Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. company, is pleased to announce that the third aircraft in the Cessna Citation Longitude flight test programme completed its first flight recently. Test pilots Corey Eckhart and UJ Pesonen, along with flight test engineer Mike Bradfield, successfully tested various systems throughout the one-hour and 40-minute flight. The aircraft will be used in the and systems development programme, as well as gathering flight simulator data.
Along with the first four production Longitude aircraft currently in progress, the company has started assembly line flow in the company’s east campus Plant IV manufacturing facility. These aircraft are being built using the same highly developed tooling and manufacturing techniques that were applied on the Longitude flight test articles, which drives exactness and quality on the assembly line.
“The speed at which our team is achieving these milestones is an important indication to our customers of the maturity of the aircraft’s systems and the proficiency of our processes,” said Brad Thress, senior vice president of Engineering. “We continue to build momentum in the program, and the team is dedicated to getting this world-class aircraft in the hands of our customers.”
The third aircraft joins the test programme less than six months after the first Longitude flew in October 2016. To date, the first two aircraft in the flight test programme have accomplished 125 flights. Certification procedure of the Citation Longitude might take place by the end of this year.
