Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet Wins Collier Trophy

Cirrus Aircraft has taken home the 2017 Collier Trophy for its groundbreaking SF50 Vision Jet. The selection committee also commended Cirrus on its inclusion of the Cirrus Airframe Parachute whole-aircraft-recovery parachute system, the first of its kind in a jet.

The SF50 is powered by a single Williams FJ-33 turbofan engine. With a ceiling of 28,000 feet and a top speed of 300 knots, the SF50 can fly for 600 nm at max cruise power and up to 1,200 nm at reduced power. The jet is outfitted with the Cirrus Perspective Touch Garmin G3000-based integrated avionics suite.

Competing against a field of nine aircraft and spacecraft, including the favorite for the prize, the Boeing 737 MAX, and several other noteworthy nominees, the Vision Jet became the first light aircraft to take home the prize since 2005, when the Eclipse 500 twinjet won the honors, though Eclipse didn't win full FAA certification for the plane until more than a year later.

In contrast, the single-engine, five-plus-two-seat Vision Jet won FAA certification in October of 2016 and Cirrus delivered the first example in December of that year. As of March of this year (2018), Cirrus has delivered 40 of the jets and has orders for hundreds more.

Plane & Pilot named the Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet as its Plane & Pilot Plane of the year for 2017. Click here to read our first-in-print flight report on the award winning SF50 Vision Jet.