Cessna Citation III
Citation III / IV / VI / VII | |
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Type: | Business jet |
Design country: | |
Manufacturer: | |
First flight: |
May 30, 1979 |
Commissioning: |
1982 |
Production time: |
1982 to 1992 (III) |
Number of pieces: |
202 (III) |
The Citation III is a twin- engine business jet from the American manufacturer Cessna , which belongs to the Citation family of aircraft . The Citation IV, VI and VII are successor models, whereby the Citation IV remained a project and was never realized.
History and Development
In 1978, Cessna began developing a new project that would not be based on the existing Citation I and Citation II models . For the new model, a new fuselage (later also used on the Citation X ), new wings with a 25 ° arrow and a T-tail unit were designed. The prototype of the Citation III flew for the first time on May 30, 1979, but has been revised. The revised version made its maiden flight on May 2, 1980 and was approved by the FAA on April 30, 1982 . The first delivery followed a year later. A total of 202 Cessna Citation IIIs had been built and delivered by 1992.
The Citation IV was originally intended by Cessna as a replacement for the Citation III and should be characterized by a larger tank capacity, a resulting greater range and a shorter take-off distance. Development began in 1989, but was discontinued that same year.
Instead, Cessna launched two new versions:
- The Cessna Citation VI turned out to be a flop. A mere 39 units were built until production was stopped in May 1995. The prototype made its maiden flight in 1991 and was launched a year later. The variant should be characterized by lower acquisition and operating costs as well as improved avionics , but was only available with a single interior variant, which caused the failure.
- The Cessna Citation VII first flew on February 2, 1991, and was registered and delivered for the first time a year later. With this model, Cessna solved the previously prevalent problem of take-offs and landings in hot weather due to the density altitude by means of revised engines. In contrast to the Citation VI, the VII was well received and was sold 119 times by 2000.
The successor was the Cessna Citation Excel , in which the fuselage was completely taken over.
Technical specifications
Citation III | Citation VI | Citation VII | |
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General Information |
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Passengers | 7-9 | ||
crew | 2 | ||
Engines | 2 × Honeywell TFE731 | ||
Dimensions |
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length | 16.9 m | ||
span | 16.31 m | ||
height | 5.12 m | ||
Mass information |
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Empty mass | 5337 kg | 5316 kg | |
Max. Takeoff weight | 9980 kg | 10,183 kg | |
Performance data |
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Max. Cruising speed | 874 km / h | 881 km / h | |
Max. Range | 4348 km | 4110 km | |
Service ceiling | 51,000 ft | ||
thrust | 16.2 kN (3650 lbs ) | 18.2 kN (4080 lbs ) |