Textron Aviation is celebrating 50 years since the inaugural flight of the first Citation jet, the Cessna Citation 500. The Citation 500 was the first in a long line of business jets with more than 7500 aircraft delivered worldwide amassing more than 35 million flight hours.
The Citation 500 first flew on 15 September 1969 from Municipal Airport in Wichita, Kansas. The first flight took 1 hour and 45 minutes, but was limited to 10,000 feet rather than the planned 20,000 feet due to the cloud base. Test pilots Milt Sills and Jim LeSueur took the aircraft up to an indicated 225 knots.
"From that first Citation flight 50 years ago and through every Citation model produced since, our business jet programs are deeply rooted in the combined efforts of our employees, our suppliers and our customers,” said Ron Draper, president and CEO of Textron Aviation.
“Today’s range of Citations–from the entry level Citation M2 up through the Citation Longitude–incorporates our unwavering commitment to value-added innovation, design and production excellence and unrivaled customer support.”
Originally called the FanJet 500, the new executive jet was designed to fill a niche in the business aviation market between the high-end turbo-props and the low-end corporate jets available at the time. It was named Citation after a race horse that won the famed Triple Crown in 1948.
"Everyone thought we were off our rocker when we came up with that plane because it was a relatively slow jet," Chief Engineer Bruce Peterman said in 1972. "Some of our competitors made comments about bird strikes from the rear. But we just kept producing the airplane and making it better until we wound up with the majority of the market." [1]
The current Citation range includes seven airframes from the entry-level M2 up to the long-range Longitude 12-seater. Although challenged in recent years by new entries such as Honda and Embraer and the expanding capabilities of corporate turbo-props, the Citation range still leads the market. In the second quarter of 2019, Cessna shipped 46 examples of all Citations, compared to Bombardier's 35 jets and Gulfstream's 31.
“The same vision that led to the creation of the original Citation 50 years ago still guides us today,” Draper said. “We are building on our history as an industry leader and investing in the future to continue to exceed customer expectations.”
[1] Rodengen, Jeffery L., The Legend of Cessna, Write Stuff Enterprises, 2007, p148