S/N 0003 Flies For Nearly 2.5 Hours

Less than two weeks after its public unveiling at Cessna's celebration marking 10 years of production at the company's Independence, KS manufacturing facility, the first production Citation Mustang assembled at the plant took to the skies for the first time Thursday, on a two-hour-and-twenty-minute test flight.

Representatives with Cessna told ANN the aircraft -- S/N 0003 -- will enter service this December as Cessna's first Mustang demonstrator aircraft. It is the fourth Mustang produced, and the first one that will not be used for FAA flight testing as part of the type-certification program.

Mustangs 0004 through 0015 are currently on the production line at Cessna's manufacturing facility in Independence, with the first customer delivery expected in the first quarter of 2007.

The three Mustangs dedicated to certification are the Mustang prototype, and serial numbers 0001 and 0002. Certification flight hours on the three airplanes total more than 1,250 hours. Cessna expects to receive FAA certification for the Mustang later this year.

First announced at the 2002 National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention, the Citation Mustang program has orders for more than 240 aircraft, according to Cessna.

FMI: www.cessna.com