Two New Cessna Aircraft, Citation Latitude and Citation M2, reach program milestones
Posted on November 14th, 2018
Two new Cessna business aircraft, the Citation Latitiude and Citation M2, positioned at the each end of the airframer’s six-strong light jet family have reached major production and certification milestones. Cessna is hoping these two products will help to re-energine this embattled sector.
The superlight, 2,500nm (4,625km) range Citation Latitude is advancing towards certification and service entry as Cessna begins full assembly-line flow at its manufacturing headquarters. Assembly of the clean-sheet business jet includes several technological advancements, according to Cessna, such as the use of new automated robotics and ergonomically-friendly tooling stations.
“We are bringing technological advances to both the design of our new products and the way we manufacture them,” says Scott Ernest, chief executive of parent company Textron Aviation.
The fourth flight-test Latitude will be the first aircraft to roll off the production line. Two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW306D Latitudes – a prototype and a production example – have logged 230h in over 100 flights.
The third aircraft is scheduled to join the flight-test fleet before the end of the third quarter. US certification for the Garmin G5000-equipped Latitude remains on track for the first half of 2015. According to Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets database, Cessna has a backlog for 27 Latitudes.
Meanwhile, six months after it entered service in the USA, the 1,580nm-range Citation M2 has clinched European approval, paving the way for deliveries to begin to European customers.
Read more at Flightglobal.com –>
Tags: JetOptions, Cessna, Citation M2, citation latitude, Cessna Aircraft, cessna business jets
