The Cessna Citation Mustang achieve certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), making it the first new-generation entry level business jet to be certified in Europe. The aircraft also achieved Steep Approach certification. This milestone enables the Mustang to land at airports with instrument approaches steeper than a 4.5 degree approach angle. Steep Approach certification is the first step in the approval process at airports such as London City in England, which has a glide slope angle of 5.5 degrees, and requires special authorization through the airport administration for both the aircraft and the pilots landing there. Embraer (ERJ) is currently seeking similar authority for the ERJ 190. Cessna has booked more than 300 Citation Mustang orders, 100 of which were placed by European customers. Forty aircraft are scheduled for delivery this year. Cessna plans to ramp up Mustang production at the Independence plant to 150 aircraft by 2009.
The six-place Citation Mustang has a top speed of 644 km per hour (nearly 400 mph/340 ktas), a range of 1,150 nm (2,130 km/1,323 statute miles – NBAA IFR Reserves) and a service ceiling of 12,500 m (41,000 ft).
Initial production audit test flights for the Mustang have been completed by the Federal Aviation Administration, and Cessna’s Independence facility is now delegated for production acceptance flights.
The first Citation Mustang was delivered on November 22, 2006 to a customer who leased it back to Cessna as a company demonstrator. Serial No. 005, delivered to businessman Dave Goode, the first Citation Mustang owner-operator, has accumulated well over 80 squawk-free flight hours. The keys were recently handed over to the undisclosed owner of Serial No. 008, one of four Mustangs delivered to owner-operators to date.
Thirteen customers have completed Mustang type ratings at FlightSafety International in Wichita. EASA qualification for the full motion, level D Citation Mustang flight simulator was achieved in March, and the FlightSafety type rating program in Farnborough, England is expected to be operational at the end of this year.
“The Citation Mustang has met or exceeded every performance objective established when we announced the program in 2002,” said Cessna’s Chairman, President and CEO Jack J. Pelton. “The Mustang is proving its capability in the United States where several owner-operators are currently flying their new airplanes. We’re looking forward to starting deliveries of the Mustang in Europe later this summer.”