Textron Aviation has installed the first pair of winglets designed and manufactured by US engineering company Tamarack Aerospace on a Cessna Citation CJ1 light business jet. The Atlas winglets were fitted to the six-seat twin – registration HB-VPF – at Textron’s Zurich, Switzerland-based service centre in late April.
The installation comes three months after the update secured European supplemental type certification (STC) following a three-year development effort that involved more than 300 flights on a 1992-model CJ testbed, says Tamarack.
US approval for the Atlas winglets is anticipated in the third quarter of this year, adds the Sandpoint, Idaho-headquartered company.
Textron Aviation
JetPingu, the Swiss owner of the upgraded CJ1, says the winglets will boost the Williams International FJ44-1A-powered aircraft by making "significant savings on fuel" and extending the type's range, “allowing us to offer our guests many more destinations beyond our current 3h limit”. It also should increase its aftermarket value, it adds.
Textron – parent company of Beechcraft and Cessna – has been appointed by Tamarack to market and install the Atlas winglets for the CJ-series after-market.
Flightglobal’s Fleets Analyzer database records a global fleet of around 640 CJ, CJ1 and CJ1+ business jets worldwide.
Source: Flight International
