good... earlier this year we initiated the first feature programming series for Aero-TV... we decided to take it slow, but we also tried a steady approach to building the aviation world's most innovative news and information service. We hope you understand that this is the most complex media program we've ever undertaken and what you're seeing is just the tip of the iceberg... but from here on out, we will be doing our best to educate, inform, and entertain YOU about all aspects of the exciting worlds of aviation and aerospace. 

And yes, there is MUCH MORE to come... and soon.

If you've been an observer of the media and associated media industries over the last few years, it's not hard to mistake the fact that a massive revolution is taking place. Old sources for news and information are falling by the wayside, having to change their modus operandi or risk obsolescence (or extinction). Electronic media and print media are both under the assault of progress, and the online world has been a cornerstone for revolutionary change.

Part of this amazing process is the fact that we're been building and planning a massive new organization within ANN. That said, we're hiring talented new people as fast as we can find them (a far more difficult task than we had imagined -- REALLY good people are hard to find), and we're brainstorming at speeds that would make a deorbiting Space Shuttle feel like a slug. Suffice it to say that we wanted to do this right, rather than right-now, and that the development of this program has been the most carefully pursued undertaking we've ever undertaken. 

E-I-C Note: The complete feature shown above is embedded in this story, with most of the slick and useful functionality otherwise available on the main Aero-TV site (which will be upgraded aggressively over the next few weeks). The ability to embed a video on another web page is but one of the hundreds of amazing little features that we've worked hard on, for many months now, to implement in different phases of the initial release of Aero-TV. It is, BY NO MEANS, the only way to enjoy unaltered Aero-TV programming on other parts of the web... as we have extensive plans for future functionality, but this feature allows those with an interest in a specific Aero-TV News or Feature program to embed it on a different web site, though we must note that we reserve the right to forbid such use for those sites or purposes that we do not feel fit in with the proper mission of the Aero-News Network, Inc.  

Webmasters or Administrators of well-trafficked aviation or aerospace related sites, are welcome to contact the Publisher to start conversations on how they may be able to leverage some of the immense power of Aero-TV programming for their sites and constituency by clicking the I Want Aero-TV For MY Website! link.

Coming Soon!

Aero-TV Sees What It Takes to "Compete" As An AMT, Looks At The FAA FAASTeam Program, Updates On The Garmin 495, Flying The Piper Matrix, Gets Some GREAT Rotax Lessons, Gets Updated On ALL Things Lopresti, Has A FUN Chat With Corkey Fornof, Checks Out The Latest in Life-Raft Technologies, Checks Out More "HIGH" Tech at I/ITSEC 2007, Hears From AOPA On Critical Aviation Issues, Spills Some Juicy (and HIGHLY Detailed) Cirrus G3 Info, Scores A BUNCH of LSA Reports, and SO MUCH MORE!!!!! Do NOT Miss Them!

FMI: www.cirrusdesign.com, www.the-jet.com,  I Want Aero-TV For MY Website!, I'd Like To Join The ANN/Aero-TV Team!!!, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork