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Home | Update | LATEST ISSUE | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles | FR 8/98 CESSNA CITATION EXCEL CERTIFIED AT LAST by Norbert Burgner She arrives late, but at least she has arrived. About eight months after the expected date the youngest sibling of the most successful family on the business-jet market got her certification. The customers did not seem to mind that the Cessna Citation Excel was grossly overweight when she entered the market. With 200 firm orders amounting to 1.6 billion US dollars, the latest twinjet from Wichita, Kansa, is the best selling business jet of all time in this market segment. What the customer gets for his patience is, according to Cessna experts, the "excellent" synthesis of the headroom of a mid-size cabin with the economy, the working efficiency and the operational flexibility of a light-jet. In order to achieve this, Cessna combined the cabin of the companyÕs flagship Citation-X with the wing of the Citation V Ultra. Fitted out with two Pratt & Whittney PW545A turbofans, the Excel is expected to reach an altitude of 41,000 feet (12497 meters) in 18 minutes. Her take off weight is 19,200 lbs (8,700 kg). She is able to transport passengers over distances of up to 2027 NM (3,754 km). The certification date, which had been the summer of 1997, has long since passed. The cause of this, as Cessna informed everyone at that time, was new demands made by the US Aviation Authority FAA. It had become necessary to add new systems based on the results of the flight test program. The new date for certification was fixed for January of this year. However, this target was not going to be achieved either. When the youngest sibling of the Citation family received her papers on 22 April, her weight had again increased by 350 kg. In order to cover the intended distance despite the take off weight of 9,060 kg and the increased fuel consumption, the fuel capacity had to be increased by 1,131 l to 3,845 l. Because of the increased weight, the take-off distance had to be lengthened from 1,055 meters to 1,095 meters. It remains to be seen whether this will impair Excel's operational flexibility. It need to be taken into consideration during take-off at maximum take off weight and full fuel tanks on hot days. Cessna informs us, that otherwise nothing to do with the certification has changed. Meanwhile one is better informed in Wichita: While the Excel was able to reach its final altitude at around 2,300 ft per minute, after her weight gain this has dropped to about 1,950 ft/min. Also the maximum payload, (passengers and/or luggage/freight) has dropped from 1,100 lbs (approx.498 kg), to 910 lbs (412 kg). The Excel can only fulfil the claimed specification now with one passenger less on board, unless the passengers take far less luggage, or kerosene is left behind, they will have to be content with shorter distances. Finally, against the backdrop of the described problems, economical factors were also impaired: The estimated running costs for a 1,100 km trip were initially 817 US dollars per hour. This made the Excel 13 US dollar (1.6 per cent) cheaper than its rival, the Learjet 45. However, the new figures (860 US-dollars) put the Excel at a disadvantage of 3 per cent. Why then have so many customers decided for the Citation? The answer, Cessna informs us, is the bigger cabin. Although at 5.7 meters it is shorter than the Learjet cabin (6.02 meters), it is altogether roomier, because it is wider (1.7 meters) and most importantly higher (1.72 meters) than the Lear (1.5 meters/1.55 meters). The Cessna is, however, a lot more expensive. The price of the Excel is 8,1 million US dollars, which is 450,000 US-dollars dearer than the Lear 45 (7,65 million US-dollars). The aircraft will receive certification under the 560 series label, which means that a transition of pilots from the successful Citation V to the Excel will require minimal fuss. The magic ingredient is a regular clientele and the sales figures of the new Cessna obviously prove this correct. From age 28 of FLUG REVUE 8/98 Home | Update | LATEST ISSUE | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles | FR 8/98 Copyright 1998 by Motor-Presse Stuttgart. All rights reserved. Last updated July 13, 1998 FLUG REVUE, Ubierstr. 83, 53173 Bonn, Germany