Cessna CEO Jack Pelton says it’s “highly likely” the new Columbus large-cabin business jet will be assembled in Wichita but the company will have to expand its bursting-at-the-seams facilities there. Meanwhile, the company has announced that its neighbor, Spirit AeroSystems, will build the fuselage and empennage of the 77-foot aircraft. Spirit spokeswoman Debbie Gann told The Wichita Eagle the tail section will likely be built in Scotland while Wichita is the first choice for the fuselage. “Cessna knows that’s certainly our desire, and we certainly hope that’s where we end up,” Gann told the Eagle.
Engines for the Columbus will be the newly developed Pratt and Whitney Canada PW810, which develops 10,000 pounds of thrust. PWC says the new engine is much quieter than Stage IV restrictions allowed and the advanced combustion-chamber design improves efficiency and cuts nitrous oxide emissions by 50 percent and carbon monoxide by 35 percent.
