As the Cessna Citation Ascend flight-test program continues, Textron Aviation is once again highlighting the next iteration of the 560XL family at its BACE static display in mockup form so visitors can see what’s changed in the cabin and flight deck. Textron Aviation announced the midsize twinjet in May 2023 and expects it to enter service next year.
From the outside, it’s hard to tell the difference between the Ascend and its XLS+ predecessor, but the Ascend’s cabin windows are 15% larger and its windshields have built-in UVA and UVB protection.
Inside, the jet has major upgrades, with a Garmin G5000 avionics suite replacing the Collins Pro Line 21 avionics. The cabin’s trenched aisle is filled in to provide a flat floor (although an option is available to keep the original XL/XLS dropped aisle at no extra charge). The flat-floor height is 60 inches—eight inches less than the dropped-aisle height. One of the benefits of the flat floor is that it is more pet-friendly, a feature that the growing number of business jet travelers with pets will appreciate.
Upgraded seats give passengers more room to move the seat around and find more comfortable positions. Each seat has USB power and there are a total of 19 USB ports and three standard universal outlets in the Ascend, as well as wireless phone charging pads.
Textron Aviation showed P1, one of two flight-test airplanes and the first in production configuration, to media during a pre-BACE visit to company headquarters in Wichita. We didn’t get to look inside the airplane; while it had previously been equipped with the planned full interior, that was removed for the flight test campaign and replaced with test equipment.
Improvements in the Ascend include a full-size airstair, an externally serviceable lavatory, single-point refueling, and an upgraded Honeywell RE100 [XL] APU that can be left unattended while running.
Pratt & Whitney Canada PW545D engines deliver better fuel efficiency thanks to a more efficient high-pressure compressor, enhanced single-stage high-pressure turbine module, and upgraded exhaust mixer.
Like the Citation Latitude and Longitude, the Ascend will feature autothrottles, as well as the same avionics—Garmin’s G5000 with three 14-inch displays and four touchscreen controllers and the GWX 8000 StormOptix auto-scanning radar.
The avionics suite includes Garmin's Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT), notably a guidance system that provides continuously updating visual depictions of external topography and an augmented runway display, supporting approaches as low as 150 feet. The SVT also includes SafeTaxi technology with 3D depictions and 2D maps, allowing for touchscreen entry for taxi routes and guidance.
Preliminary performance numbers that haven’t yet been finalized include a range of 1,900 nm at high-speed cruise with four passengers, up from the XLS+’s 1,750 nm. Maximum cruise speed at 441 knots and range at 2,100 nm are the same, as is time to climb to the maximum altitude of FL450 at 30 minutes.
With an 20,500-pound mtow that is 300 pounds higher than the XLS+, the Ascend’s maximum zero fuel weight is up 400 pounds, to 15,500 pounds; maximum payload is 150 pounds higher, to 2,390 pounds; and payload with full fuel is 850 pounds. It's takeoff field length of 3,660 feet is 60 feet longer than the XLS+, while landing distance is 3,220 feet versus the XLS+'s 3,180 feet.