Story ID: 547CirrusSagaInSouthAmericaLabace2013.doc
Cirrus Road Show Descends on Brazil
By: AIN Staff
Caption: 
Word Count: 433
With more than 350 Cirrus light single-engine airplanes in service in Brazil, the company’s representative here has embarked on the 2013 Cirrus Road Show to visit potential customers at nine locations in six cities.

According to exclusive representative Sergio Beneditti, the events began in June featuring the SR22 Grand and will continue through late November, in partnership with certain non-aviation entities in the luxury segment–from yachts and marinas to fine automobiles.

A total of 44 such events have been held over seven years and Beneditti attributes a 10-percent increase in sales in the first six months of 2013 to such marketing efforts. Each stop includes “meetings with clients, friends and partners for one or more days, with demonstration flights, cocktails, live music and more.”

At LABACE 2013, Cirrus (Stand 6112) is showing its SR22 Generation 5 Grand and SR20. Also at LABACE, the company is discussing its Vision SF50 single-engine jet program, though it’s too early to see a mockup. Cirrus is now in a race to be the first to bring a single-engine jet to market and has hired more than 100 engineers, designers and technicians for the Vision team.

With production line changes in place, deliveries of the Generation 5 Cirrus began in February, supported by a strong backlog of sales orders carried over from late 2012. That backlog is now “several months out,” according to the Grand Forks, North Dakota-based manufacturer.

“We are enjoying the strongest demand we’ve seen over the past five years and certainly since the global financial crisis, which has affected aviation so significantly,” said Todd Simmons, Cirrus executive v-p of sales, marketing and customer support. “It seems that more and more conversations are about new airplanes, how an airplane can help grow a business and, of course, flying adventures.”

The Generation 5 airplane features an airframe modification needed to achieve the step-change improvements in the SR22 and SR22T. In creating the Generation 5, the entire aircraft design was analyzed from spinner to tail and many parts and systems were reengineered and redesigned to accommodate the increased airframe load, aerodynamic improvements, better flight performance and the Cirrus airframe parachute system (CAPS).

Other airframe upgrades included strengthening the carbon fiber, single-part wing spar, the landing gear and a new flap system allowing extension to the first position at 150 knots.

“We have also taken huge steps to accelerate the Vision SF50 Jet program as we aim to fly the first conforming certification model within the next twelve months,” said co-founder and CEO Dale Klapmeier in April this year.