homebuilt VK-30 (pictured), from which a turboprop prototype was developed, the
ST-50.
Naming From June 2006 to July 2008, the design was developed under the project name "The Jet", or "The-Jet by Cirrus". By March 2009, the aircraft was re-designated "Vision SF50", as it uses a single-
fanjet engine. By April 2016, Cirrus was calling it the "Vision Jet" and on 28 October 2016, it was certified by the FAA under the name "Model SF50".
Early development The company began initial development on the jet in 2003, led by Cirrus founders the
Klapmeier brothers and their vice president of advanced development Mike Van Staagen, at an offsite Duluth, Minnesota location they called the "Moose Works”, a parody on
Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs dubbed the "
Skunk Works". The jet was announced by Cirrus in June 2006 at the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association meeting. At the October 2006
NBAA Convention, Cirrus detailed its single jet program to solicit
US$100,000 deposits from potential customers, targeting a price below $1 million and a 2010 certification, for a cruise speed around with a
Williams FJ33 and a whole-airplane
parachute recovery system. Cirrus described it as the "slowest, lowest, and cheapest jet available." In early 2007 the company gave deposit holders a drawing of the aircraft in the form of a
jigsaw puzzle, one piece at a time. On 27 June 2007, the puzzle was completed and the aircraft mock-up was unveiled the following day. Starting at this time it became described as a "personal jet". In September the
L-3 SmartDeck avionics package was selected for the jet development. On 27 December,
Cirrus Design leased a former
Northwest Airlines hangar at
Duluth International Airport in which to build the design. By 22 May 2008, the company had 400 refundable deposits of US$100,000.
Initial flight tests The Vision Jet was first flown on 3 July 2008 at the Duluth airport. It was then flown at
AirVenture Oshkosh later that month. By 3 December, the prototype had flown 120 hours, exploring the whole
center of gravity envelope, testing engine in-flight shut-down and restart and
aerodynamic stall characteristics. The right side door was replaced by an emergency egress hatch to save weight on production aircraft. Based on test flights and computer models, the aerodynamic design was modified to increase performance and improve the engine thrust angle. The production aircraft was planned to have a more pointed nose, larger belly section, redesigned wing-root fairing, reduced tail sweep and a larger or dual ventral fin. It was decided by the company that pilot training would be required in the aircraft type certificate, like the
Eclipse 500. In mid June 2009,
L-3 Communications sued Cirrus for US$18M over the cancellation of its previously selected avionics.
Financing difficulties In 2009, during the height of the
Great Recession, progress on the program slowed significantly. By the end of June, Cirrus co-founder and former CEO Alan Klapmeier proposed buying the project from the company and its major shareholder
Arcapita, to speed up development and produce it under a new company, which would be advised by
Merrill Lynch. On 26 July, Alan's brother and fellow Cirrus co-founder Dale Klapmeier came out in support of his efforts and said that Alan was the only person Cirrus would consider letting take over the jet program. Cirrus stated that financing the project was necessary to complete certification and commence production, either at the company or with Alan Klapmeier. However, on 31 July, Alan announced that the offer did not meet Arcapita's or Cirrus’ expectations. In August, he left the company while Dale remained, effectively ending the formal 25-year business partnership between the Klapmeier brothers. By July 2009, 200 hours of flight tests had been completed and the resulting design changes had been incorporated, including an
X-tail, simpler and lighter
flaps, and handling changes to induce a pitch up when applying
thrust. Although some deposits had been refunded during the economic recession, Cirrus still had nearly 400 orders and anticipated first deliveries in 2012, subject to capital funding. In November 2009, following additional test flights, development slowed again due to the lack of capital, delaying deliveries past 2012. Cirrus’ leased space in the ex-Northwest hangar in Duluth closed around this time as well, caused by shrinking sales. By January 2010, the prototype had accumulated 236 hours, while the certification and delivery timeline was reliant on cash flow, as 428 orders were backlogged and growing by one or two per week. By early June, the then-US$1.72M jet had 431 orders, with deposits becoming non-refundable at the beginning of that year. A conforming prototype was expected to be completed by the end of 2010 and fly by the end of 2011, targeting a mid-2013 certification date, while developing the "high-risk" full-aircraft
parachute system.
CAIGA investment In April 2012, Cirrus's new owner
CAIGA invested enough in the project to secure its development, previously estimated at $150 million. By July 2012, the prototype had flown 600 hours in almost 600 flights and the company was ready to build the composite construction tooling required for a conforming prototype, expected to fly in late 2013 for type certification testing. By February 2013 the company was hiring staff to produce the aircraft, now priced at
US$1.96M. In April, the new prototype roll-out date was announced for 2013.
Certification flight testing was scheduled to start in 2014. In October 2013, three test aircraft were under construction, the first deliveries were scheduled for 2015 and the order book now held 500 deposits. By then the first conforming aircraft was to fly in early 2014.
Final flight tests By February 2014, 800 hours of test flying had been completed. On 24 March 2014, the first conforming prototype flew. The prototype was displayed at the
Oshkosh Airshow that summer. Pre-orders of the $1.96 million jet then numbered 550 and Cirrus intended to produce up to 125 aircraft per year. The second conforming test aircraft flew in November 2014. The third and final conforming test aircraft made its first flight on 20 December 2014. In February 2015 the city of
Duluth, Minnesota committed US$6M and had asked the state of
Minnesota to contribute US$4M to build a US$10M factory that would be leased to Cirrus to produce the jet, to avoid the company moving the manufacturing operation elsewhere. In April 2015, confident the certification would be on schedule and no modifications needed, Cirrus started production of the first of its 550 orders for the design. In September, the Cirrus Perspective Touch
glass cockpit by
Garmin was finalized, featuring one
primary flight display and one
multi-function display, with three smaller touchscreen controllers located underneath. convention By January 2016, certification had been delayed from 2015 to the first half of 2016 due to in-flight
ballistic parachute testing. In March, it was announced that in-flight parachute deployment tests were not required by the
Federal Aviation Administration for certification. On 5 May 2016, the first production aircraft flew and certification was then forecast for June. The
Williams FJ33-5A engine was approved by the FAA on 6 June 2016. Certification was then planned for the end of the same month. By July, the SF50 had over 600 orders, the four
flight test aircraft had flown more than 1,700 hours and certification had been delayed to the fourth quarter of the year. On 28 October, after a ten-year development process marked with myriad technical and financial challenges, the SF50 earned its
type certificate from the FAA. The design became the first civilian, single-engine jet to be type certified.
Production The first customer Vision SF50 was delivered on 19 December 2016, against 600 outstanding orders. The first customer delivery ceremony was held in the new $16 million, finishing center in Duluth, where Cirrus employs more than 750 people. By April 2017, Cirrus planned to deliver 25 to 50 aircraft that year and 75 to 125 in 2018. A production certificate was awarded on 2 May, to produce more with no individual inspections. As 15% of its orders are intended for the European market, Cirrus received
EASA certification at the May 2017
EBACE. A video of the
Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) being tested in-flight with a piloted SF50 prototype was published by
Business Insider in May 2017. By July 2017, seven customer aircraft had been delivered and one per week were being produced. On 19 December 2018, Dale Klapmeier announced that he would leave his position as CEO of the company in the first half of 2019. By the end of 2018, 88 aircraft had been delivered, including 63 that year, while 540 orders were backlogged. By October 2019, the US market represented 85% of deliveries, but that was predicted to drop to 75% in 2020, as the number of international deliveries continues to grow. Since August 2020, Cirrus has offered an optional
emergency autoland system by
Garmin, which the company introduced in October 2019. It initiates at the push of a button and is built into the
G3000 integrated avionics for the new G2 model. The system is the 3rd certified in
general aviation (and 1st ever on a jet), along with the
Piper M600 and
Socata TBM 940. Cirrus calls the technology "Safe Return". Offered for $170,000 including extra equipment, it allows landing on runways over . By 4 April 2023, 439 Vision Jets were on the US
Federal Aviation Administration registry. As of December 2025, the Vision SF50 has been the most-delivered
business jet every year since 2018. ==Design==