The Closer it Gets, the Better it Looks

Cessna Aircraft Company announces an improvement to the Citation Sovereign's Mmo from the original Mach .78 to Mach .80. The higher Mmo will provide Sovereign pilots with increased operational flexibility.

"We were confident that we would be able to have a higher Mmo with the Sovereign," said Randy Nelson, Cessna Vice President of Engineering. "However, because of the Sovereign's all new wing design, we needed to verify our engineering data with flight tests prior to announcing the improved Mmo."

The Citation Sovereign program is expected to complete FAA certification by the 4th quarter of 2003. Currently, the three conformed Sovereign aircraft have accumulated over 670 hours in 370 flights. Full-airframe structural fatigue testing and the majority of static strength certification conditions have been completed.

The Citation Sovereign was announced at the 1998 NBAA convention, and is designed to fill the traditional midsize category market segment. First flight of the Sovereign prototype occurred on February 27, 2002. After FAA certification is received in late 2003, the first customer delivery will take place in early 2004. Sovereign sales activity exceeds 100 orders.

FMI: www.cessna.com