The best way that I can think of to describe Cessna's new light jet Mustang is that it is, in all respects, a Citation. That means it has pleasant and predictable flying qualities, uncomplicated and robust systems, good payload and range, and it delivers on all of the promises Cessna made when it introduced the airplane four years ago.
Cessna rejects the term "very" light jet for the Mustang and refers to it simply as a light jet. The Mustang is an attractive airplane designed from scratch, powered by new generation engines and equipped with the most advanced avionics in the category, but it is not a revolution. The real revolution happened more than 35 years ago when Cessna introduced the original Citation 500. The weights, performance and even the price of the first Citation are very close to those of the Mustang. Now, with 4,500 Citations delivered by the time you read this-nearly 3,200 of them single-pilot capable-Cessna knows more than any company about light jets, how to design them, build them and support them.
By my count the Mustang is the third generation light jet from Cessna. The first was, of course, the Citation 500, which has spawned an enormous family of models. The second came in the 1990s when the CitationJet was introduced. Engine prices and other costs had made it unattractive to continue building the Citation 501, so Cessna started over to create a new light entry-level jet with new engines. The CJ has been a success and, in the best Cessna tradition, has been stretched and improved into follow-on models that vastly increase the cabin size and performance of the original.
The Mustang is a repeat performance. The CJ has grown in all respects, including costs, and Cessna wanted a new jet at the entry level, so it started over, again with new engines. But, unlike the CJ, the Mustang borrows almost nothing from previous Citations except Cessna's enormous experience at designing and building jets.
When you look at the Mustang you can detect a Citation family resemblance, but it's slight. The reason the Mustang looks so different is that the nose section, including the windshield and canopy, is entirely new, while other members of the Citation 500 kin share a common forward fuselage shape. The Mustang nose section is fairly thick, allowing plenty of room for a forward baggage compartment and lots of space for pilots in the cockpit. The windshields are swept aft and smoothly faired into the canopy, while the other Citations have a much more upright windshield angle. And the Mustang has electrically heated windshields, so all of the apparatus that it takes to get hot bleed air onto the windshields of other Citations is gone. You will also immediately notice that the Mustang cabin windows are different. They are mounted well above the centerline of the fuselage and are oval shape. Moving the windows up puts them near eye level of a seated passenger and lends a grand feeling of spaciousness to a compact cabin. And for the oval shape, well, a famous and successful family of business jets-the Gulfstreams-have proved that passengers love the shape.
The Mustang wing is also all-new. Cessna correctly expected that many Mustangs would be bought by people who intend to fly the airplane themselves and wanted a jet with docile handling characteristics and approach and takeoff speeds at or below propeller twin numbers. Cessna created a new high-lift wing with a slight leading edge sweep. The wing has very low stall speeds, allowing typical landing approaches of 90 knots, but still has low enough drag to deliver the promised 340-knots true airspeed cruise. With a span of nearly 43 feet and a generous wing area of 210 square feet, the Mustang wing is also right at home at the certified ceiling of 41,000 feet.
Cessna engineers also used their decades of jet experience to make the Mustang systems the least complicated of any I have seen in a jet. For example, there is no overall hydraulic system. An electric motor powers a hydraulic pump only as necessary to pressurize the system to operate the landing gear and anti-skid power brakes. The flaps and speed brakes, typically powered by hydraulics, are electrically operated. The fuel system is as simple as possible. All fuel is in the wings, each engine draws from its side, and the only fuel management task is to make sure you have enough, and if you lose an engine you can rotate a knob to move fuel from one wing to the other. That's it. No pumps to turn on or off or tanks to switch. The electrical system is just as easy to manage because either generator can operate everything, except maybe the air conditioning and full windshield heat. But if one generator fails, those two items are automatically shed, so there's really no pilot action required.
The engines are, of course, key to any new aircraft design and the Pratt & Whitney PW615F turbofans continue the emphasis on ease of operation with the full-authority digital electronic controls (fadec). The fadecs manage all aspects of engine operation, so the pilot only needs to move the thrust levers to suit the requirement with no need to monitor engine limits. Fadec is now the norm in larger jets, but is entirely new at the entry level. The PW615F engines produce 1,350 pounds of thrust at sea level and can hold that level up to 77º F. The engine has twin-spools just like the large turbofans. Twin-spools means that the fan is driven by a low-pressure turbine on the opposite end of a concentric shaft, while the outer high speed shaft is connected to the compressor sections on the forward end and high-pressure turbine on the back end. A twin spool-engine has fewer moving parts which helps with reliability, a promise already delivered with the engine entering service with a mature 3,500 hour TBO with a single hot section inspection at mid-time, which can be performed without removing the engine from the airplane.
