A Much Upgraded CJ Makes Ready To Enter The Market

If it ain't broke, don't fix it... how many times have you heard that? Well, as good as that advice might be for most folks, its but an unfair limitation on the folks at Cessna who have a habit of taking perfectly great little airplanes and tweaking them enough to make them remarkably and demonstrably better... as appears to be th case with Cessna's upcoming CJ4.

The keyword involved with the CJ4 program is "More." The CJ4 adds a number of aerodynamic enhancements as well as the Williams FJ44-4A engine to amp up the performance benefits numbers.

Each of the FJ-44As generates 3,400 pounds of thrust, while the resultant max payload becomes 2100 pounds -- with a full-fuel payload of a solid 1000 pounds. At max takeoff weight, the CJ4 will require as little as 3300 feet of runway and only 2665 feet to land.

CJ4s can also climb directly to 45,000 feet in just 28 minutes, and offer up a cruise of 451 knots -- putting it solidly in the '500-mph club.'

With its NBAA IFR 100 nm reserves, the CJ4 boasts a range of 1963 nm. Like the rest of the CJ pack, the FADEC-augmented bird is designed for eventual single-pilot certification.

FMI: www.cessna.com, www.aero-tv.net, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, www.twitter.com/aeronews