Wings Over Kansas

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Citation X

Citation X on short final approach.
Role	Business Jet
Manufacturer	Cessna
Introduced	1988
Status	In production
Produced	1996 – present
Unit cost	$22 million USD

The Cessna Citation X is a long-range medium business jet aircraft. The X is the fastest operative civilian jet, with a top speed of Mach 0.92 (527 ktas, 607 mph, 977 km/h at 41,000ft ASL (12,700meters ASL). This also makes it the fastest business jet in history. The Citation X is powered by two Rolls-Royce turbofan engines and is built by the Cessna Aircraft Company in Wichita, Kansas. The Citation brand of business jets encompasses six distinct "families" of aircraft. Although based on the earlier Citation III, VI and VII models, the Citation X is a significantly different airplane; it utilizes a totally new wing design, engines, and features a glass cockpit.

Development

The development of the Citation X was first announced at the National Business Aviation Association Convention in New Orleans in October 1990. Originally scheduled for August 1995, the certification of the Cessna Citation X was delayed several times. First, failure of the airframe and engine to meet Federal Aviation Administration requirements caused the planned certification date postponement to late November 1995. The main delay reasons were troubles integrating the avionics and the engine to the aircraft, high-altitude and low-speed engine flame out (high wing attack angles caused insufficient airflow), engines not meeting the bird strike criteria, and directional stability challenges. Efforts to increase the maximum take-off weight of the Citation X by about 800 pounds again delayed the FAA certification schedule, this time to April 1996. These changes were aimed at permitting a full-fuel payload of 1,400 pounds (seven passengers), but Cessna had difficulty achieving a balance between reducing Citation X cabin noise and minimizing the extra weight of sound-dampening materials. The certification, FAA FAR Part 25, Amendment 74, Certification 3, was finally achieved on June 3, 1996.

The first Citation X was delivered in June 1996 to golfer and long-time Cessna customer Arnold Palmer. Once in use, the Citation X continued to set speed records. Arnold Palmer set one of them in September 1997: 473 knots (876 km/h) on a 5,000 km closed course. In February 1997, the Citation X design team was awarded the National Aeronautic Association’s Robert J. Collier Trophy. The Citation X was approved by Transport Canada on May 22, 1998, and by the European Joint Aviation Authorities in 1999. In October 2000, Cessna announced an upgrade for all Citation Xs to be delivered after January 1, 2002. The main characteristics of this upgraded version are a 5% increase in thrust, a 400 lb (180 kg) increase in maximum take-off weight and improved Honeywell avionics.

When the Citation X was announced, the Citation 650 series, the “family” at the top of the product line, which includes the Citations III, VI, and VII, was eight years old. In 1990, Cessna made a proposition for an improved 650 model to their Customer Advisory Council. The council was interested in some new elements such as increased speed and a pressurized baggage compartment. This pushed Cessna toward the Citation X program, which became the new 750 series.

Moreover, Cessna wanted to improve the image of the Citation family. The Citation models that emerged in the 1970s were originally intended to be practical and with good handling qualities. Consequently, they turned out to be much slower than the competing Learjets. Cessna had difficulties in shedding of the popular image of the Citation as a slow airplane, even though their jets had eventually become as fast as the competition.

Design

Despite Cessna’s long history of building business jets and the number of aircraft in the Citation family, the Citation X was in many ways a completely new aircraft. The wing, tail, tail cone, gear, and systems are designed from scratch and not based on pre-existing aircraft. The Citation X is also the first aircraft from Cessna to use a Rolls-Royce engine and fully integrated avionics. Although the Citation X may look similar to its predecessors, it is almost entirely composed of new parts. Part commonality is limited to some cockpit controls, the windshield, and the tail light bulb. The pressure bulkhead is also similar to previous designs. The Citation X has the same fuselage diameter as the Citations VI and VII; however, the wing attachment to the fuselage is different from the attachment in any previous Citation.

The aircraft incorporates a number of innovative design features. One attribute that is often first noticed is the large diameter of the engine intakes. This feature, related to the high bypass ratio turbofan, reduces the noise from the engines and improves fuel efficiency. Another obvious characteristic is the highly swept wing with a supercritical airfoil, used in order to increase the critical Mach number and therefore the top speed. The Citation X has 37 degrees of sweepback at the quarter chord, more than any other business jet and, among civil aircraft, second only to the Boeing 747’s 37.5 degrees. The horizontal and vertical stabilizers are also highly swept and are arranged in a T-tail configuration.

Airframe

A significant amount of effort throughout the design process was directed towards reducing the Citation X’s total drag. The resulting design includes an area-ruled fuselage for efficient transonic flight, and the aforementioned highly swept supercritical wing. The Citation X’s wing is slung below the fuselage rather than passing through it. This allows increased volume in the fuselage, a one-piece wing, and simplified wing-fuselage connections.

Engines

The Citation X is powered by two Rolls-Royce AE 3007C1 engines, each with a thrust of 6700 lbf (30 kN), pod-mounted on the sides of the rear fuselage. It is the first Cessna aircraft to be powered by a Rolls-Royce engine. The engine has solid titanium blades and a three-stage low-pressure turbine. The engine’s fan has a 5 to 1 bypass ratio for improved fuel efficiency and low acoustic signature..

Powered controls

Another first for Cessna is the inclusion of powered controls in the Citation X. The controls are powered by dual-hydraulic systems for redundancy. There are two elevators and the tailplane is all-moving for trim. The rudder is in two pieces: the lower portion is hydraulically-powered and the upper portion is electrically powered. Each wing has five spoiler panels, to be used both for roll control (in addition to the ailerons) and as speed brakes. One of the major challenges of the Citation X design was finding enough space in the wing to run all the necessary hydraulic lines. As Paul Kalberer, the chief engineer of the Citation X program, explained, the Citation X needs just as many hydraulic pumps and actuators as a Boeing aircraft, but has much less space inside the wings.

Avionics

Honeywell provides the avionics system for the glass cockpit. The Honeywell Primus 2000 EFIS flight director system is composed of five 7"x8" CRT screens. Dual flight management systems with GPS are standard.

Speed

The Cessna Citation X is the fastest civilian aircraft currently being flown, attaining Mach .92. The supersonic Concorde and Tupolev Tu-144 are no longer in use. The proposed Gulfstream G650 is planned to top the Citation X’s speed record by .005 Mach. However, the Citation X will regain the speed record once the new winglets are installed.

Elliptical Winglets

In 2008, Winglet Technology, with the help of Cessna, began flight testing epoxy/graphite elliptical winglets on a Citation X. Flight testing was nearing completion in late 2008, with FAA supplemental type certification expected in 2009. The winglets increase range by 150 nm, lower fuel burn by 4-5%, increase hot and high performance as well as climb rate, permitting a climb to FL430 in 22 minutes, as opposed to 26 minutes without the modification. Climb to FL450 at maximum takeoff weight is possible without a step climb. Cruise speed at altitude is expected to increase by 15 knots, and maximum takeoff weight will increase by 1200 lbs (545 kg). Excluding installation, the kit’s projected cost is $395,000.

Specifications

Data from Cessna

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Capacity: 8-12 passengers
Length: 72.3 ft (22.0 m)
Wingspan: 63.6 ft (19.4 m)
Height: 19.0 ft (5.8 m)
Wing area: 527 ft² (50 m²)
Empty weight: 21,700 lb (9,843 kg)
Useful load: 14,300 lb (6,486 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 36,400 lb (16,375 kg)
Powerplant: 2× Rolls-Royce/Allison AE 3007C1 , 6,764 lbf (30.09 kN) each

Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 0.92 (607 mph, 977 km/h)
Cruise speed: Mach 0.90 (594 mph, 956 km/h)
Range: 3,250 nm (6,020 km)
Service ceiling: 51,000 ft (15,545 m)
Rate of climb: 3,650 ft/min (1,113 mpm) (18.6 m/s)
Wing loading: 68.50 lb/ft² (3.3 kPa)
Fuel capacity: 13,355 lb (6,056 kg)
Price: US$ 22,000,000 (€ 15,000,000))

References

(X as in the Roman numeral for ten, not the letter)
Gulfstream announces fastest civilian jet Airline Empires
[1]
[2]
Cessna Aircraft (September 2006). “Specifications and Descriptions”. http://citationx.cessna.com/specifications.chtml. Retrieved 2008-04-15.

External links

Official Citation X page on cessna.com

Development

Design

Specifications

See also

References

External links