Airtest – Cessna Citation II

Came the Citation I; more than 100 design improvements were incorporated in the type, including an extended and higher aspect ratio wing and upgraded JT15D-1A engines.

The result was increased take-off performance, longer range, a far better rate of climb and higher numbers at cruising altitudes.

Even then, Cessna was claiming that the net cost of Citation ownership is generally less per mile than that of turboprop types or the big piston-engined twins.

They still claim it with the II. . .

And now the Citation II; according to Rex Aviation’s Manager – Corporate Sales, Rex Williams, there are currently twelve Citation cells operating in Australia on corporate, charter or freight duties.

Five are on strict charter in Western Australia; South Australia also sees Citation operating on charter, while in Victoria the I operates on a corporate level. Queensland has two, while New South Wales operations. Include corporate, charter, and a mix of corporate/charter. All the lls operate with efficiency and bottom-line satisfaction, adds Rex Williams.

Rex Aviation operates an II, VH-KDI, with Frank Bonnor as the Chief Pilot; three captains are online, with a number of First Officers (the Citation II is still uncleared for single pilot operations in Australia).

A strong product support division exists to back up sales and after-sales service.

Rex are continuing with their policy of collecting Citations direct from Wichita and flying them back via the Europe route using their own crews.

All these resources add up to selling a Citation 11 for about $2. 371 million a copy. Not cheap – neither are other jet types, and Cessna claim to give more value per dollar in this market than any other manufacturer, short, mid or long-term aspects all considered. The Citation II represents a host of improvements over the Citation I – itself a formidable contender for front-runner in the Australasian marketplace when customers tend to throw brand loyalty and other ‘soft’ facts out the window and take a long, hard look at what real costings are.

The II has a longer, higher cabin than the I; you can get eight passengers plus crew on board – eleven, with forward-facing seats. To detail the room in the cabin, it’s almost four feet longer than its earlier sister and has up to five inches more aisle height.

And Cessna say that baggage capacity adds up to 45 per cent more than ‘the leading (unspecified) turboprop. ‘

Range, depending on payload, is something to consider when looking at the Citation II; 2080 statute miles, says Wichita. The specification says that at 13,300 lbs take-off gross weight you can span 1931 sm with six passengers and two crew on board. And this model can perform; our evaluation proved that. The Citation ll’s new high aspect ratio wing and dual Pratt & Whitney JT15O-4s installed mean a climb to Flight Level 350 in 18 minutes, and direct to FL410 in 34 short minutes. Cruise is given as 385 knots, in ISA (International Standard Atmosphere) conditions and weighing in at 11,000 lbs at 25,000 ft. This goes up a couple of knots when the weight is down to 10,000 lbs.

Most Citation II operations in Australia average out at between Flight Level 330 and 390, says Frank Bonner. With a cabin differential listed at 8. 8 psi, life is a very bearable 8000 feet inside the quiet cabin when one is cruising at FL 430.

Another plus in this part of the world is the Citation ll’s balanced field length- 3453 ft without thrust reverse. This opens up a completely new horizon for corporate or charter operators, and Citation 11 is fully approved for gravel operations. In fact, some Citation cells operating in Canada work from gravel surfaces all the time, with no ill effects from ingestion or other damage.

There is full gravel protection under the II, and any rarely ingested stone tends to travel through the cold section of the engine rather than the hot end, says Frank.

A chine on the nosewheel tyre adds to the throwing outwards of any stone or gravel chips.

AUSTRALIAN AVIATION found another cunning device on the nosewheel during our walk round; it has a spinup operated by bleed air. The first thing hitting us (figuratively speaking) was the comprehensively pinned main entrance door – no less than a dozen solid pins engage when the door is closed, ensuring the integrity of that 8. 8 psi differential.

The two P & W of Canada JT15O-4 turbofans sit with that typically Citation ‘cocked’ angle. Static thrust is a healthy 2500 lbs apiece.

The engines are fed by left and right integral wing tanks, each capable of cross-feeding. Fuel capacity in the II is given as 5008 lbs, with the same figure applying to the IISP version.

The aircraft structure is conventional as far as the airframe goes. Aluminium alloys, steel and other materials are all incorporated in the design, and fail-safe principles are standard.

The cabin itself features no less than 12 elliptical windows and extends from the flight compartment divider to the aft pressure bulkhead in the main baggage compartment.

An emergency exit is situated forward of the wing on the righthand side.

Standard fitting includes a midship refreshment bar, a biffy with dividers and privacy curtains, a drop-out constant flow oxygen system for emergency use – and, of course, wall-to wall carpeting . . .

Pressurisation and air-conditioning are provided by direct engine bleed systems, using either or both engines. Direct bleed air emergency pressurisation is selectable by the crew up front.

All flight controls are conventionally metal-covered surfaces with no external balances. Big trailing edge flaps cycle from up to fully down at 40 degrees in an average of nine seconds, and a set of speed brakes with two positions (up or down) act with significant brick-wall solidity when needed, operated hydraulically.

(Incidentally, the Citation II can be fitted with a drag chute. Frank Bonnor told AUSTRALIAN AVIATION that it’s more than effective – he quoted a touch-to-stop figure of 600 feet when the chute is used in conjunction with maximum braking on a hard, dry runway . . . )

The landing gear – mains tuck up inwards, and the nose wheel retracts forward. The landing gear extension speed is a healthy 176 knots on the clock. The emergency extension is free-fall, with a pneumatic backup system.

Flap extension is the same figure as Vie – 176 knots, with first-stage extension to 15 degrees possible up to 202 kts.

On the flight deck, Cessna has done their usual thorough job in presentation and layout; there are a lot of vertical readouts in the II helping the logical scan pattern, mainly in the engine and fuel management departments.

There are in fact seven dual vertical readout gauges – per cent fan rpm, inter-turbine temperature, per cent turbine rpm, fuel flow, fuel quantity, oil pressure and oil temp.

Avionics abounded in the evaluation aircraft; standard fitting includes DME, RMI (radio magnetic indicator), Flight Director mode panel, dual VHF/COMM with preselect, NAV RCVR, altitude and VNAV, transponder, weather radar (we were carrying a Collins) and ADF.

The evaluation aircraft also carried a Sperry autopilot and VLF/Omega.

(Standard fitting in the Citation II, according to the specifications, includes a completely integrated Sperry Flight Director/autopilot system; VHF/COMM by Collins; Collins VIR 30A which features localiser, VOR, glideslope and marker beacon receivers; a Sperry Primus 300SL X-band weather radar, and Collins DME 40 and TOR 90 ATC transponder. )

With five people on board, we settled in and familiarised ourselves with the start drill- thanks in this case to a Rex-fitted checklist on the overhead.

Starting the engines means fingering the Start, looking for 10 per cent N2 and then letting the whole thing happen automatically from then on.

Take-off weight was computed at 10,500 lbs; V1 was 89 knots, Vr 97, V2 105 knots indicated. The outside air was plus 15 degrees Celsius.

Bankstown was using 29 Right for arrivals and departures as we taxied out, recalling Frank’s comment about the Citation II take-off distance being based on the anticipated loss of an engine at V1.

We also recalled his description of a $US30,000 piece of equipment hanging off the righthand forward fuselage – the AOA (Angle of Attack) indicator.

The AOA we’d seen before was dangling from the front end of a Navy Skyhawk, looking a little like a London taxi’s flagfall indicator and slaved to a red-and-green light combination pointing out correct approach speeds.

This little box of tricks fitted to the evaluation Citation II was far removed from that- it was at the same time an approach speed reference and a datum from which to work out everything from lift-drag ratios upwards.

Take-off in Citation II is an exhilarating experience and if one is unfamiliar with the type, an awesome thing in terms of mental processes lagging behind the aircraft.

Retracting take-off flap and wheels proved a non-pitch event, and an initial rate of climb carried out in almost dead silence pegged at 3000 fpm, with 185 knots indicated.

Setting up a cruise climb, we noted fan RPM at 98. 1 and 97. 9 per cent; ITT at 640 degrees, and turbine RPM at 92. 8/92. 4 per cent. Fuel flow was reading out at 1000 lbs/side/hour.

Indicated airspeed was building up to 215, and the climb rate had shot up to 4500 fpm.

If anyone in the main cabin had brought along a pin, we were almost sure we could have heard it drop; little wonder that Citation II is labelled as one of the best-ever good neighbour aircraft inside and outside. For the books, sideline noise in the II is listed at 86. 7 EPNdb, take-off noise at 80. 1 and approach noise at 90. 5 – all well under the US FAR 36 figures.

A quick readout at transition height showed the following figures: 180 IAS, outside air at 0°C, climb rate steady on 3200 feet per minute; fan rpm 99. 6 per cent, ITT 640/615, turbine rpm 93 per cent and fuel flow still sitting on 1000 lbs/side/hour.

We chatted about this and that while adjusting knobs, levers and dials on the way up to our scheduled FL 350 height; how turbine pilots would take about 12 hours to become familiar on type in the Citation II; how there is a constant worrying at the Department of Aviation to get the Il single-pilot certified and how sales would skyrocket faster than our rate of climb if this ever happened. . .

How the Citation Il isn’t competing with any other type but sits in a class of its own. . .

And how one gets a short, sharp buffet at stall onset via a little burble strip on the leading edge which sends disturbed airflow to the tailplane. . . there’s no stick-shaker, stick-pusher or any other warning device needed in this clean and completely conventional design.

We were at FL 260 as the slaved autopilot turned us gently over Katoomba to track for Bathurst. Readouts at this stage included 100. 3 on the fans, turbines sitting at 91. 8 per cent, ITT at 615/585 and fuel going through the engines at 850 lbs aside an hour.

We were still notching 3200 fpm on the VSI at Flight Level 330. .

Flight Level 350, with the altitude preselect sounding off a little earlier, we were 63. 5 DME from Sydney, and that little Angle of Attack indicator recording 2 as a component of lift. Readouts in minus 20 degrees of outside air included an indicated airspeed of 196 knots, fan speed of 100. 2 (watch the fan speed, it tends to increase with altitude, warned Frank); turbine speed 91. 3 per cent, ITT 610/585, fuel flow way below the 500 Ibs/side mark.

And there we could have sat for more than a thousand miles. The main cabin, on confirmation from our ‘passengers’, was as quiet as any cabin could possibly be. We could certainly hear every word from our position up front. . .

Seating in both compartments got top marks from the AUSTRALIAN AVIATION team, as did the general environment. Visibility, long-haul bearability.

Turning over Bathurst at OME 81. 8, we started back home; coming down in the Citation II is another experience. If you really want to, you can descend at up to 10,000 although we suspect passengers would have something to say about that unless they were warned or late for a corporate appointment.

In the cruise, with no appreciable pullback on the power poles, we got up to 207 knots IAS in an outside air temperature of initially minus 20°C, and eventually got it up to 210 IAS.

That was really travelling, although from where we sat it was a thing of almost casual ease with no ‘ear’ ill-effects, so unobtrusive is the differential setting.

We were given a “hold” by Sydney to let a 747 go by, then came on down, tracking for Bankstown.

A touch-and-go proved a non-event in terms of something different. Stall speed is carded at between 80 and 82 knots depending on weight, and the Citation II likes a whisker more than 100 set up in most approach phases. Gear and flap extension didn’t cause any pitch problems. Our approach was aimed fairly well into the duty runway, but on Frank’s advice, we got the nose down to give him time to get the aircraft off again in the distance needed.

Our arrival was borne patiently by the aircraft. . . there was a fairly firm touch which provoked a kind comment from the back end (a CFI was among our passengers), and Frank showed how one can really silky-grease the Citation in if one has the ‘feel’ of this type after he’d gone round again.

We later sat in Rex Williams’ office while he gave us the marketing side of this operation.

Rex (Aviation and Williams) have produced a set of base figures for customers. This is the rough outline: Using average stage lengths of 700 nm, average fuel flow of 126 galls/hour, and an operating altitude of 37,000 ft at max cruise thrust, one can expect:

Direct Costs $ Per Flight Hour: Year 1: fuel $207; maintenance $26. 50; material $22. 16; engine overhaul provision (average) $55. Total direct hourly cost $310. 66. Years 4-7: fuel $207, maintenance $55. 20; material $40. 57; engine overhaul provision (average) $55. Total direct hourly cost $357. 77.

Fixed Annual Charges: Crew salaries and benefits (captain and co-pilot) $53,000. Insurance (hull cover) $24,200 (abilities) $3000. Miscellaneous (training etc. ) $2000. Air Nav. charges (Class 1) $2751. Total annually $84,951.

Total Operating Costs 600 Hours/Year: Direct, year 1, $186,396. Years 4-7, $214,662. Fixed annual charges, year 1 $84,951, years 4-7, $84,951, Cost per hour, $452 for year 1, $499 for years 4-7.

A truly economic exercise. . .

With Rex Aviation’s marketing expertise paramount, there is an undoubtedly bright future for this type, for both Rex and its customers.