Cessna

Cessna employees in Independence, Kansas, had reason to celebrate this week as the first production Citation M2 fuselage was attached to its wings. “This is the moment when we can see an aircraft take shape, and we hope it is equally exciting for our customers who want to start flying their M2,” said Dick Friesen, […]

When trying to come up with a site for floatplane heaven, you’d go through a lot of places before you hit upon Texas, but this didn’t stop me from saying “yes” when Cessna’s chief pilot of propeller airplanes, Kirby Ortega, dropped me a note asking if I wanted to go float flying with Cessna’s resident […]

Cessna’s Citation line of jets was named after the 1948 winner of the Kentucky Derby. Cessna has a presence at Louisville International Airport (KSDF) this weekend as more than 600 expected general aviation aircraft arrive for the Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs. After winning the Derby, Citation went on to capture the Preakness […]

The new Citation Sovereign made its maiden production flight recently, giving Cessna test pilots their first opportunity to evaluate the upgraded jet’s performance and handling. The flight originated near Cessna’s manufacturing plant in Wichita, Kansas, and lasted for two-and-a-half hours. During that time, Cessna’s test crew performed evaluations of the Garmin G5000 avionics panel, the […]

Earlier this week at a Cessna Citation owners conference in Wichita, Cessna President and CEO Scott Ernest responded to a blog in Tuesday’s Flying eNews entitled “Cessna CJ Hiatus: End of the Niche Jet.” The article wondered what Cessna’s slowdown in Citation production, announced earlier in the week, might mean in the long run for […]

With 13 airplanes on the production line, Cessna’s jet-A-burning Turbo Skylane JT-A is on schedule for certification and first deliveries before the end of June. “We are on track,” said Jeff Umscheid, business leader for the project. “We have been taking orders since [EAA AirVenture 2012 last summer].” The JT-A’s SMA diesel engine is exhibiting […]

Amid slow sales and an $8 million first-quarter loss, Cessna will pause production of several entry-level business jet models and seek to trim its workforce, the company said yesterday. Cessna delivered 32 jets in the quarter, down from 38 in the same period last year. Cessna parent Textron’s CEO, Scott Donnelly, noted that light jet […]

Cessna announced this week that the first updated production Citation X has emerged from the factory hangar in Wichita, Kansas. More than 675 flight hours have been logged on the two test platforms Cessna has used during the certification effort for its fastest business jet. Cessna hopes to certify the new X and deliver the […]

Cessna yesterday rolled out the 400th Citation CJ3 light jet. In its ninth year of production, the CJ3 outsells its competition by 70 percent, according to Cessna. Powered by a pair of fadec-controlled Williams FJ44-3A fanjets, the single-pilot-certified CJ3 is largely owner-flown. The Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 flight deck is common among all CJs, […]

Though his racing suit is devoid of sponsors’ patches, Jeff Bloch has built 13 racers over the years — but none quite like this one. The shiny aluminum race “car” is actually the fuselage of a 1956 Cessna 310 light twin, mated to the chassis of a 1987 Toyota minivan. Bloch (known as “Speedycop”) and […]