As a brand, “Cessna Citation” conjures up a sense of solidity, of reliability, of conservatism, tradition and value. Utility trumps flash, the tried-and-true takes precedence over the new, and proven service wins out over promises. For decades Citations have sold themselves to customers who were looking to get a great value on an airplane with a track record of getting the job done for many hundreds of owners just like them.
So when the Wichita, Kansas, icon tooled up to build a couple of next-generation larger cabin models, the question I had was this: How does this paragon of plain-sense manufacturing build new Citations that embody the best of the company’s traditional strengths in addition to the latest innovations in propulsion, avionics, aerodynamics and cabin design?
