HISTORY
The company is currently owned by
China Aviation Industry
General Aircraft (CAIGA),
itself majority owned by
Aviation Industry
Corporation of China (AVIC),
which is in turn wholly
owned by the Government of
the People's Republic of
China.
Cirrus
Aircraft has its headquarters and
main manufacturing facility in
Duluth, Minnesota. An additional
manufacturing facility is located in
Grand Forks, North Dakota. The Grand
Forks facility is owned by the city
of Grand Forks and leased to the
company. It has provided work
for as many as 330 employees, but as
of May 2013 employed approximately
90 people.
The
company markets several
versions of its three
certificated models, the
SR20, SR22 and SR22T. The
company was planning to
market a light-sport
aircraft, the Cirrus SR
Sport, but suspended the
project in 2009 due to costs
and lack of market demand.
This has since been
cancelled.
Cirrus SR (Single
Reciprocating) Series
aircraft are designed around
composite technologies with
Cirrus Perspective by Garmin
digital flight displays and
modern avionics as standard
equipment. The aircraft are
all electric - no vacuum
systems are used. Redundancy
is provided by dual
batteries and alternators.
The SR22 is also available
with TKS anti-icing
equipment which enables
flight into known icing
conditions.
The
aircraft incorporate other
unsual design elements. All
Cirrus aircraft use a
mechanical side yoke instead
of the traditional yoke or
stick flight controls. The
aircraft also use a single
power lever that adjusts
both throttle and propeller
RPM via a mechanical cam
actuated throttle and
propeller control system.
Construction is dominated by
the use of composite
materials, although
traditional aluminum is used
for flight control surfaces.
The
Cirrus SR22T is powered by a
Continental TSIO-550-K
turbocharged engine.
Turbocharging allows the
engine to maintain maximum
power at higher altitudes
while increasing the maximum
operating altitude to
25,000'.
Cirrus Airframe Parachute
System (CAPS)
The Cirrus SR series (SRV,
SR20 and SR22) aircraft are
equipped with the Cirrus
Airframe Parachute System
(CAPS), developed by
Ballistic Recovery Systems,
a ballistic parachute
deployed from the back of
the aircraft. In many
emergencies, the system
allows the entire aircraft
to descend safely and has
been credited with saving 65
lives. Cirrus was the first
manufacturer to receive FAA
certification for production
aircraft with ballistic
parachute systems. The
parachute system was
accepted by the Federal
Aviation Administration as
an equivalent level of
safety and complete spin
testing was not required by
the FAA
Source: Wikipedia
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