Cessna: Mustang Now 'World’s First Fully Certified, New-Generation Entry Level Business Jet'

The FAA granted a full TC to Cessna’s Citation Mustang, late Friday, after recent rumors indicated that the TC was "imminent." 

Indeed, it was.

“This is an immense achievement, marking another point in history where Cessna has led the aviation industry into new territory,” said Cessna Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Jack Pelton.

“The Citation Mustang will bring the benefits of jet ownership to more people than ever before, and I cannot say enough about the team that made this happen,” Pelton continued.

“I’d like to extend my deepest congratulations and appreciation to the talented Cessna employees, our world-class suppliers, and the dedicated FAA certification team who took on this mission as passionately and personally as any program I’ve seen. The Citation Mustang has met or exceeded every performance objective established when we announced the program in 2002. We accomplished what we said we were going to accomplish, and we beat the schedule doing it. I think everyone will agree the final product our team created – in its polished fit, finish and performance – sets the highest standard for what this new generation of aircraft will be.

“Cessna’s commitment to safety is evident in the Mustang, as it is in our entire fleet of aircraft,” Pelton said.

“We met or exceeded all the requirements for the Mustang’s weight class, and went on to test the aircraft in many categories to commercial airliner standards. The Citation Mustang was successfully tested to five airframe lifetimes, well past the required two lifetimes of testing, and was designed for an unlimited airframe lifetime. During flight testing, we successfully achieved more than 2,200 certification test conditions, meeting or exceeding all our program performance goals, including range and speed. There is no question the Mustang represents a first-class Cessna Citation business jet in every way.”

FAA type certification for the Mustang includes single-pilot operation, day/night operations, visual and instrument flight rules (VFR/IFR), and operations in reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM) airspace.

“While not required for full TC, we’ll be cleared for flight into known icing conditions in the next couple of weeks, well before our deliveries to customers start early next year,” Pelton said.

“The majority of that testing is complete, and the final test conditions will be flown over the next few weeks as natural icing conditions materialize with cooler Autumn weather.”

The fully functional Garmin G1000 equipped Citation Mustang includes an integrated, dual-channel fail passive digital autopilot, and is the first aircraft with an integrated flight deck that is certified to take advantage of WAAS navigation features including WAAS LPV approaches that provide both lateral and vertical guidance. The Garmin G1000 avionics suite also includes a new feature called SafeTaxi which gives a graphical representation of the aircraft on the ground in the airport environment.

The Citation Mustang is assembled at Cessna’s facility in Independence, Kan., also home to the company’s line of single-engine piston aircraft (Models 172, 182 and 206). Cessna’s facilities in Wichita, Kan., and Columbus, Ga., produce components for the Mustang.

Cessna currently has 250 orders for the Mustang, selling out production well into 2009. With TC now in hand, Cessna plans to enhance its sales and marketing efforts by increasing its domestic and international sales force, conducting intensive demonstration tours with multiple aircraft on a worldwide basis, and stepping up its marketing campaign in response to the very high level of interest in the Citation Mustang expressed by customers globally.

The six-place Citation Mustang has a top speed of 340 ktas (nearly 400 miles per hour), a range of 1,150 nautical miles (1323 statute miles – NBAA IFR Reserves) and a service ceiling of 41,000 feet – well suited for getting above weather and commercial traffic for more efficient operations.

The Cessna Citation Mustang features a wide passenger door, large, eye-level windows for plenty of natural light in the cabin, and externally accessed luggage space in the front and rear of the cabin – plenty of space for suitcases and golf clubs or snow skis.

The Cessna Citation Mustang is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW615F engines with dual FADECs, giving it a miserly approach to fuel consumption.

The Cessna Citation Mustang features a fully functional Garmin G1000 avionics suite with information presented on two 10-inch PFDs and one 15-inch MFD. The Citation Mustang is certified for GPS WAAS LNAV and VNAV operations and features XM satellite weather overlaid on a digital moving map display for unprecedented situational awareness.

Sales of the Cessna Citation Mustang have climbed to 250 units, with a majority coming from international customers. Cessna has a network of more than two dozen authorized service centers around the globe to augment the company’s own 10 service centers in Paris and around the U.S.

FMI: www.cessna.com