First Light Jet Approved For Known Ice

Cessna announced at AOPA Expo 2006 Thursday the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has cleared the Citation Mustang for flight into known icing (FIKI). Full FAA type certification for the Citation Mustang was awarded September 8, making it the first of a new category of entry level jets to win type certification from the FAA.

"While approval for flight into icing is not required for certification of the airplane, we wanted to have this in place prior to delivering our first Mustang and in advance of this year's major icing season," said Cessna Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Jack J. Pelton. "Our team strives to get our airplanes into the hands of our customers with all major flight capabilities in place because we know that's what our customers expect and deserve."

 "The Citation Mustang has met or exceeded every performance objective established when we announced the program in 2002, and we beat the schedule doing it," Pelton said. "We achieved all FAR requirements for the Mustang's weight class, and tested the aircraft in many categories to commercial airliner standards, including cyclic testing to five airframe lifetimes - well past the two-lifetime requirement. 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 and sets new standards for what this new generation of aircraft will be."

The six-place Citation Mustang has a top speed of 340 ktas (nearly 400 miles per hour), a range of 1,150 nautical miles (1,323 statute miles/2,130 km - NBAA IFR Reserves) and a service ceiling of 41,000 feet (12,500 m) - well suited for getting above most weather and commercial traffic for more efficient operations.

Based on unit sales, Cessna Aircraft Company is the world's largest manufacturer of general aviation airplanes. In 2005, Cessna delivered 1,157 aircraft and reported revenues of about $3.5 billion.

FMI: www.cessna.com