Cirrus Aircraft has delivered its 5,000th airplane, and if you ever have a chance to see it, you’ll know immediately what it is you’re looking at. The Cirrus SR22 – N5000J – has a unique yellow-and-gray paint scheme with shiny black-and-white accents. Its tail is adorned with a large numeral 5 and the word “thousand.” N5000J was delivered to Joe Whisenhunt of Little Rock, Arkansas, in a special ceremony at the AOPA Aviation Summit in Hartford, Connecticut, last week. Cirrus confirmed that the J in the n-number stands for the owner’s first name, Joe.
Whisenhunt’s airplane also came with a special sports-car-inspired black interior, with stitched leather and bright yellow details highlighting the 5,000th designation. The panel is equipped with the Cirrus Perspective cockpit, produced by Garmin, and the airplane is powered by a 310 hp Teledyne Continental IO-550-N engine.
“When we started, we dreamed of building airplanes that made people’s lives easier and better,” said Dale Klapmeier, who recently took over the CEO position from Brent Wouters. “Five thousand aircraft later, we’re proud of this achievement and we will continue to improve upon that dream.”
Cirrus began delivering airplanes in 1999, the first being the 200 hp SR20. The Duluth, Minnesota-based company pioneered the use of an airframe parachute system and was also one of the first airplane manufacturers to incorporate glass panel avionics.
