Graham Warwick/ATLANTA
KOREAN AIRLINES has ordered four Cessna Citation Ultra light business-jets for use as flight crew trainers. The aircraft will be modified to accommodate a third crew-station aft of the cockpit. The forward bulkhead will be removed, but six cabin seats will be retained, enabling the Ultras to be used to transport passengers.
The aircraft cockpits will be modified to replicate an airliner flight deck, with three large primary flight-displays, dual flight-management systems, ground-proximity warning system and flight-data recorder. The first Ultra will be delivered in the second quarter of 1995 and will be used to smooth the transition between turboprop-powered trainer and airliner.
Cessna, meanwhile, has announced that its Brazilian distributor, Taxie Aereo Mairia (TAM), has ordered six Citation Excel light business-jets for delivery between the last quarter of 1998 and the first quarter of the year 2000.
The Excel was launched in October 1994 as a wide-body addition to the Citation light business-jet line, which also includes the Bravo and Ultra. The Bravo was launched in September 1994 as a replacement for the Citation II, and deliveries begin in 1996. Deliveries of the Ultra, which replaces the Citation V, began in July 1994. Excel deliveries are to begin in 1997.
Cessna says that the winning bid from Independence, Kansas, to host the company's light-aircraft assembly line included state and local financial incentives, tax abatements, guaranteed infrastructure improvements and plans for early installation of an instrument-landing system at the airport, where the 46,450m2 (500,000ft2) factory will be located.
Participation in the financing of plant construction was a key criterion in site selection, Cessna says. Five Kansas towns submitted proposals: Independence, Emporia, Hays, Manhattan and Pittsburgh. The manufacturer says that it declined requests from other states to enter the competition, citing its commitment to remaining in Kansas.
The site is expected to employ some 1,000 people and produce 2,000 Cessna 172, 182 and 206 piston-singles a year initially.
Source: Flight International
