The home stretch beckons... Cessna
has began function and reliability (F&R) flight testing on
the Citation Mustang, the last step before gaining type
certification (TC) from the FAA.
“We have essentially completed the majority of our
certification issues and expect to wrap things up with the F&R
program, keeping us on schedule for TC as predicted four years ago
when we launched the program. Not only will we meet FAR Part 23
requirements, we’ll also meet a number of the Part 25
commuter aircraft requirements regarding takeoff and landing
performance,” said Jon Carr, Citation Mustang project
engineer.
“We have more than 1,600 hours in the air and hit some
2,200 test points, meeting or exceeding all our program performance
goals including range and speed.”
Carr said TC will include approval for single-pilot operation,
day/night operations, visual and instrument flight rules (VFR/IFR),
and operations in reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM)
airspace. The Citation Mustang will be certified to operate using
the GPS Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). The Garmin G1000
avionics suite includes a new feature called SafeTaxiTM which gives
a graphical representation of the aircraft on the ground in the
airport environment.
“Our entire supplier team has been a big part of the
success of the Citation Mustang,” Carr said. “We really
appreciate their hard work, and the great support from the
certification team at the FAA.”
The structural test program required for TC is complete and the
Citation Mustang performed to all design specifications during the
14-month effort. The Mustang airframe, designed for an unlimited
lifetime, successfully met more than 300 test conditions during
static testing, including 23 major airframe conditions. In terms of
durability, the Citation Mustang was successfully tested to five
airframe lifetimes, well past the required two lifetimes of testing
but normal for Cessna products.
The Citation Mustang will be one of the first new aircraft
certified with the Garmin SafeTaxi feature. Using the 15-inch
multifunction display (MFD) of the G1000, SafeTaxi provides a pilot
with a graphical picture of more than 680 airports in the U.S.,
showing the aircraft’s exact position in relation to labeled
taxiways, runways, and buildings during taxi. The G1000 also uses
the XM satellite system to provide the pilot with weather
information overlaid on the MFD’s moving map, giving the
pilot unprecedented situational awareness.
The G1000 equipped Citation Mustang also will be one of the
first aircraft certified to take advantage of WAAS navigation
features including Lateral Performance with Vertical Guidance
approach (LPV) and WAAS Vertical Navigation (VNAV). WAAS is a
GPS-based navigation and landing system that provides precision
guidance to aircraft at airports where there are currently no
precision landing capabilities. The WAAS signal feeds highly
precise positioning information to the G1000 receiver so that
Citation Mustang operators have enhanced enroute situational
awareness, superior vertical guidance for approaches, and increased
runway accessibility in adverse weather conditions.
Pratt & Whitney Canada has received initial certification
from Transport Canada for the dual-channel FADEC-controlled PW615F
engines. Final certification for the engine and FADEC from
Transport Canada and the FAA is expected soon.
On the training front, Cessna and FlightSafety International,
Cessna’s Citation training partner, are completing the
training syllabus and flight manuals, and finishing work on the
first Mustang full-motion simulator that will be located at
FSI’s training facility at Wichita’s Mid-Continent
Airport (ICT/KICT). A second full-motion simulator is on track to
be installed at the FSI facility at Farnborough (FAB/EGLF) in the
United Kingdom next year. Cessna and FlightSafety are working
closely with the FAA to ensure the program meets or exceeds all FAR
Part 142 requirements as well as the FAA Industry Training
Standards (FITS).
Meanwhile, Cessna’s new Citation Mustang production
facilities in Independence, Kan., and Columbus, Ga., are
essentially complete, with some 19 aircraft already in production.
The Columbus facility produces a number of assemblies including
flight control surfaces and the empennage. Final assembly is in
Independence. Cessna has completed a new paint building and
delivery center for the Mustang, as well as for Cessna’s
single-engine piston aircraft, also produced in Independence.
The six-person Citation Mustang, Cessna’s new entry-level
Citation business jet, was launched at the National Business
Aviation Association annual convention in 2002. It has a top speed
of 340 ktas, a range of 1,150 nautical miles (1323 statute
miles/2130 km – NBAA IFR Reserves) and a service ceiling of
41,000 feet (12,500m) – well suited for getting above weather
and commercial traffic for more efficient operations.