The New Cessna Jets

Time for me to talk about Cessna and the new jets being produced by them. Cessna is quite close to my heart, as the first aircraft I soloed in was a Cessna C152 and also the first jet I flew was a Cessna Citation I.

Recently Cessna have ben busy producing three new jets:

Cessna Citation Latitude: Carries 9 Pax / 2700NM / $16.3M

Cessna Citation Longitude: Carries 12 Pax / 3500NM / $24M

Cessna Citation Hemisphere: Carries 12 Pax / 4500NM / $35M

Cessna Citation Latitude

A few weeks ago in Las Vegas at NBAA 2017 Textron Aerospace announced they are in the process of delivering the 100th Cessna Citation Latitude midsize business jet. The milestone aircraft, which comes just 26 months after the first Latitude entered service, will be handed over to NetJets, Inc., this week at Textron Aviation headquarters in Wichita, Kansas.

“We set out to redefine this segment by investing in a new product with features our customers told us they wanted: large-cabin amenities and best-in-class operating costs. Delivering 100 Latitudes in just over two years is a testament that we’ve got the ideal combination,” said Rob Scholl, senior vice president of Sales and Marketing, Textron Aviation. “There’s no better endorsement than the fact that our long-time customer NetJets reports it as the best-selling aircraft in its fleet.”

 NetJets extended its total Latitude order to up to 200 aircraft when it took its first delivery in June 2016.

 Textron Aviation delivered 42 Citation Latitudes in 2016, making it the most delivered midsize jet in the world for that year. The aircraft’s mission flexibility has made it popular with fleet operators, corporate owners and special missions operators across the world. With certification in 39 countries, the global fleet has surpassed 45,000 flight hours.

Cessna Citation Longitude

The next step-up on the Cessna Citation ladder is the Cessna Citation Longitude. The fourth and penultimate flight-test aircraft was rolled-out on 6 May, putting the super-midsize business jet on track for US certification and service entry by the end of 2017.

The aircraft – outfitted with a complete production interior – made a 3h 20h flight to test the full flight envelope, with all performance targets reached.

This programme milestone comes seven months after the arrival of the first Longitude. The second flight-test aircraft joined the line-up in November and the third in March. The trio have logged 400h over 200 sorties. The fifth aircraft is now in production and is scheduled to arrive in the third quarter.

Brad Thress, Textron Aviation senior vice-president of engineering, says the latest aircraft will also evaluate the overall passenger experience, with a focus on the Longitude’s cabin technologies, environmental control and pressurisation systems. These factors, Thress says, “are as vital as the performance and technology in the cockpit”.

The Honeywell HTF7700L-powered Longitude includes Cessna’s first use of fly-by-wire technology, with electronically actuated spoilers.

Cessna Citation Hemisphere

At NBAA 2016 Textron Aerospace President and CEO Scott Ernest announced the introduction of a new, large-cabin Cessna Citation jet named the Hemisphere.

"The Citation Hemisphere is designed to transform this segment, offering customers the latest technology available and the widest cabin in its class," Ernest said. A section of what will make up that 102-inch diameter cabin is on display. Textron Aviation is actively exploring options for avionics and power plants for the Hemisphere, but the airplane is designed to travel as far as 4,500 nm and is expected to have a max cruise speed of at least Mach 0.9. First flight is expected in 2019 with a price tag of about $35 million, Ernest said.

The Hemisphere will be the largest in a Citation sub-family of stand-up-cabin bizjets and will certainly find its niche in the private jet marketplace.

Fabrizio Poli is an independant aviation consultant specialized in aircraft sales. He is also an accomplished Airline Transport Pilot having flown both private Jets and for the airlines. Fabrizio is also a bestselling author and inspirational speaker & has been featured on Russia Today (RT), TRT World, Social Media Examiner, Bloomberg, Channel 5, Chicago Tribune, Daily Telegraph, City Wealth Magazine, Billionaire.com, Wealth X, Financial Times, El Financiero and many other Media offering insight on the aviation world. Fabrizio is also regularly featured as an Aviation Analyst on Russia Today (RT) and TRT World. Fabrizio is also aviation special correspondent for luxury magazine, Most Fabullous Magazine. Fabrizio is also considered one of the world's top 30 experts in using Linkedin for business. You can tune in weekly to Fabrizio's business Podcast Living Outside the Cube available both in video & audio. You can also follow Fabrizio's aviation videos on Biz Jet TV . Fabrizio's latest book "Health4Flyers", the first natural-health book for pilots, flights attendants and frequent flyers is now available worldwide.