With six aircraft flying, Textron Aviation’s Cessna Citation Longitude program is moving out of the development phase into final certification, and company executives anticipate having U.S. FAA approval in hand for the super-midsize jet either later this year or early next year. “The Longitude is in full swing,” said Textron Aviation president and CEO Scott Ernest.

Not counting the prototype, the Longitude program has five aircraft flying in the flight-test program. A sixth aircraft, the first production model (P7), has already rolled off the line and will be on display at Henderson Executive Airport this week during NBAA 2017 (Stand 16).

Following the NBAA display that aircraft will embark on a major North America tour involving nearly four dozen cities before it travels internationally. That demonstration tour will launch a little more than a year after the aircraft took to the skies for the first time on Oct. 8, 2016. “We really feel good about how the Longitude is progressing,” Ernest said. “We’re at our peak here and starting to draw the Longitude program to a close.“

Textron Aviation (Booth N3530) is in the process of getting the first type inspection authority (TIA), marking a key step toward certification, and Brad Thress, senior v-p of engineering was hopeful that the TIA would be granted imminently.

The company is taking a “no compromise approach” to certification, Thress added, noting that the development team anticipates bringing the aircraft to market with full certification, rather than a provisional certification that limits operations.

The test program has checked off numerous milestones with the envelope fully expanded. Runway performance was completed a little more than a month ago in Roswell, New Mexico, as well as a relatively new flammable fluid testing requirement that entailed 150 hours of flight.

Hot and cold weather testing was completed using the all-weather chamber at Eglin Air Force Base in Valparaiso, Florida. “We were able to show the strength of the system in the airplane even in the cockpit where you get a lot of solar energy coming in,” Thress said. “We were able to take a 140-degree cockpit and cool it down to mid-80s in about 15 minutes.”

Also, the aircraft’s Honeywell HTF770L turbofans have received certification.

Once certified, the aircraft will be the company’s largest aircraft to reach market—at least until the large-cabin Hemisphere follows—and its quietest with cabin dBa more than meeting the company goal of 65 and reaching the low 60s in the forward cabin.

Beyond noise level, Rob Scholl, senior v-p sales and marketing, noted that the company paid attention to cabin comfort with a 77-inch-wide, 72-inch-high flat-floor design that provides 30 inches of legroom. The 3,500-nm-range airplane can fly at Mach 0.84 and carry a 1,600-pound payload.

Further, the company emphasized cost of ownership, with direct operating costs less than $2,000 an hour and maintenance intervals of 18 months/800 hours.

In anticipation of market entry, the company has assembled a dedicated team of field service engineers for Longitude customers, Thress noted, and added that an orientation pilot will accompany each delivery to assist with the transition into service.

As the aircraft approaches certification, Textron Aviation has already begun to spool up production with P8-P14 already in some level of assembly.

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect correct maintenance intervals of 800 hours.