About Cirrus Aircraft

In 1984, Dale and Alan Klapmeier took over the family’s barn in Baraboo, Wisconsin and began work on what later would become Cirrus Aircraft. Their first project was the VK-30, a pusher-propeller, five passenger home-built kit airplane.

The VK-30 celebrated its first flight in 1988 and the company started delivering kits to customers. Demand grew and in 1994 Cirrus Aircraft expanded into a 30,000 square foot R&D facility in Duluth, MN, and shortly after opened a composite production facility in Grand Forks, ND.

In the mid-1990’s, Cirrus discontinued production of the VK-30 and launched the SR20 – a single-piston composite airplane that changed the world of general aviation. The SR20 featured a 10-inch multi-function display and side-yoke flight controllers.

Not long after, a complete glass cockpit was also added to the SR Series – it was the first primary flight display incorporated in to a small certified aircraft and became an industry standard with other manufacturers following Cirrus’ lead.

A desire to redefine safety in aviation inspired the company to include a revolutionary whole-plane parachute system as standard equipment on all Cirrus aircraft – the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System® (CAPS®). It was the industry’s first general aviation parachute system produced in an FAA certified aircraft. And to date, Cirrus continues to be the only company to include a whole airframe parachute as standard equipment on all certified aircraft models.

The first SR20 was delivered in Duluth, MN in 1999. With plans to increase production and to develop a new aircraft model, Cirrus expanded into a 111,000 square foot manufacturing facility adjacent to its R&D headquarters in Duluth.

In 2000, Cirrus received a Type Certificate for a composite piston aircraft with a larger wing, larger fuel capacity and more powerful engine – the SR22. Just three years later, the SR22 became the world’s best-selling general aviation airplane for the first time, and has continued to hold that distinction every year since.

Cirrus unveiled plans to develop a single engine turbofan personal jet in 2007, and it quickly became the most anticipated aircraft in the company’s history. The Vision Jet™ took its inaugural flight on July 3, 2008 and the first conforming prototypes took flight in 2014.

A turbocharged SR22T was added to the lineup in 2010. Cirrus Aircraft also partnered with Garmin® to launch progressive avionics improvements exclusive to Cirrus aircraft – a collaboration that continues to develop sophisticated flight decks tailored for Cirrus aircraft each year.

As the next step in redefining personal aviation, Cirrus broke ground on the Vision Center Campus in Knoxville, Tennessee in 2015 – its flagship Customer Experience location, including sales, delivery, training, maintenance, support, personalization, fixed base operations and more. The first phase of the Vision Center opened in 2016 and the Vision Jet Flight Training Center opened in 2018.

The Vision Jet received Type Certification on October 28, 2016 – the first jet built by a single-engine piston aircraft company to be certified in over 40 years.

The Vision Jet won the Robert J. Collier Trophy – the world’s most prestigious aviation award – for developing the world’s first single-engine Personal Jet and implementing CAPS on the Vision Jet. Dale Klapmeier, Cirrus Aircraft Co-founder and Senior Advisor, accepted the award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

The Vision Jet became the first jet aircraft to be FAA certified with Garmin-powered Safe Return™, allowing passengers to land the jet with just the touch of a button in case of an emergency. The Safe Return autoland system was awarded the 2020 Robert J. Collier Trophy.