Cessna's Mustang is feeling its oats... the company has moved its focus, for the recently certified Citation Mustang, from development to ramping up for production and customer deliveries and to gaining European certification.

The Citation Mustang received full type certification (TC) from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Sept. 8. With TC, the Citation Mustang is cleared 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 is also certified to operate using the GPS Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Approval for flights into known icing conditions will be completed prior to first customer delivery later this year.

Certification to European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) standards will be complete before scheduled deliveries to European customers begin in the third quarter of 2007.

Twenty-one Citation Mustangs are in production at Cessna's facility in Independence, Kan., where teams of engineers and aircraft technicians have been working for months developing advanced production and tooling systems to ensure an efficient ramp-up to full production. The first three production aircraft assembled in Independence have all completed initial flight test and are in final preparation for delivery. Component production at Cessna facilities in Columbus, Ga., and Wichita, Kan., is also gearing up to meet production demands.

Cessna plans to deliver about 40 Citation Mustangs in 2007, moving toward full-rate production in 2008. The company holds orders for about 250 aircraft and is sold out through mid-2009.

The Citation Mustang is currently on display at the NBAA Static Display area at the Orlando Executive Airport, along with other Cessna Citations including the CJ3, Encore+, top-selling XLS, Sovereign, and the Citation X, the world's fastest business jet.

FMI: www.cessna.com