CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SF50

The Vision Jet is a single-engine personal jet with the engine mounted above the fuselage, a V-tail, a pressurised five-to-seven-seat cabin and a whole-airframe parachute — the only certified jet with one. It was designed for the owner-pilot stepping up from a high-performance piston single, and the numbers reflect that: 311 knots and 31,000 feet, which is slow and low for a jet but a large step up from an SR22. Cirrus built it to be the easiest jet in the world to fly single-pilot. The first aircraft, delivered from December 2016, are limited to 28,000 feet. The G2 of 2019 added RVSM approval for 31,000 feet, an autothrottle and more range, and from August 2020 the Garmin Safe Return emergency autoland became available on it; the G2+ of 2021 improved takeoff performance and added in-flight wifi. A 2017 aircraft therefore cruises lower and shorter than a 2020 one and has no autoland. A G3 with a larger six-plus-one cabin was announced in early 2026.

The important thing to understand is the range and payload interaction. With full fuel the cabin load is only a few hundred pounds, so a full-tanks flight is the pilot and one or two others; loaded with people it is a 600-800 mile aeroplane, not a 1,275-mile one. It is also slower and shorter-legged than any twin-engine light jet, and the single engine is a real consideration for some. It requires an SF50 type rating, which Cirrus delivers through its own training programme, and insurance for a first-time jet owner requires that plus recurrent training and often a mentor pilot. Direct operating costs are far lower than a twin jet's but still several times a piston single's.