Textron Aviation may have ended production of the Cessna Citation Mustang earlier this year, but pilots flying the popular light jet won't be left behind. This is thanks to a pair of significant upgrade programs announced by Garmin and Tamarack last week in conjunction with the 2017 Citation Jet Pilots Association (CJP) convention in Phoenix.

Garmin formally announced its anticipated G1000NXi integrated flight deck upgrade for the Mustang, bringing new system capabilities and vastly upgraded processor performance in line with similar upgrades for the Beechcraft King Air announced earlier this year. Phil Straub, Garmin vice president and managing director of aviation, emphasized that “CJP was instrumental” in making the upgrade a reality, in response to a high level of interest from owners seeking the latest avionics capabilities for their aircraft.

The G1000NXi includes animated Nexrad, upgraded HSI and new visual approach display capabilities, split-screen displays with LED backlighting and wireless upgrading and Bluetooth connectivity to link flight deck information to a pilot’s iPad. Garmin projects FAA STC approval in the second half of 2018.

Also announced at CJP 2017 was a new development program to install the Tamarack Aerospace active technology load-alleviation system (Atlas) on the Mustang. Company CEO Nick Guida projected a 15 percent range increase and 400-pound improvement to maximum zero-fuel weight with the winglets installed, as well as reduced time to climb to the very light jet's 41,000-foot service ceiling.

"This [upgrade] is going to be a big deal,” noted Cyrus Sigari, CEO of aircraft reseller and newly announced Tamarack authorized sales agent jetAviva. The companies were accepting letters of interest from Citation Mustang owners at CJP 2017, with projected pricing below $300,000.