Story ID: 393
Citation Hemisphere Taking Shape in Static Mockup
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: Textron Aviation brought a cabin mockup of the large-cabin Hemisphere, its largest business jet ever.
Word Count: 809
For the past six months, a team of engineers, technicians and interior specialists have been assembling the cabin mockup of the largest Citation ever developed by Textron Aviation’s Cessna unit, the new large-cabin Hemisphere. The mockup was publicly unveiled for the first time here at NBAA 2016 static display yesterday, and it clearly shows potential buyers how much designers can do with a 102-inch-wide fuselage that is 43 feet long from the aft end of the cockpit to the pressure bulkhead on the back side of the in-flight-accessible baggage compartment.

The Hemisphere is Textron Aviation’s first design with full fly-by-wire flight controls (the Longitude has fly-by-wire spoilers and rudder), and is projected to fly 4,500 nm, with an Mmo of Mach .90. First flight is planned for 2019, followed by entry into service in 2020. Textron hasn’t yet revealed which manufacturer’s engines will power the Hemisphere, nor the avionics OEM. For now, the most detailed information available can be found in the cabin mockup, which seats up to 13 passengers.

The Hemisphere cabin is split into three zones. Up front is a galley, designed with flight attendant feedback, because 75 percent of customers interested in the new jet indicated they would fly with a cabin crewmember. The interior design was done in close collaboration with customers, according to Christi Tannahill, senior vice president, turboprop aircraft and interior design. The forward galley is illuminated not just by the LED lighting that spreads throughout the cabin, but also by a skylight that admits natural light. “We want it light and airy,” she said, “not confined.”

The galley countertops and floor are faced with granite for added durability. Also up front is a lavatory and closet. Customers can replace the closet with other fixtures, such as an oven, wine chiller, etc., as an option. Added countertop space is available by folding over the counter to cover the flight attendant’s seat when it isn’t needed.

Moving back into the cabin, which measures 95 inches at the widest inside point and six feet, two inches high, zone one features four seats in club configuration. The seats, which are designed and manufactured by Textron Aviation, are 30 inches in width and have four-inch armrests. The large armrests allow designers to add space for storage, USB ports and seat controls. The outside of the seat has more storage for magazines and other small items. The seats can fold out to create a 70-inch bed.

The side ledges slim down as the passenger moves into the mockup’s zone 2, adding more space for an armrest between the two seats on each side of a table on the left side. Opposite this tableau is a couch that folds up neatly to complete a conversion into a long credenza. “Flexibility is a critical element,” said senior v-p of sales and marketing Kriya Shortt, “The credenza multi-use capability is well appreciated by customers, and it’s helping them feel ownership of the program.”

Zone three features a three-seat couch opposite two large club seats. The designers wanted to illustrate the different appearance of light and dark motifs, so zone three has somewhat darker materials and finishing, in contrast to the lighter zone-two furnishings. A neat touch on the seatbacks in zone three is a roughish pleat-like material that matches the tamboured cabinet doors in the adjacent lavatory, all contributing to a sort of modern industrial, yet art deco-type, ambiance.

The lavatory is large enough for a shower, which would require moving the sink to the right side of the space. Behind the lavatory is the 120-cu-ft baggage compartment, which can be accessed in flight.

All cabin windows measure 20 by 15 inches and are larger than those in the Citation Longitude. An interesting touch in the mockup is lighting sconces mounted between the cabin windows. And designers placed small spherical lights in groups of four on each side of the ceiling in each zone, the forward and aft lavatory and in the baggage compartment. They add industrial chic to the cabin, yet at the same time are unobtrusive and functional. Customer feedback indicated that they didn’t want lighting shining directly in their faces, and the mockup illustrates one way that designers have satisfied that request.

“What we want to do in this space, where there hasn’t been focused investment, is to make sure we listen to the customers,” Shortt said. “We formed an advisory board with 20 companies, all operating aircraft in that segment, but 95 percent of which are not Textron Aviation customers. They came together to provide us their insights around performance parameters and a significant focus on what the passenger and customer experience needs to be. They are feeling that their input is being heard and their feedback is being actioned on, quickly.”