AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber evaluates Textron Aviation’s flagship Cessna Citation Longitude super-midsize jet. Certified in September 2019, the company had delivered 31 of the model as of the end of 2020.

Although it shares the flat-floor cabin width and height dimensions of the Latitude, the Longitude is a fairly big step up from its smaller sibling. With a maximum takeoff weight (mtow) of 39,500 pounds, the Longitude is longer, by 3 feet, 5 inches in cabin length and 10 feet 11 inches in overall length. The Longitude’s extra 8,700 pounds in mtow enables it to carry another 3,706 pounds of useful load, most of that fuel (14,500 pounds total, or an extra 3,106 pounds compared to the Latitude). And that translates into significantly added range, allowing the Longitude to carry a full-fuel payload of 1,600 pounds (1,000 more than the Latitude) and fly 3,500 nm, compared to the Latitude’s 2,700 nm.

Powered by two 7,665-pound thrust Honeywell HFT7700L turbofans, the Longitude’s maximum cruise speed is 483 ktas and maximum operating limit speed Mach 0.84, putting it way ahead of the Latitude’s 446 ktas and Mach .80.