Cirrus Design has appointed Wings Aloft as the first service centre for its single-engined SR20. The Seattle-based company will serve Cirrus' growing number of customers in the north-west region of the USA. The Duluth, Minnesota-based manufacturer plans to set up a network of service centres around the USA and, later, also in Europe.
Cirrus claims to have "-completed 95% of the work for FAA [US Federal Aviation Administration] Part 23 type certification" on the light SR20. "The final critical steps towards certification are the dynamic test and the drop test of a fuselage [which are scheduled to start in mid September]," says the company.
The seat test will determine the amount of energy absorbed during a standard FAA crash scenario. In particular, engineers will be able to see how much load is transferred to the passengers. Shortly after, a fully instrumented SR20 airframe will be dropped to the ground, simulating touchdown conditions after a parachute is deployed. "Those tests will also evaluate energy and loads on the aircraft and its passengers [crash test dummies]," adds the manufacturer.
The company is building the first four production aircraft, which are scheduled for delivery following certification, due late this year. Cirrus has now clocked up 200 orders for the SR20.
Source: Flight International
