Cirrus Design’s The Jet is a next-generation aircraft planned as a transition from the Cirrus SR22.

The jet is not intended to compete with very light jets like the Eclipse 500 and the Cessna Citation Mustang. It is intended for the personal use market and will be comparable to the Diamond Aircraft Industries D-Jet. It will have a parachute, as all Cirrus have, and will be made of a composite material. Certification expected in the next few years.

Cirrus is currently taking $100,000 deposits for the jet. Initially, as a public relations exercise, the company gave deposit holders a drawing of the jet in the form of a jigsaw puzzle, one piece at a time. On June 28, the entire puzzle was completed, and the Cirrus Jet configuration was unveiled.

The Jet will seat seven people. The cockpit will have two seats, and the second row will have two seats as will the third row. There will be a seat that can slide between the second and third row. The Jet will have two doors, and the parachute will be located in the nose.

British aerospace firm Reaction Engines is currently working on a hypersonic aircraft that would herald a new era and bright future for commercial air travel at Mach 5 speeds.

With 50 per cent funding by the European Union, or about US$14 million, this project, if successfully launched, could slash travel times drastically, so a flight from Brussels to Sydney would take only about a little over four hours.