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.

FMI: www.cessna.com