Cessna is now flying two aircraft in its flight-test program for the super-midsize Citation Longitude, the company announced on Monday. The second aircraft’s first flight lasted about 90 minutes, and reached all of its performance targets, the company said. Cessna recently announced an increase in the range for the new airplane by 100 nm, to 3,500 nm, and an increase in the projected full fuel payload by 100 pounds, to a total of 1,600 pounds. “Our team has been right on target in meeting the program milestones,” said Scott Ernest, CEO of Textron Aviation. “The team remains focused, and we are charging into 2017 with great momentum on the program.”
The super-midsize Longitude seats up to 12 passengers and offers a stand-up cabin and cabin-accessible baggage compartment. It has Honeywell FADEC engines with autothrottles and a Garmin 5000 panel. There’s an optional head-up display. AVweb’s Russ Niles took a tour of the airplane last year at the NBAA Expo in Las Vegas.
