"This Is A Great Day For Cessna"

The Federal Aviation Administration granted type certification to Cessna's model 680 Citation Sovereign.   The FAA Central Region Aircraft Certification Manager presented the type certificate to Cessna officials at 1:50 p.m. Wednesday.

"This is a great day for Cessna," said Jack J. Pelton, Cessna's President and CEO. "We have been working with the FAA on the Sovereign's certification for the past few months. As with any brand new airplane with state-of-the-art features, there were a few technical challenges along the way. In the Cessna tradition, the Sovereign exceeds the performance numbers we originally announced. The Sovereign is the most innovative, best performing midsize business jet on the market. It has been designed to have unparalleled reliability and superb ease of maintenance.  Everyone at Cessna who helped make this new airplane a reality should be extremely proud."

The Citation Sovereign's integrated design team developed many new engineering and manufacturing efficiencies that will be used on future aircraft programs.  David Brant, Cessna's Senior Vice President of Engineering, stated, "The Citation Sovereign incorporates many new technological advancements.  The fully integrated EPIC avionics, new highly efficient wing design, and new production line tooling are just a few advancements that we've achieved by adapting and improving existing technology. These designs have been rigorously tested through the flight test program, which has surpassed 3,000 hours."

The Citation Sovereign marks the first time Cessna has offered customers a fully certified level D flight simulator prior to first customer delivery.  FlightSafety International has already received FAA approval for the Citation Sovereign simulator and will begin training Citation Sovereign customers at their Wichita facility upon Sovereign certification. This milestone was achieved by relying heavily on Citation Sovereign serial number 002 to collect the necessary data for the FlightSafety simulator.

The Sovereign also debuts Cessna's first utilization of the Maintenance Steering Group inspection program (MSG 3). The MSG 3 program develops an aircraft maintenance program for the Sovereign through fault analysis that result in significant savings in scheduled maintenance costs.

The Sovereign's new performance numbers include a 459 knots cruise speed, 2,730 nautical mile range, 3,694 feet takeoff distance, 2,650 feet landing distance, and 47,000 ft ceiling. Its fuselage provides the largest cabin and external baggage compartment of any Citation. It will accommodate up to 12 passengers and a crew of two, and 100 cubic feet, or 1,000 pounds, of external baggage.

Cessna has received over 100 firm Sovereign orders in backlog, worth $1.5 billion. The first Citation Sovereign delivery is expected in the second half of 2004. 

FMI: www.cessna.com