Unpainted Prototype Takes to the Sky for a Sunny VFR Ride

A few fun pics of a prototype Cessna Citation Ascend worked their way to Textron's social media this week, as the firm works towards certification of the latest private jet from the brand.

The second Cessna Citation Ascend, P1, first took off as a flight test article late last year, and has now become the first conforming production aircraft. Its first true-to-life flight test putting it through its paces and rounding all the bases took place this month, with company test pilots Michael Bradfield and Maurice Girard at the helm. The flight took an hour and 24 minutes, achieving a max altitude of 13,500 feet and a max speed of 308 knots. Once in service, it won't be too common for a Citation Ascend to hang out so low, but it's a suitable demonstration of a good old VFR demo flight, in any case. The test program ran the P1 plane through all its systems testing, assuring that everything worked fine, like propulsion, human factors, environmental controls, and avionics.

"Today’s successful flight of the second Citation Ascend test article marks another achievement for the program, and that’s a testament to the many great employees involved with this project,” said Chris Hearne, senior vice president, Engineering. “The aircraft has continued to perform well through the phases of testing, and I continue to be confident in the program’s momentum and in our skilled team members who make it possible.”

Cessna doesn't expect to have to build many more prototypes on their way to certification, having the prototype and P1 giving them such great performances. The program has logged more than 400 flight hours across the board, proving the Ascend should be just as competent as they had hoped while drafting it.

FMI: www.txtav.com