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Aviation History
1991
1991 - 1176.PDF
TECHNICAL: GENERAL AVIATION Cessna CitationJet flies after weather delay BY GRAHAM WARWICK IN WICHITA Cessna's Citationjet flew for the first time on 29 April, just 19 months after the com pany announced it was to de velop a six-passenger addition to its successful Citation busi ness-jet line. The much-publicised first flight was delayed by weather, which was low overcast — not by the tornado which narrowly missed Cessna's Wichita, Kan sas, plant just three days earlier, almost devastating nearby McConnell AFB. With orders booked for around 100 aircraft, including 45 for export, Cessna is plan ning to begin deliveries in an other 19 months, says chairman Russ Meyer. US certification of the world's first fly-by-wire business jet is scheduled for November 1992 and the following month launch customer Williams Interna tional, manufacturer of the Cita- tionjet's FJ44 turbofans, will re ceive the first aircraft. Meyer says Cessna plans to build 50 Citationjets in 1993 and 80 in 1994. He forecasts sales of at least 1,000 examples in the first ten years, mostly to customers replacing turboprop aircraft. At $2.5 million (1988 dollars) the Citationjet is cheaper than competing turbo- props, Meyer argues. Compared with the Citation I, which it effectively replaces, the Citationjet has "...more cabin volume but is lighter, faster cruise but less thrust and longer range but less fuel", says Meyer. Cessna cites improve ments in aerodynamic, propul sive and structural efficiency over the original Citation which first flew in 1969. The Citationjet features a new wing with drag-reducing natural laminar flow to 30% chord — the wing is mounted under the fuselage, giving an unobstructed cabin. It is pow ered by the 8.5kN (1,9001b- thrust) Williams/Rolls-Royce FJ44 with 130kg/h (2901b/h) cruise fuel flow with a "thrust- attenuation" system. High-drag flaps give short-field capability. Honeywell provides electronic flight instrumentation and digi tal autopilot while Bendix/King supplies the panel-mounted comm/nav avionics. The Citationjet prototypes — a second will join the l,000h flight-test programme in No vember — have been built on production tooling. Certifica tion of the engine, which has logged some 135h on a Citation 1 testbed, is scheduled for March 1992, says Williams president Dr Sam Williams. Citation deliveries presently stand at 1,760, the range en compassing the entry-level Cita tionjet, best-selling Citation II and stretched Citation V light business jets, the mid-sized Ci tation III and its downmarket Citation VI and upmarket Cita tion VII derivatives, and the Mach 0.9 Citation X. Labelled "Cessna's most aggressive and challenging venture", the 6,100km (3,300nm)-range Cita tion X will fly in 1993. Certification of the Williams International/Rolls-Royce FJ44 turbofan is scheduled for March 1992. Rolls-Royce is assisting in Cessna Citationjet makes April debut certification and will build the turbines for all FJ44s. The UK engine manufacturer halds the minority stake in Williams- Rolls, the US-based company which was formed to market the small turbofan. Development milestones in clude successful completion of birdstrike, ice-ingestion and fan blade-off containment testing. There are 13 engines in the test programme and the FJ44 has logged more than 370h flight- testing on various aircraft. The engine demonstrates a take-off specific fuel consumption of 12.9mg/Ns (0.4561b/h/lb). flight Although new, the FJ44 draws heavily on Williams' ex perience building more than 4,000 cruise-missile engines. Production is highly automated to reduce costs, says Williams The two-shaft FJ44 has fan (bypass ratio 3.3:1), single-stage axial low-pressure (LP) and centrifugal high-pressure (HP) compressors, single-stage HP and two-stage LP turbines. The engine, which consists of only 650 parts, has "considera ble" growth capability but there are no immediate plans to in crease thrust significantly, says Williams. • Finland negotiates amazing amphibian The Finnish manufacturer of a light amphibian aircraft has begun negotiations with an unidentified airframe company on licensed production of the two-seater for markets outside those of Europe. Production of the amphibian, known somewhat jocularly as Prototype ATOL two-seater takes a dip the ATOL (amazing take-off and landing), has begun at Mar- tekno's Rovaniemi factor)'. An initial production batch of ten is under way, following the construction of eight early mod els. This will be followed by two batches of 14 aircraft each. Martekno says that negotia- WMt0M§00§ tions are currently under way for licensed manufacture be cause "...to get the aircraft pro duced in large quantities we are looking for a company to cover the market in the United States and Canada, Australia and New Zealand and Japan". The company reports that agreement has already been reached "with a large aircraft company abroad for the manu facture of metal parts and com posite structures". The aircraft, which first flew in prototype form in September 1988, is 6.2m long with a wing- span of 10.8m and a maximum take-off weight of up to 475kg. A single pusher propeller gives a cruising speed of between llOkm/h (60kt) and 140km/h. The aircraft can also fly for up to 6h over ranges between 580km (315nm) and 770km. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 8 - 14 May, 1991
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