Cessna 550 Citation II

flown slowly enough that it doesn't whiz by slower airplanes. Approach flaps and the landing gear are extended on downwind, three-fourths flaps and 60-percent Nl on base, full flaps on fi- nal, 102 KIAS, power to idle approach- ing the threshold lest the airplane float, a slight flare, and the Citation lands. It's easier than in a Skyhawk. If the pattern is flown at the correct height and the configuration is changed at the proper time, once the power is set at 60 percent, it need not be changed again until time to flare and land. And it's possible to have that down pat by the third landing. On a missed approach after an ILS, I was reminded that in jets you do get the nose up as power is added. Going to max power with the nose down will only serve to propel the airplane toward the ground. The flight director will com- mand the proper nose-up attitude, or 15 degrees will do just fine. Touch and go landings on a 4,251- foot runway at Hutchinson, Kansas, were quite comfortable. On one go, Fizer pulled Jhe power back on the right en- gine just after liftoff. The required rud- der pressure to hold the aircraft straight avionics systems because it is simpler. With many airplanes a rigid climb- speed schedule is followed, but Fizer said the Citation II isn't critical-the climb speed might well be dictated by wind. Climb at a slower speed to get up into a big tailwind more quickly. Climb at a faster speed to make better groundspeed with a strong headwind. In turns it is quickly apparent that a Citation is quite stable: You can take your hands off the wheel, and if prop- erly trimmed, the airplane just keeps on doing what it was doing. Slow flight and the approach to a stall are tame. With the landing gear and flaps down, power off, slowing the air- plane to about 80 knots brings on a rum- bling burble. Drop the nose slightly and the burble goes away. The ailerons are fully effective throughout the maneuver. I did notice one item that might make a pilot miss an altitude by a hundred feet on a level-off. While billed as an "in_ stantaneous vertical speed indicator," the instrument lags, and to really nail an altitude, the altimeter itself is the best indicator that the climb or descent has actually ceased. Descents can be enhanced through the use of speed brakes. They cause a rumble, and passengers should be in- formed in advance lest they be startled by the change in sound and feel. Should a pilot use and forget the speed brakes, they stow automatically when power is increased past 80 percent of Nl. The good visibility is a real asset in the traffic pattern, and the airplane can be 38. OCTOBER1988 I~ would evolve into the Citation I, with a longer wing span for better climb and cruise performance and better fuel efficiency. The Citation II would be its bigger brother, with a stretched fuselage to carry two more passen- gers and 300 pounds more thrust from each of the Pratt & Whitney JT1SDs. The head of household would be the Citation III, a 10- to 13-passenger, swept-wing jet with the speed, range, high-altitude capability, and aesthetics to compete in the medium-size business jet marketplace. The Citation I was introduced in 1977, the II a year later, and the III in 1982. Cessna continued to tinker with its suc- cess, and in 1984 the Citation Sill debuted. With no increase in thrust, the 5111 flies higher, farther, faster, and with more payload than the II. All of that was accomplished by slightly reconfiguring the airfoil, adding a swept cuff to the wing root leading edge to smooth airflow and increase fuel capacity, re- designing the flap system and engine pylons, adding gap seals, and using lighter-weight composites in the ailerons and flaps. The Sill was only a temporary successor to the II. In 1987, after a three-year hiatus, the II was put back in production. Whereas the Sill offers a performance advantage, the II, at about $900,000 less, once again is the most affordable Citation. At the same time it announced it would be bringing the II back, Cessna said it had devel- oped a plan to reintroduce the Citation I. The company would buy used Model SOOs,strip them of paint, interior, wiring, and avionics, and rebuild them to Citation I specifications. The engines would be overhauled and zero- timed. The price for the completed "good as new" airplane was forecast to be $1.S million. Cessna later concluded, however, that re- building older Citations would be more ex- pensive than originally thought, and the project was dropped. The Citation V will be based on the 5111 airframe, but with an additional 20 inches in the fuselage to provide more stretch-out room for passengers. The big difference will be in the engines. The Pratt & Whitney JT1SD-SA turbofans will produce 2,900 pounds of thrust each. The same engines power the T-47 and BE400 Beechjet. The Ci- tation V is expected to climb and cruise faster and higher than the Sill, which likely will be phased out of the Citation product line. When the littlest Citation first appeared on FBO ramps 16 years ago, some pilots of real bizjets, which were almost 100 knots faster, greeted it with tongue lodged in cheek. (Question: Why do screens cover the exhaust end of a Citation's engines? Answer: To pro- tect against bird strikes from the rear.) But the Citation could boast of feats unattainable by the competition. Its fanjet engines were far quieter and more fuel efficient than the then- standard turbojets, it could operate out of short fields and unpaved runways, it cost far less to operate, and, beginning with the Cita- tion I, with special certification it could be flown by just one pilot. All of the siblings qf the original Citation have continued those traditions. Cessna has enjoyed the last and most satisfying laugh, however; as of mid- 1988, 1,S19 "sensible Citations" have been sold, more than any other type of business jet. -Mark R. Twombly AOPA PILOT • 39 was reasonable and the climb rate good. At 400 feet above the ground (as read off the radio altimeter), takeoff flaps were retracted and the airplane was flown to its best rate-of-climb speed, where we had about 1,000 feet per minute. It was a far cry from, and far easier than, the fire drill and marginal performance that fol- lows an engine failure in a piston twin. The yaw damper can be used to provide the rudder inputs required in an engine- out situation, which simplifies the en- gine-out landing. As power is reduced on the good engine for landing, disen- gage the yaw damper and you have a properly trimmed airplane. The Citation II was flown VFR the few miles back to Wichita from Hutchinson, 0INf BOIGA"' OU she goes into the wild blue yonder When Olive Borgatti climbs out of her Cessna Citation II-the aircraft pictured in this is- sue-your first thought probably isn't that she has just exited the left front seat. In fact, the 71-year-old Borgatti doesn't fit the picture most people-pilots and nonpilots alike- paint of a Cessna Citation owner and pilot. But the owner of Spag Supply, Incorporated, a Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, department store, bristles at the suggestion that there's anything unusual about her type rating in the business jet and rejects the idea that she should relinquish control to a pair of hired hands up front. After a moment's conversa- tion, it's clear that she enjoys flying the Cita- tion too much to leave piloting duties to someone else. Borgatti always flies with company pilot Peter Woiciechowski, with whom she rotates pilot and copilot duties, on her rounds to re- tail merchandise shows for her company. Be- fore the Citation, she toured the eastern United States in a Commander 840 turboprop and before that a Shrike Commander. She says both were capable workhorses-she flew the 840 for four years and nearly 560 hours-but neither can match the panache of the Citation. The Citation's high-altitude, high-speed capabilities swayed her into trading in the latest Commander. "It gets me above the kind of weather we had to ride through in the 40. OCTOBER1988 Commander," she says. And of the Citation's prodigious speed advantage over the turbo- prop she says, "I can load up my staff, take Most corporate pilots just want to guarantee the top brass a smooth ride, but Peter Woiciechowski gets to share the flight deck chores with his boss, Olive Borgatli. off for a merchandise show in Chicago from Massachusetts at eight, and be there before the show opens at 10. There's no way we could have done that in the Commander." Beyond mere speed and altitude capability, Borgatti says she also much prefers the way the Cessna flies. "It's so easy. There's less to do than on the Commander. I own a Cessna 182 and the Citation is just as easy to fly." But much faster, she says with a laugh. Clearly, though, the Citation's handling qualities are what makes her smile. "It feathers on the runway wonderfully. With the Commander it was a sometime deal, I didn't always get the landing I wanted. With the Citation, every one is perfect." Borgatti takes flying the Citation seriously, too. When she bought the jet she attended the FlightSafety International school with her company pilot to make sure both were up to speed on the Cessna's systems and capabili- ties. "They do a great job," she says of FlightSafety. "I took the courses when I had the Commanders, too." Typically she flies about 100 hours a year on business; she has just over 2,000 hours, and Woiciechowski has accumulated more than 5,000. And while Borgatti admits that she doesn't fit the usual Citation pilot profile, she is no less enthusiastic in her praise for the !winjet than any other pilot with Citation II time. "I love it," she says. -Marc E. Cook and because it was hazy and there is a lot of traffic in this area, the cruise speed was held to 150 KIAS. At Wichita the tower first assigned Runway 19 Right and then switched to the Left. The side- step and establishment of a stabilized approach on short final to the other run- way was easy to handle. After this land- ing I tried the reverse, which is quite effective. (Published landing distances are based on the use of brakes only.) There is a lot to learn in jet flying. High-altitude meteorology, high-alti- tude physiology, the aircraft systems- including avionics and autopilot-and the air traffic control system all have to be mastered. The Citation helps a pilot do all this by placing few other demands on him-which is why the airplane has enjoyed such an excellent safety record that it was awarded the Collier Trophy a couple of years ago. 0 Cessna 550 Citation II Base price: $2,495,000 Price as tested: $3,011,620 Length Height Wingspan Wing area Wing loading Thrust to weight ratio Seats Cabin length Cabin width Cabin height Empty weight, as tested Max ramp weight Maximum takeoff weight Useful load, as tested Max landing weight Zero fuel weight Fuel capacity, std Baggage capacity Powerplants Specifications Pratt &'Whitney Canada jT15D-4, 2,500 lb thrust 47.2 ft 15 ft 52.2 ft 322.9 sq ft 41.2Ib/sq ft 2.66 lbstjlb 8-12 20.9 ft 4.9 ft 4.8 ft 8,1871b 13,500 lb 13,300 lb 5,313 lb 12,7001b 11,000 lb 5,008 lb l,l50 lb, 63 cu ft Performance Takeoff distance, balanced field length 2,990 ft Rate of climb, sea level 3,370 fpm Single-engine ROC. sea level 1,057 fpm Max level speed, sea level 262 kt Max level speed, 25,000 ft 385 kt Cruise altitude/Range w/45-min rsv, std fuel 43,000 ft 1.594 nm Max operating altitude 43,000 ft Single-engine service ceiling 25,200 ft Landing runway length 2,270 ft Limiting and Recommended Airspeeds Vyse (best single-engine rate of climb) 143 KIAS Vfe (max flap extended) 176 KIAS Vie (max gear extended) 176 KIAS Vno (max structural cruising) 262 KIAS to 30,500 ft, then Mach 0.705 Vso (stall, in landing configuration) 82 KIAS All specifications are based on manufacturer's calcula- tions. All performance figures are based on standard day, standard atmosphere, sea level, gross weight con- ditions unless otherwise noted. 0