A nice Citation Sovereign spending the night at Akron Canton Airport in 2009. Photo: Gary Starcher – OPShots Contributor //
Cessna Aircraft hopes to bring a new Citation Sovereign to market next year that incorporates many of the same upgrades found on the Citation Ten, now called the X, along with improved range and performance. The Sovereign will be equipped with new Pratt & Whitney Canada 306D engines that, when combined with new winglets, will increase range by 150 nm. This will push the Sovereign’s range beyond 3000 nm.
The aircraft also will be fitted with a Garmin G5000 avionics suite, integrated automatic throttles and the Cessna Clarity cabin, also selected for the new X.
The enhanced Sovereign is well into development, having accumulated 800 flight-test hours so far using three aircraft, says Brad Thress, senior vice president-business jets. That would put the aircraft on pace for certification and delivery by the third quarter.
Also expected to reach the market next year is Cessna’s newest X. Unveiled originally as the Ten, Cessna rebranded the aircraft to the designation of the original aircraft. The name change comes at the behest of customers, who preferred retaining the original name.
