Textron Aviation's Citation Longitude is making its European debut during this year’s EBACE as the super-midsize jet program moves steadily toward certification later this year.

Textron Aviation (Booth V22) is displaying the fourth Longitude to join the flight test program (P3). The first of the Longitudes to be fully fitted with an interior, the aircraft will be used to evaluate cabin technologies and systems related to passenger experience.

The fourth Longitude flew for the first time on May 6, initially completing a three-hour and 20-minute flight from Beech Field in Wichita, Kansas. That flight took place less than eight months after the prototype Longitude took to the skies. Since that time, the flight-test fleet has completed more than 230 missions, accumulating nearly 450 hours.

Textron Aviation has tested a number of Longitude systems and technologies over the past eight months, including avionics, stability, handling, and cabin systems. The company further has checked off several key development and certification tests, including ultimate load testing that evaluates the maximum forces the fuselage and wing can endure and extreme climatic and environmental testing at the U.S. Air Force’s McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

So far about 20 percent of the certification documents have been filed, according to Brad Thress, senior vice president of engineering. Later this summer the fifth flight test Longitude will join the fleet. The company has already begun spooling up the production line, he said, with number eight and nine in the assembly line flow.

FAA certification is anticipated by the end of this year, followed by EASA approval a year later.

Once certified, the Longitude will move the Citation family into the super-midsize category with a six-foot-high, flat-floor cabin and seating for up to 12 passengers. The cabin will be fitted with a standard double-club configuration and fully berthable seats, and features 15 large windows.

Powered by Fadec-equipped Honeywell HTF7700L turbofans, the Longitude will have 3,500-nm range and full-fuel payload of 1,600 pounds. The cockpit features Garmin G5000 avionics and Garmin’s new GHD 2100 head-up display. The HUD, which features a 30-degree horizontal and 24-degree vertical field of view, is already installed in the prototype Longitude. The HUD, on P1, has already accumulated 100 hours of testing, including at Eglin Air Force Base.

 “We’re super excited about the Longitude,” said Rob Scholl, senior vice president of sales and marketing. “We continue to invest in new products, and it’s a testament to the best part of both companies [Cessna and Beechcraft] coming together. It’s the quietest jet I’ve ever flown in, an unprecedented cabin experience. We think the Longitude is going to define the marketplace in the super mid-size segment.” Potential buyers continue to gain interest as the flight-test program has progressed, Scholl said, noting that the program has accumulated “a healthy backlog.”

In fact, Textron Aviation president and CEO Scott Ernest told reporters on the eve of EBACE that the program picked up two more orders just last week. “Our Longitude continues to make great progress.”

Work continues on the large-cabin Citation Hemisphere. “We’re full-speed ahead,” Thress said, with wind tunnel testing underway to determine flight loads, “which allows us to start building the structural architecture.” Thress added the company has completed two rounds of wind-tunnel tests, including one this past week, with two more planned—one next month in Toulouse for a landing configuration and one in July in Cologne for flight at high Reynolds numbers. After more testing in the fall, he added, “we’ll crank out the details.” Engineers have also begun building the “iron bird” test rig for the Hemisphere’s fly-by-wire flight control system.

Meanwhile wind-tunnel testing is finished on the GE-powered single-engine turboprop Denali, and the detail design is expected to be about 75 percent complete by the end of the year. Testing of the airplane’s 105-inch McCauley composite propeller has included a bird-shot test and a full-speed run, as well as fatigue and static strength testing of the blades.  

At the EBACE static display, Textron Aviation is showing the Longitude, Latitude, XLS+, CJ4, CJ3+, M2, Grand Caravan EX and Beechcraft King Air 250.