Story ID: 2030513alerts
Cessna Rolls Out First New Citation Sovereign
By: Chad Trautvetter
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Word Count: 186
Cessna Aircraft rolled out the first New Citation Sovereign yesterday from its Wichita manufacturing facility. Announced in October at the NBAA Convention, the upgraded Sovereign features improved cabin cooling, Garmin G5000 avionics with autothrottles, a new cabin management system and winglets.

“This rollout is proof of Cessna’s commitment to bringing new products to customers in 2013, and demonstrates our strong investment in the future,” said Kelly Reich, business leader for the New Citation Sovereign. “It’s a short turn-around from just announcing this program last fall, to already having an aircraft rolling out the door and headed to the next stages of completion.”

The newest Citation will have a range of 3,000 nm and will be able to perform direct climbs to 45,000 feet, thanks to the new winglets. This compares to the 2,847-nm range and 43,000-foot direct climb capability of the original Sovereign, which entered service in 2004 and is outfitted with Honeywell Primus Epic avionics. Top speed remains the same, at 458 knots.

Type certification and entry into service for the New Citation Sovereign is slated for the third quarter.