Sports P&W Turbofans, Collins Avionics
It may be an Encore... but we doubt the final curtain call will
come any time soon. Cessna tells ANN the planemaker delivered the
first Citation Encore+ last week, to an undisclosed customer. The
seven- to eleven-passenger Encore+ succeeds the Encore, offering
FADEC (Full Authority Digital Electronic Control) equipped engines,
increased payload capability, a new integrated avionics suite, more
standard equipment, and new interior styling features.
Propulsion for the Encore+ is generated by two dual-channel
FADEC equipped PW535B engines from Pratt & Whitney Canada.
FADEC provides reduced pilot workload, optimum engine efficiency,
intelligent health monitoring and diagnostics capability, and
enhanced reliability due to the dual channel redundancy.
An increase in the gross weight resulted in a full-fuel payload
of 1,170 pounds, 340 pounds more than the original Encore. Cessna
states this enhancement in the Encore+ also increases the range
significantly with higher passenger loads.
The integrated Collins Pro Line 21 avionics suite supplies the
Encore+ with many of the same features as the Citation CJ3 and CJ1+
and CJ2+. The heart of the integration resides in the File Server
Unit (FSU) serving as a portal to display electronic charting,
graphical weather, and enhanced mapping in the cockpit.
Flight data is presented on three 8-inch by 10-inch active
matrix color liquid crystal displays - two Primary Flight Displays
(PFD) an
d one enhanced Multi-Function Display (MFD).
Other integrated avionics features include Pro Line 21
Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) radios and
Collins FMS-3000 with performance database. The Encore+ is equipped
with standard Terrain Collision Avoidance System (TCAS II), Mark
VIII Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS), and XM
Broadcast Graphical Weather including Next Generation Doppler Radar
(NEXRAD) information, Meteorological Terminal Aviation Routine
Weather Report (METARs), and textual Terminal Aerodrome Forecast
(TAF).
As Aero-News reported, Cessna
earned Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) type certification for
the Encore+ on December 21, 2006, meeting its Q4 timeline goal.
Takeoff distance was certified as 3,520 feet, time to climb to
45,000 feet as 27 minutes, range (with NBAA IFR reserves) as 1,780
nautical miles, and maximum true airspeed as 428 knots (nearly 500
miles per hour).