The era of the "super-light" business jet has arrived, with final certification of the Cessna Citation Excel and full approval for the competing Bombardier Learjet 45, achieved on 1 May. Next begins the delivery race for Cessna and Learjet, both of which boast large order backlogs for their respective products.
The aircraft represent an expansion of the light business jet category to include cabins which have stand-up headroom on platforms which retain the economy and operational flexibility of traditional light business jets with much smaller cabins.
According to Learjet president Mac Beatson, the Learjet 45 has an order backlog exceeding 150 aircraft, and 32 are already in various stages of production or completion. "We plan to deliver 48 of them this year, about half of our production goal for 1998," Beatson says. Another 28 Learjet 60s and 22 Learjet 31As are also scheduled to be also delivered.
The Learjet 45 received certification for flight in known icing conditions, as well as its production type certification, on 1 May. Unrestricted type certification was granted on 6 May, clearing the way for deliveries. Despite this, the aircraft still has two systems disabled - the thrust reversers and the auxiliary power unit. The company expects to have those systems signed off and to have them useable as quickly as possible after the expanded type certificate is in hand.
Cessna chairman Russ Meyer, meanwhile, has revealed an Excel order backlog, which stretches into 2002, for more than 200 aircraft.
"We set a goal of flying off the function and reliability test in 10 days. That really had us pushing to stay on schedule," Meyer says.
Now the focus shifts to delivering Excels. The first five aircraft will stay with Cessna's marketing department for the coming months, with customer deliveries beginning in July.
Cessna expects to have delivered 18 Excels by year-end. In 1999, the company is planning to deliver about 45 a year in an attempt to whittle down the backlog.
Source: Flight International
