Garmin International has been selected as avionics supplier for Cessna's entry-level Citation Mustang, in the company's first deal to provide an integrated glass cockpit. Garmin's G1000 avionics suite was selected over Honeywell's in-development Apex system, among other competitors.
Having selected the avionics and engine, Pratt & Whitney Canada's PW615F turbofan, Cessna will now begin efforts to convert around 300 deposits on the Mustang into firm orders.
Certification of the $2.6 million aircraft is scheduled for the middle of 2006, with deliveries beginning in the fourth quarter of that year.
Cessna says it was looking for an "easy to use" system for Mustang customers stepping up from single-engined and turboprop aircraft. "We found the simplicity and technology we were looking for in the G1000," says president Charlie Johnson. The system is lightweight and modular, with an open architecture, and integrates traffic, terrain and weather data to improve situational awareness, says Cessna.
Garmin's integrated avionics system for the Mustang is centred on a 380mm (15in) multifunction display flanked by 255mm primary flight displays for pilot and co-pilot.
In addition to these high-resolution flat-panel displays, Garmin will provide dual integrated radio modules providing VHF communication/navigation, GPS navigation and ILS landing guidance; dual Mode S transponders with traffic information service; dual solid-state attitude and heading reference systems and digital air-data computers; three-axis automatic flight control system; colour weather radar; and integrated Class B terrain awareness and warning system.
Source: Flight International
