Story ID: 042CessnaTTxAINNov15
Hands On: TTx Is Cessna’s Speediest Single
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: The Cessna TTx is a capable flying machine, with long range and swift cruising–all without retracting the landing gear.
Word Count: 798
The speedy Cessna TTx has been in production for about two years, and since Cessna (now Textron Aviation) purchased the former Columbia Aircraft in 2007, the company has delivered 80 of the various versions of the low-wing, composite, single-engine, piston-powered airplane (Cessna 350/400 and TTx). The TTx was certified in 2013 under a new type certificate and is the only version now available. Retail price is $679,000, which includes everything but optional TKS fluid-based flight into known icing (FIKI), Sirius XM weather and Stormscope.

Powered by a 310-hp Continental TSIO-550-C equipped with twin turbochargers and intercoolers, the TTx is a serious traveling machine, capable of flying 1,250 nm at long-range cruise speed and up to 25,000 feet. Maximum cruise speed at 25,000 feet is 235 ktas, seven knots slower than the fastest Mooney (the Acclaim), but the TTx accomplishes this speed with fixed landing gear. The TTx is certified in the utility category, which makes the airplane operationally more flexible, with higher maximum structural cruising and maneuvering speeds.

I flew the TTx with Textron Aviation senior instructor pilot Dave Richardson on September 23 at Wichita’s Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport. During the walkaround and the flight, it was clear that the TTx is a major step up in the Textron Aviation line. While it shares the Garmin avionics lineage of the company’s high-wing piston singles, the TTx has a G2000 system with a touchscreen controller instead of only the G1000’s buttons and knobs. Because many new Citations are equipped with touchscreen-controlled G3000 and G5000 avionics, the TTx makes moving into the Citations much easier. The TTx’s initial approach speed of 110 knots, while much faster than a Cessna 172’s, is also helpful for future Citation pilots, much closer to that of the single-pilot M2, as Davidson pointed out.
A Serious Traveling Machine
Taxiing the TTx might take getting used to for pilots not familiar with a castering nosewheel, but I found it worked perfectly fine. I took off, rotating at about 75 knots, then climbed to 11,500 feet, initially at the Vy of 110 kias then transitioning to 130 kias for a cruise climb. At 10,000 feet, we were still climbing at 1,150 fpm. There is no time limit for full power, and the single automatic wastegate maintained power during the climb. There is no yaw damper or rudder trim, but a rudder hold button allowed me to step on the right rudder the necessary amount during the climb, and pushing the button held the rudder in the desired position to make a long climb more comfortable. Stepping on a rudder pedal releases the hold.

Setting 85 percent power at 11,500 feet, I dialed back the vernier throttle to 85-percent power, about 33 inches MAP, and the prop to 2500 rpm. Fuel flow at rich-of-peak was 24 gph and speed 202 ktas, slightly lower than the book speed of 207, but it was ISA +12 degrees C that day. When I leaned the mixture -50 degrees lean-of-peak, MAP dropped to 30 and fuel flow to 17 gph, for a 190-ktas cruise speed.

I tried the Garmin electronic stability and protection feature, which automatically helps “nudge” the controls back toward a stable flight mode when certain limits are exceeded, even with the autopilot not engaged. In the low-speed regime, ESP prevented the TTx from flying slower than 80 knots, and did so by lowering the nose, which resulted in a 550-fpm descent. We also tried some stalls with power on and off, and the TTx handles these easily, with plenty of control retained using the rudder, but ailerons also remain effective thanks to a cuff in the wing leading edge.

Deploying the speed brakes allowed me to come down at a high rate of descent while carrying 85-percent power. There are no speed limits for the speed brakes.

Returning to the airport, I set power to about 40 percent and used the speed brakes to slow down enough to extend the flaps to the takeoff setting, which caused the TTx to balloon slightly and right onto the glideslope for the ILS Runway 19L. I flew the ILS using the autopilot, then took over at about 500 feet. The TTx is responsive, thanks to pushrod controls, and I was able to put it right where I wanted to in the slight crosswind.

After adding power for a touch-and-go, we took off and remained in the pattern for a second landing. I’ve become accustomed to the Garmin touchscreens in other airplanes, and the TTx’s systems are so simply laid out that it wouldn’t take much longer to become fully checked out. The TTx is clearly not an entry-level airplane, but it offers a lot of performance in a well designed package and should appeal to buyers who want a lot of bang for their buck.