Latitude “on schedule” – Cessna

Cessna says its mid-size Latitude business jet is “on schedule” to make its first flight in the first quarter of 2014.

“We have nearly finished with the Latitude wing, and the Latitude fuselage is almost complete,” said Terry Shriner, Cessna business leader for the Latitude, in an update the manufacturer released for the NBAA convention this week.

Shriner also highlighted that testing of the Latitude’s electronically-operated door is well advanced: “The new door conveniently opens and closes with the flip of a switch. From the very early design stages, we planned on an aircraft with an electric door based on what we were hearing from customers and seeing in the market. We have put this electric door through an incredibly challenging set of tests, and cycled the model thousands of times.”