Private Jet Manufacturers: Cessna Aircraft
Clyde Cessna founded Cessna Aircraft in 1927. Clyde was a farmer based in Kansas, America, who built his own aircraft and flew it in 1911. He successfully flew his aircraft between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, and was the first person to do so.
Cessna Aircraft was officially established when Clyde and Victor Roos became partners under the Cessna-Roos Company in late 1927. Just one month into the partnership Roos resigned, selling his interest back to Cessna and that is how it remained.
Cessna Aircraft is a subsidiary of American conglomerate Textron, which includes Bell Helicopter and the Beechcraft Corporation, amongst others.
Cessna’s smaller piston-powered aircraft were responsible for developing the reputation that the company enjoys today, and the newer line of Citation business jets have helped solidified that.
The Citation business jets are extremely popular with the corporate market and have been since embarking on their first flight in 1969. There are currently eight business jet models in production – Citation Mustang, the M2, CJ3+, CJ4, XLS+, Latitude, Sovereign+ and Citation X+.
The smallest of the Citation family is the Mustang, with the ability to carry up to five passengers and with a maximum range of 1,200 nautical miles. The larger Citation Sovereign and Citation X+ can carry up to twelve passengers comfortably and have maximum ranges of 3,190 and 3,460 nautical miles respectively.
The newest model–the Citation Longitude–is currently under development and will be able to carry up to twelve passengers with a range of 4,000 nautical miles. This model was first announced in May 2012 and it is proposed that the super mid-size aircraft will be certified in 2017. The aircraft is set to have a T-tail empennage and aluminium wings, which will incorporate winglets.
Cessna has a global network of service centres where owners can have their aircraft serviced and maintained. This includes 15 company-owned Citation Service Centres, 39 authorised Citation Service Facilities, and over 300 Cessna-Authorized Propeller Service Facilities.
