First Class

Citation Columbus to be Cessna's Largest Business Jet

posted: 08 February 2008 05:58 pm ET

: Cessna says the Model 850 Citation Columbus will cost $28 million in 2008 U.S. dollars. It will be the largest and longest-range aircraft in the company's extensive business-jet range, able to carry eight passengers a distance of 4,000 nautical miles at a cruise speed of Mach 0.80. The aircraft will be powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada's new PW810 engine and will feature Rockwell Collins's new Pro Line Fusion avionics suite. Credit: Cessna Aircraft
: Cessna says the Model 850 Citation Columbus will cost $28 million in 2008 U.S. dollars. It will be the largest and longest-range aircraft in the company's extensive business-jet range, able to carry eight passengers a distance of 4,000 nautical miles at a cruise speed of Mach 0.80. The aircraft will be powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada's new PW810 engine and will feature Rockwell Collins's new Pro Line Fusion avionics suite. Credit: Cessna Aircraft

Cessna Aircraft has revealed the name and other details of the new intercontinental-range business jet on which it has been carrying out design and planning work for more than five years.

The new large-cabin aircraft, which will be Cessna’s largest and longest-range business jet to date, will be called the Model 850 Citation Columbus. The board of directors of Textron, Cessna's parent company, gave the Wichita, Ky.-based manufacturer the go-ahead on Jan. 23 to build and sell the new aircraft.

The Citation Columbus is designed to have a target range of 4,000 nautical miles (7,408 kilometers) at a cruise speed of Mach 0.80, with eight passengers onboard.

Pratt & Whitney Canada will supply its new PW810 engine for the Citation Columbus, with Rockwell Collins providing its new Pro Line Fusion avionics suite. Cessna has reached an agreement in principle with Spirit AeroSystems (also located in Wichita) to produce the aircraft's fuselage and tail.

Like all other Citation models, the Citation Columbus will have an aluminum airframe and will feature external frames, increasing interior cabin space.

“We’ve spent the past five years deepening our customer and segment knowledge so that we can be sure we are introducing a transcontinental aircraft that the market wants,” said Jack Pelton, Cessna's chairman, president and CEO. “It will be manufactured with a strong focus on reliability and ease of maintenance.

Pelton described the Citation Columbus as providing "the perfect platform at the top end of our product line for customers looking for more space, more range, more economy and more capability. This aircraft will be Cessna’s greatest achievement.”

Preliminary performance figures include a maximum cruise speed of 488 knots (904 kilometers per hour, Mach 0.85), a maximum operating speed of Mach .86, a full fuel payload of 1,950 pounds (886 kilograms) and takeoff field length of 5,400 feet (1,646 meters) at maximum takeoff weight.

A vision of early explorer Christopher Columbus crossing the Atlantic Ocean "inspired us as we worked toward our design goal," and persuaded Cessna to name it after said Pelton. "The Columbus opens up so many non-stop transcontinental routes: Munich to New York, London to Dubai, Sydney to Singapore, São Paulo to Miami, and many other trips.”

The 850 will be 77 feet (23.5 meters) long and will have a wingspan of 80 feet (24.4 meters), with interior and exterior storage compartments. Cessna claims the Citation Columbus 850's cabin length of 36.3 feet (11.1 meters) including interior baggage space will be the longest in its class by nearly 2 feet.

Able to seat up to 10 passengers, the cabin will have a low flat floor that provides standing height of 73 inches (1.85 meters) in the passenger aisle. The jet's crew seats, passenger seats, forward jump seat and optional couch are all-new designs.

The 850's newly engineered wing is moderately swept, and the entire aircraft surface is contoured based on results computational fluid dynamics analysis and wind tunnel verification carried out by Cessna.

It will debut Pratt & Whitney Canada’s next-generation, 8,830-pound-thrust PW810, an all-new engine featuring reductions in fuel burn, emissions and noise. The PW810 will be capable of development to create higher-thrust versions in the future, said Cessna.

The Citation Columbus 850's cockpit will feature Pro Line Fusion avionics from Rockwell Collins, combining the proven capabilities of the Pro Line 21 system with significant technological advancements. The fully integrated flight deck has four landscape high-resolution 15-inch liquid crystal displays working in concert with graphical flight planning, synthetic-enhanced vision, auto throttle, Rockwell Collins’ MultiScan hazard detection system and an optional head-up display.

Cessna's initial price estimate for the Citation Columbus is $27 million in 2008 U.S. dollars. The company expects the Citation Columbus 850 to make its first flight in 2011 and plans to achieve Federal Aviation Administration certification for the new business jet by the end of 2013, with deliveries beginning in 2014.

The total development cost of the program will be $780 million, Cessna estimates.