![]() The company’s first product was the SR20, which appeared in 1999, powered by a 200-HP Continental IO-360ES. And if you got in over your head, you wouldn’t have to die for your mistake the BRS parachute would pull your fat out of the fire. ![]() Anyone could do it with the right airplane. On a variation of Cessna’s famed “drive it up and drive it down” campaign of the 1970s, the Klapmeiers launched the company on the premise that it didn’t take special DNA to be a pilot. By the mid-1990s, Cirrus principals Alan and Dale Klapmeier developed a new vision, reasoning that the time was right for a high-performance, composite fixed-gear single that anyone could fly. “The parachute is what sells my spouse on the airplane,” one commenter said.Īmong homebuilders, Cirrus was well-known during the 1990s for its VK30 pusher kit, an innovative composite design that gained some traction, but wasn’t a major player in the field. We suspect the parachute has always been a pot sweetener that pushes buyers considering something else into the Cirrus camp. Only a third of respondents said it was, but we think that understates the case-perhaps even more so in the current market. In a poll we conducted shortly after the SR22 appeared, we asked if the parachute was a driver in the purchase decision. The CAPS (Cirrus Airframe Parachute System), which Cirrus pioneered as a signature marketing feature, is a continuing selling factor. Moreover, they offer the right combination of cutting-edge equipment and construction methods without becoming so radical or quirky that buyers are put off. The airplanes perform well and generally deliver on the claim of being easy to fly for people new to flying. What explains the brand loyalty? We think there are several reasons. This seems the perfect setup as the company moves closer to delivering its seven-seat, single-engine Vision SF50 personal jet-a logical step up from an SR22. The entry-level SR20 and flagship SR22 in their various iterations have proven hot sellers and good performers, with unusually loyal customers. Since Cirrus Design first morphed from a quirky kit supplier to a full-blown aircraft manufacturer in 1998, it has consistently proven that it got the vision thing right.
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