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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 2785.PDF
Cover story hile Boeing struggles to put a price on the value of speed in developing the Sonic Cruiser, Cessna has already found a definitive solution for the business jet market. Around $19 million will buy the fastest civil aircraft available, the Citation X, newly revamped for the 2002 model year. First flown in 1994, the X traces its bloodline to the hugely successful Citation series, but this aircraft is a different beast. One glance shows that the X, its wing swept 37°, is built for speed. While most Citations have top speeds well under Mach 0.8, the X can reach M0.92. No other busi ness jet can match its M0.9 cruise speed. This year Cessna introduced its first major upgrade of the X. Highlights include 5% more thrust from the Rolls-Royce AE3007 engines, a 180kg (4001b) increase in maximum take-off weight and enhanced Honeywell avionics. Increased thrust has reduced take-off field length requirements. The higher gross weight allows seven passengers to be carried with full fuel. Top speed remains M0.92, and range is virtually unchanged. During the pre-flight walk around, senior demonstration pilot Mark Snider pointed out the X's unique features. The cockpit windshield lacks wipers; a special coating and steep rake are sufficient to clear rain. The prominent wing-fuselage fairing reduces drag and allows hydraulic and control lines to be moved outside the pressurised cabin, permitting the seats to be lowered to create more space. The 49m2 (530ft2) supercritical wing is an impressive piece of engineering: twist varies continuously from root to tip. The trailing edge is directly below the high-mounted engines and the root plunges steeply where it meets the fuselage, to reduce interference drag and preserve area ruling. A highly polished single-piece leading- edge slat spans the wing's outer two-thirds. The wing, the upper surface of which is exceptionally smooth to promote laminar flow, is also remarkable for what it lacks. Apart from a small leading-edge stall strip, there are no other protuberances such as wing fences or vortex generators. Oil level in the two AE3007C engines is readily checked from ramp level. A fold-out ladder on the left side gives access to the 2.04m3 (72ft3) heated and pres surised aft-fuselage baggage compartment. There is a 2.11m-Iong ski tube in the unpressurised fairing. Largest cabin Entrance to the cabin is via a counterbal anced door with integral steps. Bleed air is used to inflate both a primary seal and an acoustic seal. The passive secondary seal is configured so that, if there is a loss of bleed air, cabin pressure will maintain the seal. The cabin, the largest offered by Cessna, is configured for nine passengers with dou ble-club seating and a belted lavatory. A recessed centre aisle runs the length of the 6.77m-long cabin, giving 1.72m of head room. Sliding pocket doors separate the cabin from the cockpit. Using the alignment balls on the wind shield's centre pillar to find a good seating position, I strapped into the left seat's five- The wing, the upper surface of which is exceptionally smooth to promote laminar flow, is remark able for what it lacks. There are no wing fences or vortex generators point harness. Field of view from the six- window cockpit was good and I could scan the outer two-thirds of the wing. The rudder pedals have three positions, the centre one giving full throw. The throttles fell comfort ably to hand, but the yoke was too high to allow my elbow to sit on the armrest. The instrument panel is well arranged, with autopilot/flight director switches beneath the glareshield. The Honeywell Primus 2000 electronic flight instrument system has five 200 x 180mm (8 x 7in) CRTs, giving each pilot a primary flight dis play (PFD) and multifunction display (MFD). The centre tube acts as an engine indicating and crew alerting system display. Three conventional standby flight instruments are located above the pilot's MFD. An angle-of-attack (AoA) gauge, to the left of the pilot's PFD, is a nice addition to the panel. Systems switches are logically arranged at the panel's lower edge. Control display units (CDUs) for the dual flight management systems (FMSs) are easy to reach at the head of the centre pedestal. A radio management unit (RMU) is placed aft of each CDU. Cockpit set-up and FMS initialisation were routine. The aircraft has dual GPS and laser inertial reference systems. Alignment took less than 7min. Loading the perfor mance page and choosing between 5U or 15a flap allowed the FMS to calculate our take off speeds. These were displayed only on the CDU. Although the aircraft has a stand alone take-off warning system, take-off speeds were displayed on the PFDs and MFDs only after flaps had been extended. Features such as traffic and terrain warning are standard on the 2002 Citation X www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 17-23 SEPTEMBER 2002 37
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