Cirrus Aircraft expands Grand Forks facility in preparation for Vision jet production

Cirrus Aircraft announced the expansion of its Grand Forks, N.D. facility to accommodate a new autoclave oven in preparation for production of the Vision SF50 jet. Modifications to the Grand Forks facility began in May and the autoclave was delivered on June 275th, when the installation process will begin. The building housing the autoclave will be constructed around this large piece of equipment, and is expected to be complete by the end of July with a fully operational autoclave by mid-August. An autoclave oven is used in the manufacturing process of composite parts – in this case very large parts, such as the carbon fiber main spar of the SR-2X series aircraft and the Vision SF50 jet.  Previously production of the carbon spar using an autoclave was outsourced to an out-of-state company. Bringing this process to Cirrus at the Grand Forks composites facility will save the company several million dollars over the next 10 years and creates the opportunity for future job growth.