Business Jet - Kjent maskin for flere norske flygere - Curt Lewis

Undertegnede hadde gleden av å fly combi fixed wing og helikopter i regi av Helikopter Service AS. HS hadde to slike Citation II maskiner samt en Cessna Titan. Tidligere hadde vi en Piper Chieftain som var eid av HS og ment for instrument trening. Fixed Wing avdelingen, som vi opererte for Tenvig Gruppen, ble lagt ned den 31.12.1982, like etter at Mike Boxill og jeg fløy den siste turen fra Fornebu til Sola. Fotos: Per Gram

Fornebu den 31.12.1982

Ganske basic cockpit

(Red.)

Textron Aviation Marks 50 Years of Citation Bizjets


From left, test pilot Matt Stilts, Cessna chairman Dwane Wallace, commercial aircraft marketing v-p James Taylor, test co-pilot Jim LeSueur, military and twin division v-p and general manager Max Bleck, senior v-p of aircraft operations Bob Lair, United Aircraft Canada president Thor Stevenson, and Cessna president Del Roskam pose with the Citation 500 after its maiden flight in 1969. (Photo: Textron Aviation)

It was 50 years ago this week that the first Cessna Citation business jet made its maiden flight, Textron Aviation publicly noted yesterday. Since that flight, the Wichita-based manufacturer of Citation business jets has delivered more than 7,500 of them, with the fleet amassing more than 35 million flight hours.

Unveiled as a mockup at the National Business Aviation Association Convention in October 1968 in Houston, it was a year later, on Sept. 15, 1969, that the first FanJet 500-later renamed Citation 500-took off on its first test flight, which lasted an hour and 45 minutes, reached a speed of 225 knots and an altitude of 10,000 feet (weather prevented a planned climb to 20,000 feet). The type received its first certification-for Part 25-on September 10, 1971.

Today, the Citation family comprises seven models-the M2, CJ3+, CJ4, XLS+, Sovereign+, Latitude, and Longitude-with seating from seven to 12 passengers and range between 1,550 and 3,500 nm.

"The same vision that led to the creation of the original Citation 50 years ago still guides us today," said Textron Aviation CEO Ron Draper. "We are building on our history as an industry leader and investing in the future to continue to exceed customer expectations."