In clear, cool Kansas-winter skies, Cessna took its latest bizjet offering, the Citation Latitude, on its first flight yesterday morning. The two Pratt & Whitney PW306D turbofan engines that power the midsized business jet took it up to 28,000 feet and 200 knots, the upper speed limit for the flight.
The Latitude has a ceiling of 43,000 feet, with a target cruise speed of 440 knots and a range of 2,500 nautical miles. The jet can accommodate up to nine passengers in its six-foot tall cabin. It has a flat floor and is the widest Citation jet Cessna has built to date.
The Latitude’s flight deck is designed around Garmin’s G5000 touchscreens, and the avionics will incorporate auto throttles to reduce the pilot workload.
During yesterday’s flight, the flaps, landing gear, anti-ice system and pressurization system were tested and the stability and control of the airplane were verified. “The Citation Latitude was great today, which is to say that it behaved just as anticipated,” said Cessna’s senior flight test pilot Aaron Tobias.
Cessna has been on a roll as of late certifying the Citation M2 and Sovereign+ just in the past few months, two of 18 airplanes Cessna has brought to market in the past decade alone. And with the announcement of the first flight of the Latitude, an accomplishment Cessna made well within its first quarter target, the program appears to be on track for certification in the second quarter of 2015.
Watch a video of the first flight below.
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