| VK-30 | |
|---|---|
 Cirrus VK-30 outside the Florida Air Museum in 2006 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Amateur-built airplane |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Cirrus Design |
| Designer | Alan and Dale Klapmeier, Jeff Viken |
| Number built | Circa 13 |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1988–1993 |
| Introduction date | 1987[1] |
| First flight | 11 February 1988 |
The Cirrus VK-30 is a single-engine pusher-propeller homebuilt aircraft originally sold as a kit by Cirrus Design (now Cirrus Aircraft), and was the company's first model, introduced in 1987.[2]
As a kit aircraft, the VK-30 is a relatively obscure design with few completed aircraft flying. Its most important legacy is that the work done on developing and marketing the aircraft convinced the designers, the Klapmeier brothers, that the best way to proceed in the future was with a more conventional layout and with a certified production aircraft. Thus the lessons of the VK-30 were directly responsible for the design of the Cirrus SR20 and SR22, which have been the best-selling general aviation airplanes in the world every year since 2003.[3][4][5][6] The VK-30 also served as a significant inspiration for the creation of the company's latest aircraft, the Cirrus Vision Jet,[7][8] which in 2018 won the Collier Trophy for becoming the first single-engine personal jet with a whole-plane parachute recovery system.[9]
- ^ Gustafson, David. "The Klapmeier Brothers - Homebuilts to Factory Builts" (PDF). Retrieved 29 September 2014.
- ^ EAA Aviation Center (n.d.). "Cirrus Design Corporation VK-30 – N33VK". Retrieved 10 February 2008.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ Flying Staff (26 August 2013). "Rare Airplanes in Flight". Flying Magazine. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
- ^ Durden, Rick (21 February 2014). "2013: A Good Year for Cirrus". AVweb. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
- ^ Cirrus Aircraft News (11 February 2015). "Cirrus Aircraft Deliveries in 2014 Drive Strongest Performance in Six Years". Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ^ "2016 General Aviation Statistical Databook & Industry Outlook" (PDF). General Aviation Manufacturers Association. 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
- ^ Huber, Mark (August 2016). "Cirrus's Vision SF50". Business Jet Traveler. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ^ Huber, Mark (September 2016). "The $2 Million Personal Jet". Barron's. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ^ Grady, Mary (4 April 2018). "Collier Trophy Goes To Cirrus Jet". AVweb. Retrieved 2 December 2018.