Cessna’s Grand Caravan EX has earned type certification while the manufacturer’s new Citation M2 has entered initial production, both milestones heading what looks to be a big year for Cessna.
Having achieved FAA type certification, Cessna’s newest addition to the Grand Caravan line-up has exceeded initial performance expectations. The aircraft’s upgraded Pratt & Whitney PT6A-140 engine sees a 38 per cent improvement in rate of climb, a figure 20 per cent above the original projection, making it suitable for hot and high operations.
Deliveries of the EX are already underway.
The six-seat M2, meanwhile, has begun initial production ahead of certification in the second quarter this year. A development of the CJ1+, the M2 features Garmin’s G3000 avionics suite, and first flew in March last year.
The front and aft fuselage sections of the M2 are produced at Cessna’s Wichita facility before being shipped to Independence, also in Kansas, for completion and delivery.
The first production aircraft is expected to come off the line in April and will be used for certification and demonstration.
Cessna also plans to launch onto market this year the new Citation X (the world’s fastest civil aircraft), a new Sovereign, the Jet A1-fuelled Turbo Skylane JT-A and the Corvalis TTx.
