Al-Amn Magazine

controls. Where might a Cirrus plane be used? Cirrus, founded in 1984, calls itself a leader in “personal aviation.” “We believe aviation makes the world better,” Kowalski said. “We’re biased, rightfully so, because we build airplanes, but we see the people that are buying and using our airplanes…, the vast majority put them into service for their business, to grow their business.” While some may utilize a Cirrus plane for their own personal use, mostly, the company’s customers are business owners that can make use of the plane to lessen costs elsewhere. They aren’t the typical “aviation geek” type. “The vast majority of people who are buying Cirruses in our space, they’re not professional pilots,” he said. “They’re flying a couple times a week, maybe, so we’re constantly creating a flight deck and a user interface, things that make it easier and safer and simpler to fly.” The company created its own Cirrus Airframe Parachute System – the first FAA-certified whole- airframe parachute safety system included as standard equipment on its planes. It allows the entire aircraft to float to the ground in case of emergency. The future for Cirrus is simple: introduce more people to the world of aviation and make them feel comfortable with it. “What we’ve actually done is take an airframe powered by a power plant that’s not digitally controlled or not controlled by a computer, an airframe that is kind of the entry point of aviation,” McIver explained. “People are learning how to fly in this plane, and we are producing over 600 of these a year.” 600 a year that will now have a shiny red button onboard. “(Aviation) makes people more productive and are able to do more,” Kowalski said. “I think we’ll see this convergence in the future of as air as technologies for the airplanes keep improving, just like this.” cnn.com