Flying at 25,000 feet over Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains, I’ve completed an item on a lifetime’s bucket list: sitting in the captain’s seat of a jet. I’m talking to air traffic control, which tracks the jet’s progress and controls the jet’s autopilot. I did almost everything except actually perform the take-off or landing of the plane, a Cirrus Vision Jet.
You might think there’s a chance for this – perhaps I’m describing an experience in a full flight simulator.
But no, this is definitely real life.
The flight ended the day in what could best be described as an AvGeek paradise: a visit to the Cirrus Aircraft Vision Center at McGhee-Tyson Airport (TYS) in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Want more specific airline news? Sign up for TPG’s free biweekly Aviation newsletter.
Minnesota-based Cirrus is known for manufacturing some of the best-selling general aviation aircraft on the market, and the manufacturer uses the Vision Center as its customer headquarters, where training and transfers are performed. aircraft delivery. During the visit, I had the full experience: flying an SR20 simulator, experiencing aircraft delivery, learning about how Cirrus works with customers to produce custom aircraft customizations, and meeting the production team. videos – tutorials and advertisements – for the company. And yes, they also let me fly a (real) plane, a single-engine Cirrus Vision Jet.
Airplane flight (simulation)
After picking us up at our hotel in a sleek Audi Q8 – join me Mimi Wright, a colleague on TPG’s social media team – our instructor for the day, Nadia Haider, took us to a simulator bay where we spent an hour flying the SR20 fixed base simulator around Knoxville. The SR20 is the single-engine piston propeller aircraft that made the Cirrus catapult commercial success 25 years ago. Now it is the entry level model of the company. Believe it or not, United Airlines was a recent customer of the training version of this model, which deployed it to train its next generation of pilots at the United Aviate Academy in Goodyear, Arizona.
Here, I actually performed a simulated take-off and landing as a training pilot guided me. Departing from Knoxville’s 5R runway, I climbed to 4,500 feet, then did some spins in the area, impressed with how quickly the aircraft responded to my sidebar commands (the Cirrus aircraft). does not use traditional control spokes; a sidebar is ergonomically similar to the joystick you use to play a video game). I ended the flight by approaching the simulator, where we couldn’t see the runway until 500 feet above the ground. My landing wasn’t going to win any prizes, but we did.
Then Mimi takes control, and she doesn’t land the plane. Instead, we ended the flight with a parachute deployment (simulation). Cirrus aircraft are equipped with the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System. If the plane is in danger, you can deploy a parachute to bring the plane down similar to landing in space. More than 250 lives were saved thanks to a pilot deploying CAPS when in danger, Cirrus said.
Sign up for our daily newsletter
Vision Jet has another safety system: Garmin’s Automatic Safe Return, with the push of a button, automatically finds the nearest suitable airport, notifies ATC of the aircraft’s intentions, and lands the plane fly. It is designed to be used in the event of a Vision Jet pilot becoming incapacitated.
Than: Inside one of the cheapest and most efficient private jets in the world
Delivery or dance party?
Our next stop is the delivery hub.
Back at Q8, we were driven a few hundred feet into a dark hangar, where a brand new SR22T, the company’s high-performance single-engine piston aircraft, awaited us. We were there to see what it was like to deliver by plane.
This was a boom time for the company, and aircraft production had a long lead time after the order was placed. Of course, customers are also shelling out a significant amount of money for these planes, and a high level of customization is available to allow owners to build their planes. Some customers even buy their planes when they first learn to fly.
So it would be an overstatement to say that these plane deliveries are emotional events for new owners – and the company wants to make the experience feel special.
Along with the impressive light show, the company will also play some of their customers’ favorite music. For us, “Jumpin ‘Jack Flash” by the Rolling Stones was playing. (I felt like I was at a dance party – the only thing missing was a smoke machine.)
After the lights come on, the new owner does an acceptance test around to check for any possible errors. Planes are built in Duluth, Minnesota, and a company pilot takes them to Knoxville for delivery. Then a customer acceptance flight takes place, where the customer makes sure everything is fine. Then the official handover happens.
The company makes up to six of these fancy deliveries per day, with additional planes being delivered more informally. The company says time in the delivery hangar is running high.
Preset customizations
For customers with the deepest pockets, the company will customize its product line to their content through the Xi program.
We were taken to another building where we checked out design studio Xi, a room full of different customization options.
The rudder petals are different colors. Tail icon and unique paint scheme. There’s even a photo of a piece of cheese embossed on the plane’s skin for a Green Bay Packers fan. All are part of the Xi process.
Customers often come to Cirrus with rudimentary ideas of what they want and are paired with an account manager who is tasked with turning those ideas into reality. The Xi process took place over a few months and included a one-on-one meeting with the Cirrus team – including dinner – allowing the team to gain insight into the client’s personality and what exactly would be the perfect customization. for them.
Bespoke is the key word here; I lost track of how many times that word was used in this part of the visit. Cirrus aims for its Xi aircraft to have only 10% similarity to other aircraft. In other words, the company wants each aircraft to feel unique – something that a high degree of customization allows. At the same time, Cirrus is trying to develop Xi while keeping its designs unique and special – which can be a challenge.
Even if you don’t shell out extra money for a distinctive Xi design, Cirrus prides itself on having a product line designed around pilots and customer feedback. For example, some Cirrus chairs have a built-in headset and phone holder.
A flight of life
Then we met our pilot, Travis Wellik, for a flight on the Cirrus Vision jet, Cirrus’ single-engine jet. Travis, a flight instructor with similar skills to Vision Jet pilots, developed a training program for the aircraft, which began deliveries in late 2016.
Nadia mentioned that I was able to sit in the correct seat on the Vision Jet G2+’s flight deck – a position traditionally occupied by first officer (though the plane doesn’t require one; it’s Federal Aviation Administration-approved. get for one person- pilot operation). Then Travis came along and sweetened the deal: he would let me sit in the left seat – the captain’s seat. I was on the moon.
I’m probably one of the biggest AvGeeks out there and have never flown a plane before. I have countless hours of experience Fly high quality airplane simulator on home computerand virtually communicate with air traffic control. I also have an FAA flight coordinator certificate.
All of that helps with this flight.
I offered to take over the ATC communications for the flight, and after I copied and reread our flight plan information – often one of the most complicated and disturbing transmissions available – I seems to have won Travis’s trust. Under his watchful eye – yes, this is perfectly legal – he even let me pilot the jet to our departure runway.
OK, I’m not actually flying takeoff or landing. I leave that to Travis. But I handled the radio, controlled the autopilot, learned about the plane’s systems, and veered off course around some storms, all while enjoying the Smokies’ view from 25,000 feet in flight. our 45 minutes. I enjoyed the pilot in flight, even though Travis was our skillful pilot. I am in awe of the Vision Jet and the degree of automation that is integral to it.
For our approach, we left the autopilot on until Travis took over at 500 feet.
In other words, I was pumped. Who else got their first flying experience in a jet plane? The whole adventure tormented me for the rest of the day; I was above cloud nine. While I’ve been searching around for flight schools to start training for my private pilot’s license, my day with Cirrus has certainly pushed me to make it happen sooner rather than later, encouraging I started building time.
That is the core strategy that Cirrus uses. By introducing non-pilots (those who can afford to buy or finance an aircraft, many of which sell for over $1 million) into their product line, the company hopes to not only inspire them to buy but also to learn how to fly. Hopefully the pilots will be licensed by the time their planes roll off the Duluth assembly line and head to Knoxville for a handover ceremony.
Although I do not have any purchases of Cirrus in the near future, I can say with certainty that this strategy works. I am enthralled.
