Sovereign rule

Cessna also saw the opportunity for existing owners of the Citation III, VI and VII who were looking to upgrade to a larger aircraft.

Many of these customers did not require the extra seating capacity and greater cost of the larger offerings from Gulfstream, Bombardier and Dassault. Most were also loyal to the Cessna brand and preferred to stay with Citations.

Given the strong acceptance and loyalty of Citation owners, Cessna wanted to integrate some of the best features from its successful earlier models, while also giving the new aircraft a greater capacity and the range to comfortably cover regular trans-continental and occasional international missions.

Initially, Cessna examined developing a new fuselage cross section, but settled on maintaining the same cross section first used on the Citation III family and later the Citation X and Excel/XLS. It would use the streamlined Citation X’s nose but feature an all-new wing.

Subsequently, Cessna launched the Citation

“No other mid-size business jet except the Citation Excel and XLS have such strong market support. ”

Sovereign at the 1998 National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) exposition and immediately attracted much interest. First flight was in 2002 and first deliveries began in early 2004. By the time the first aircraft rolled off the line, Cessna had orders for over 100 of the type.

Since it has entered service, the Sovereign has been selling strongly, with large demand coming from existing Citation owners in North America and new clients in Europe, as well as customers in the Asia-Pacific region where Sovereigns now fly in India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan and Australia.

In 2007, Cessna delivered 65 Sovereigns, representing nearly 16 per cent of all Citations delivered in that year. Production slots for the aircraft are currently sold out until late in 2010, and Cessna says it is planning to increase production this year to meet strong demand for the type.

“Right now the Sovereign seems to be really coming into its own in the global market place,” said Steve Padgett, owner and executive chairman of Aeromil Pacific, the exclusive Australian representative for the Citation range. He points to the fact that the first production Sovereigns are now fetching between 105-110 per cent of their original sale price as a number of customers try to get a hold of the jet rather than wait two years for a new production aircraft.

“No other mid-size business jet except the Citation Excel and XLS have such strong market support,” said Padgett.

With the recent launch of the new Citation Columbus, Sovereign owners now have a logical upgrade path into a large cabin intercontinental aircraft in the Citation family.

In most cases, this upgrade path makes the Sovereign more attractive to buyers who may want to upsize to the Columbus in the future.

Balancing field performance, range, speed and price were crucial to Cessna in the design of the Sovereign.

While other aircraft offered similar seating capacity, none offered true transcontinental capability, particularly from short GA airfields. Cessna aimed to offer an aircraft capable of meeting these needs.

The result is that with a full passenger load, the aircraft is able to takeoff from airstrips as small as 1109m and yet achieve a range of 2526nm at a cruising speed of 430 KTAS. The aircraft’s maximum speed is 459 KTAS.

The Sovereign has a 47,000ft ceiling and has a climb rate of 4016ft/min. At this rate, the Sovereign can reach a cruising altitude of 43,000ft in only 23 minutes.

The Sovereign has a maximum takeoff weight of 13. 7 tonnes, and is certified to the latest FAR 25 amendments, unlike older ‘grandfathered’ designs.

Cessna’s strong support network includes 10 factory owned service centres in North America and Europe and over 29 authorised service centres, including Aeromil, which has facilities at Bankstown and on the Sunshine Coast, and Airflite in Perth.

Features

The Sovereign’s cabin cross section is the same size asBalancing field performance, range, speed and price were crucial to Cessna in the design of the Sovereign.

”the Citation X, and with the exception of the forward fuselage/cockpit, the structural design is new.

The Sovereign’s wing is a supercritical design with a span of 19. 24m. The leading edge features a 16 degree sweep with a straight trailing edge. The big wing is the key to rapid climb and good performance at altitude. The moderate sweep of the wing also gives the aircraft docile handling at low speed and low stall speeds, with landing configuration stall speeds below 80kt.

The Sovereign is powered by two FADEC equipped Pratt & Whitney Canada PW306C turbofans which produce 5690lb (25. 3kN) of thrust.

The cockpit features a Honeywell EPIC avionics suite with four 30x20cm LCD displays. Features include three axis autopilot, dual flight management, GPS and communication and navigation radios. The displays also serve as an EICAS (Engine Indicating and Crew Alert System) monitor.

The Sovereign also features four colour weather radar, EGPWS, TCAS II, a three frequency ELT, and a cockpit voice recorder. Optional systems include a flight data recorder, lightning sensors and satellite or ground based communication systems.

Unlike competing aircraft, the Sovereign does not rely on internal storage for passenger bags. Instead, the aircraft has a large 2. 8m3 (100 cubic foot) heated baggage compartment which is accessible from the outside. This frees up more space in the cabin.

On the inside, the Sovereign has a dropped aisle, which provides a height from floor to roof of 1. 72m.

The interior cabin is 9. 37m in length and has a constant width of 1. 67m, which makes it one of the roomiest in its class.

The cabin is also pressurised at a differential of 9. 3 psi. This corresponds to a cabin altitude of 7200ft while the aircraft is at 47,000ft. Sea level pressure can be maintained up to 25,230ft.

The Sovereign is the only jet in its class to offer eight individual seats in a doubleclub arrangement with an additional side-facing seat in the forward cabin. The club chairs are fully adjustable, rotating through 180 degrees and also have retractable tables. Optional 10 or 12 seat configurations are available.

The Sovereign also features a refreshment centre in the forward cabin. The aft cabin features a private lavatory and vanity, as well as a storage area for coats, jackets, carry-on luggage and aircraft stores.

Competitors

Cessna identifies the Sovereign’s closest new competitor as the Hawker 900XP. Although the 900XP has slightly more range than the Sovereign, Cessna claims that its aircraft has the advantage of being able to carry more passengers, fly at higher altitudes and operate from shorter strips.

Cessna also claims that the Sovereign offers more cabin space than the Hawker, thanks largely to its external baggage compartment.

Baggage on the 900XP is carried internally, which both limits the size of baggage which can be taken on board and the seating capacity.

The faster Learjet 60 has also been quoted as a competitor as it has similar seating, but does not have the same range or field performance profile of the Sovereign.

However, the new Learjet 85 (formerly the NXT) is a potential threat to the Sovereign. The 85 will have a slightly wider cabin than the Sovereign as well as a similar range profile, but will also be more expensive to purchase.

Sovereigns In Australia

Executive Airlines of Essendon is currently the only Australian operator of the Sovereign, with two aircraft in its fleet. These are used extensively on charter flights both within Australia and to overseas destinations, particularlyto southeast Asia where the aircraft can reach most destinations with a single stop from the east coast.

Perth based rural exports company Wellard Group had purchased a Sovereign in 2006 but has since replaced it with a Challenger 604. A spokesman from Wellard told AA that while the aircraft performed very well on domestic missions, the company required an aircraft with more range due to its need for frequent trips to the Middle East and Europe.

Aeromil Pacific has been keen to promote the Sovereign in Australia. Sales director Nick Jones told AA that he is confident that the Sovereign will have popular appeal in Australia, particularly due to its range profile and the strong acceptance of other Citation models.

Jones believes that the flexibility of the aircraft will be a great appeal for Australian users. “If you only need to go a couple of hundred miles down the road, you can take off in the same distance as a much, much smaller aircraft, and you’ve also got the flexibility to go a long way, and it’s very quiet and very comfortable. ” Aeromil expects that the majority of customers for the Sovereign will be repeat Cessna buyers looking to upgrade from existing Citations. The current boom in the resources industry is also creating more interest in business jets, and the company expects this area to contribute strongly to sales of the Sovereign.

In support of its sales ambitions, Aeromil conducted a local sales tour as part of a wider Sovereign world tour in late February. This saw Cessna’s factory demonstrator aircraft (N158SV) demonstrated to a number of prospective customers in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Darwin. The aircraft received a lot of interest from both existing jet operators and those looking to enter into the private jet market for the first time.

During the tour, the Sovereign was able to demonstrate the capabilities which make it suited to the Australian market. Jones says that its first leg from Bankstown to Perth was made in 4 hours 28 minutes block time, with enough fuel left onboard for a 50 minute demonstration flight afterwards plus reserves.

Aeromil is so confident of the type’s acceptance in Australia that it has reserved a slot for a Sovereign which will be delivered in September 2009. Jones expects that this aircraft will be sold shortly.

After that, the earliest slots available are late 2010.

“We’ve got two parties right now who are close to ordering the aircraft,” said Jones. “Then there are five or six looking at it within the next six to 12 months. You can consider things are doing reasonably well. ” Although newer aircraft may prove a challenge for the Sovereign, its flexibility should ensure that it maintains its place in the business jet market.