Cirrus announces jet at London Show

CIRRUS astonished press at FLY! The London Air Show with the announcement that the US company is definitely going to develop and produce a jet version of its best-selling SR22.

"We can confirm that we will be going ahead with a personal jet," said John Bingham, vice-president of sales & marketing worldwide. "It will be the style and have the same safety focus as our piston aircraft. It will be a different plane but deliberately designed for transition from piston to jet.

"It is the dawn of yet another exciting era for our company."

W: www.cirrusdesign.com

CARLA LAUNCHED A brand new autogyro called CARLA was launched at the show. It's based on the Ikarus C42 microlight fuselage and tail with a four-blade rotor fixed to the roof. It's being developed by a new British company, NewGen Rotorcraft, of Yeovil, which is looking for finance to take the project further. Pic shows engineer Malcolm Reid in the Carla mockup.

LIBERTY IN EUROPE Aircraft designer Ivan Shaw, the man behind both the Europa kitplane and the Liberty XL2, sitting inside the first XL2 to arrive in Europe. The Florida-based company will be certifying the XL2 with the European authorities this year, aiming to persuade both individuals and flying schools that the two-seat XL2's low operating costs make it a natural choice as a replacement for the venerable Cessna 150/152s and Piper Tomahawks.

LOOP PACKS Know someone interested in learning to fly? Well, a great present would be one of the brand new LOOP Learn To Fly Packs and a trial lesson, bookable through LOOP. The packs contain a 24-page loose-leaf handbook about learning to fly - the course, the Skill Test, types of aircraft, getting a commercial licence, microlights and helicopters - plus a sheaf of money-off vouchers worth much more than the £10 pack price.

HUEY HERE Stunning everyone with its size and originality was Paul Connolly's Huey helicopter, a genuine US Army veteran from the Vietnam war. Wonderfully restored with all sorts of props including mock machine guns and helmets, it's a slice of life from the late 1960s. Paul plans to display the aircraft in the UK this year. Compulsory viewing for anyone who has read Chickenhawk!

JAVELIN JET  Arriving visitors were wowed by the Javelin jet mockup sitting in the entrance lobby of Earls Court. It's sheer size is impressive as are its sleek lines and raw aggression. The real $2.8 million jet is going through flight trials in the US at the moment.

PORTABLE TRANSPONDER Look closely and you can see the new lightweight, transportable transponder from Kinetic Avionics Products. It's called LAST and may prove to be the answer for clubs and groups looking for a Mode S transponder to meet new regs due in a couple of years.

BREITLING CHALLENGE Centerpiece of the show was the Breitling Challenge where you could pit yourself against others in a virtual dogfight. Flight sims were a strong point of the show with Microsoft's Sim City and many software manufacturers attending, showing off both combat and 'normal' flight sims.

ENSTROM ATTRACTS THE stylish lines of Enstrom's 480 caught many people's eyes. It's said to be the least expensive single engine turbine helicopter available and was one one of several rotaries at the show, brought by Eastern Atlantic and FAST Helicopters from Shoreham Airport.

The LOOP Learn to Fly Zone gave advice to would be pilots throughout the weekend

Thousands of people visited the show over the three day weekend