Cessna Signs Agreement with Tamarack for Active Winglets on CJs

Tamarack Aerospace and Cessna Aircraft have signed an agreement in which Cessna will market, sell and install Tamarack’s active winglets for theCitationJet family through the CJ3. Tamarack announced the agreement here at NBAA 2013 yesterday.

Nick Guida, Tamarack president and founder, said he had met with Cessna officials and engineers early on and “nurtured the relationship over two years. They like to know who they are dealing with, which is understandable. We’ve been waiting for this agreement. I’m proud to be associated with Cessna.”

While providing all the advantages of traditional winglets, the active technology load alleviation system (Atlas) winglets use an active control surface (Tacs) actuator mounted near each winglet. The Tacs actuator drives small moveable surfaces mounted outboard on the wing trailing edge, near the winglets, and these surfaces move to counteract and alleviate the load on the wing. The result is a much lower bending moment on the wing, allowing addition of winglets without having to beef up wingstructure. The Tamarack winglets also help reduce the fatigue life on the wings, when compared to other winglets.

Guida first tested the Atlas concept on his single-engine piston Van’s RV-6 homebuilt and later on a Cirrus SR22. Tamarack is now testing Atlas winglets on a Citation CJ1, which has accumulated some 90 flight hours.

Now, with the agreement with Cessna, Tamarack will focus on obtaining a supplemental type certificate (STC) for the winglets. Guida expects the first winglets will be installed on customer CJs stating in early 2015. “Having the OEM data does help bring the winglets to market sooner,” he said.

Michael Schneider, Tamarack CEO and investor, told AIN he has full confidence that the company would show a positive cash flow in 2015.

“Cessna will also offer aftermarket winglets for several models of the CJ family of business jets through an exclusive agreement with Tamarack Aerospace Group,” according to Cessna. “In certain flight profiles, the winglets provide an aircraft of greater range, increased useful loads and improved high and hot performance, while simultaneously improving fuel economy. Plans call for winglets from Tamarack to be available for installation on several models in the CJ family of aircraft at Citation service centers in 2015.”

Earlier this year, Tamarack’s CJ (N86LA) equipped with active winglets made an unofficial record-breaking trip from Sandpoint, Idaho, to Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y for the NBAA Business Aviation Regional Forum. The nonstop, 1,853-nm flight landed with reserves of 472 pounds after flying for six hours and 16minutes.