All Cirrus aircraft, including Lidle's and mine, have an airframe parachute.

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Cirrus aircraft already come equipped with a full-airframe parachute that can be deployed in an emergency, and the system has been credited with saving dozens of lives.

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In only eight years, Cirrus piston aircraft sales have surpassed Beechcraft, Mooney, Piper and Cessna.

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Since late 2003, Baron claims, Sirius XM has sold "tens of thousands" of subscriptions to Baron's service. (Sirius declines to confirm that.) The devices can be found in newer Cessna, Cirrus and Piper aircraft and can be installed in boats and various mobile GPS gadgets for hunters and fishermen.

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Another example is China Aviation Corp, which acquired US-based Cirrus Industries, a private aircraft maker.

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Cessna, Piper and a new company called Cirrus, began building training aircraft again, and student pilot starts, which had eroded significantly, showed signs of growth.

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Cirrus is considering a single-engine jet aircraft to compete with single turboprops from New Piper and EADS Socata.

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That's the dilemma faced each day by Cirrus Design, the fastest-growing single-engine aircraft maker in the world.

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Alan Klapmeier, the co-founder of Cirrus, notes that glass cockpits transform the safety and ease-of-use of small aircraft, and could make them accessible to many people who were previously put off flying by the daunting complexity of an aircraft's controls.

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The Cirrus single has huge windows for passenger comfort and an airframe parachute, in the unlikely event that the aircraft's Williams FJ33 engine flames out.

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