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Cirrus Aircraft Biography & Facts

The Cirrus Design Corporation, doing business as Cirrus Aircraft (formally Cirrus Design), is an aircraft manufacturer that was founded in 1984 by Alan and Dale Klapmeier to produce the VK-30 kit aircraft, and is headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota, United States. The company is owned by a subsidiary of the Chinese government-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), with operational locations in seven states across the US including Minnesota, North Dakota, Tennessee (where its customer headquarters are based), Texas, Arizona, Florida and Michigan, as well as additional sales locations in France and the Netherlands. Cirrus markets several versions of its three certificated single-engine light aircraft models: the SR20 (certified in 1998), SR22 (certified in 2000), and SR22T (certified in 2010). As of April 2023, the company had delivered more than 9,000 SR-aircraft in over 20 years of production, and has been the world's largest producer of piston-powered aircraft since 2013. Sales of the SR-series grew rapidly during the 2000s, until the economic crisis of 2008. Cirrus was planning to market a light-sport aircraft called the SR Sport, but suspended the project in 2009, due to financial challenges and a lack of market demand. This has since been cancelled. After a return to company growth and United States-based expansion in the 2010s, Cirrus certified and began deliveries of the Vision SF50 very light jet in 2016. Upon its delivery, the aircraft became the first civilian single-engined jet to enter the market, and is often referred to as a "personal jet". The company produces all of its aircraft with composite materials and is known for pioneering new technologies in the light general aviation aircraft manufacturing industry, including glass cockpits and full-airframe ballistic parachutes. In 2001, Cirrus sold a majority of the company to Bahrain-based Arcapita. Ten years later, the manufacturer was acquired by China Aviation Industry General Aircraft (CAIGA), which is a division of the state-owned AVIC. Facilities Cirrus Aircraft has several operational facilities throughout the United States and Europe. The company's first headquarters was located in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Since 1994, its headquarters and main manufacturing facilities have been in Duluth, Minnesota. An additional manufacturing facility, which opened in 1997 and produces the composite components for the planes, is located in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The Grand Forks facility was owned by the city of Grand Forks and leased to the company for many years up until November 2020, when Cirrus purchased it for US$1.9M. In the fall of 2002, Cirrus opened an "aviation incubator" building adjacent to its Duluth headquarters, which it was preparing to buy from the city for US$3.45M in April 2023. On 27 December 2007, the company secured a lease for a hanger formerly owned by Northwest Airlines (who closed the facility in 2005) at Duluth International Airport. The 189,000-square-foot (17,600 m2) building was to be used for construction of its new Cirrus Jet. Cirrus canceled the lease in 2009 during the height of the Great Recession. In February 2022, Minnesota's St. Louis County approved plans for the company to expand back into the building (formerly used by AAR Corp. from 2012 to 2020) as it ramps up production, with the city of Duluth selling it to Cirrus in September of that year for just $1 in exchange for 80 additional jobs at an hourly rate of at least $36.05. Cirrus invested US$20M into the facility as its flagship "Innovation Center" to support engineering, design, testing, product development and other technical operations by the company. It opened on 26 September 2023. In February 2015, Duluth agreed to put up US$6M and asked the state contribute the remaining US$4M to build a US$10M factory on the Duluth Airport dedicated to the production of SF50s. The city would then try to recoup its costs for the facility from lease payments by Cirrus over time. The space opened on 19 December 2016, and was expanded on 15 July 2022. On 6 May 2015, Cirrus announced that it will establish a new facility campus called the "Vision Center" in Knoxville, Tennessee on the city's McGhee Tyson Airport. The facility will focus on all customer interactions and aircraft service including training (with a full level-D flight simulator), maintenance & repair, personalization, and deliveries for both the Vision Jet and SR-series. The center opened on 12 January 2017. All manufacturing operations were said to remain in Duluth and Grand Forks. In May 2019, the company announced that it will open its first factory-direct satellite service facility outside of Knoxville, at McKinney National Airport near Dallas, Texas, where it will expand its flight training, maintenance, and aircraft management operations. In February 2020, Cirrus announced plans to establish a new engineering and design center in the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area, unveiled in September 2021 to be an Innovation Center located in the city of Chandler. Also in September, the company announced plans to open another Cirrus Innovation Center in McKinney, Texas, and expand its flight training services to a facility on the Scottsdale Airport in Scottsdale, Arizona. Later that same month, Cirrus Orlando was introduced, with two new training and service locations in Central Florida at the Kissimmee Gateway Airport in Kissimmee, Florida and Orlando Executive Airport in Orlando, Florida. In February 2022, Cirrus announced that it had acquired the assets of Benton Harbor, Michigan-based Flying Colors Aviation, Inc., to expand the current facility there and increase its paint production capabilities, and in April announced the opening of both Cirrus France and Cirrus Rotterdam, two regional sales offices located in Valenciennes, France and Rotterdam, Netherlands, that will also support existing Cirrus training and service centers across Europe. In May 2023, the company started construction of a 45,000 sq ft (4,200 m2) addition to its existing facility at the McKinney National Airport at a cost of US$13 million, with the airport, city of McKinney and McKinney Economic Development Corporation contributing funds. The new construction will provide space for aircraft sales, flight training, factory service and aircraft management. It will also include a 15,000 sq ft (1,400 m2) maintenance hangar, 15,000 sq ft (1,400 m2) storage hangar, eight shade hangars, a flight simulator room, retail store and customer lounge area. Management From 1984, co-founder Alan Klapmeier served as president until January 2006 and chief executive officer (CEO) until February 2009, while co-founder Dale Klapmeier led the company’s design, testing and production and served as executive vice president until January 2006. On 19 January 2006, Cirrus and the Klapmeier brothers announced that chief operating officer (COO) David Coleal had been named president. On 18 December 2008, t.... Discover the Cirrus Aircraft popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Cirrus Aircraft books.