For a moment, let’s forget that the Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet is arguably the most technically advanced personal light aircraft we’ve ever flown. Or that Cirrus likely will achieve its goal of making it a safe step-up jet for qualified SR22 piston pilots. Moreover, its cabin and cockpit dwelling is perhaps the most satisfying we’ve experienced. But in our view, the most impressive thing about the Part 23-certified SF50 is that it even exists to talk about.
You see, the Vision Jet survives—thrives, perhaps—in a class of its own because its would-be competing single-engine jets, including Diamond’s D-jet and the PiperJet (there are others), fell victim to the market’s downturn in the early 2000s before getting into paying customers’ hands. And although Cirrus’ jet project initially stalled and almost melted before Chinese capital provided a needed refresh to the production and certification budget, we think the back-burnering of the project (and instead refining the SR22 line) is partly the reason why both models are so we’ll executed today.