Cirrus Aircraft remains confident the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will issue a type certificate for the SF50 jet before the end of this year, after a major milestone this week.
The FAA issued a Type Inspection Authority (TIA) for the single-engine jet, which allows Cirrus to start conformance inspections and certification flight testing with an FAA pilot on the aircraft. TIA is one of the last major milestones before type certification.
“Cirrus Aircraft’s goal of transforming personal travel and regional transportation is close at hand as the Vision SF50 enters the TIA phase of certification,” said Pat Waddick, President of Innovation and Operations at Cirrus Aircraft.
“This milestone highlights the maturity of our SF50 program and the FAA’s confidence in our ability to cross the finish line. It also speaks to the remarkably talented team at Cirrus that has devoted countless hours over many years to reach this milestone.”
To achieve the TIA, Cirrus’ first conforming flight test aircraft, C-Zero, was thoroughly analysed in airframe structure, stability in flight controls and stall performance. The accumulated test hours and results deemed it safe to fly by the FAA and ready for compliance validation.
Cirrus Aircraft says its goal now is to have the SF50 certified by the end of the year and start customer deliveries soon after that.