Sports P&W Turbofans, Collins Avionics

It may be an Encore... but we doubt the final curtain call will come any time soon. Cessna tells ANN the planemaker delivered the first Citation Encore+ last week, to an undisclosed customer. The seven- to eleven-passenger Encore+ succeeds the Encore, offering FADEC (Full Authority Digital Electronic Control) equipped engines, increased payload capability, a new integrated avionics suite, more standard equipment, and new interior styling features.

Propulsion for the Encore+ is generated by two dual-channel FADEC equipped PW535B engines from Pratt & Whitney Canada. FADEC provides reduced pilot workload, optimum engine efficiency, intelligent health monitoring and diagnostics capability, and enhanced reliability due to the dual channel redundancy.

An increase in the gross weight resulted in a full-fuel payload of 1,170 pounds, 340 pounds more than the original Encore. Cessna states this enhancement in the Encore+ also increases the range significantly with higher passenger loads.

The integrated Collins Pro Line 21 avionics suite supplies the Encore+ with many of the same features as the Citation CJ3 and CJ1+ and CJ2+. The heart of the integration resides in the File Server Unit (FSU) serving as a portal to display electronic charting, graphical weather, and enhanced mapping in the cockpit.

Flight data is presented on three 8-inch by 10-inch active matrix color liquid crystal displays - two Primary Flight Displays (PFD) an

d one enhanced Multi-Function Display (MFD).

Other integrated avionics features include Pro Line 21 Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) radios and Collins FMS-3000 with performance database. The Encore+ is equipped with standard Terrain Collision Avoidance System (TCAS II), Mark VIII Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS), and XM Broadcast Graphical Weather including Next Generation Doppler Radar (NEXRAD) information, Meteorological Terminal Aviation Routine Weather Report (METARs), and textual Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF).

As Aero-News reported, Cessna earned Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) type certification for the Encore+ on December 21, 2006, meeting its Q4 timeline goal. Takeoff distance was certified as 3,520 feet, time to climb to 45,000 feet as 27 minutes, range (with NBAA IFR reserves) as 1,780 nautical miles, and maximum true airspeed as 428 knots (nearly 500 miles per hour).

FMI: www.cessna.com