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on the Citation 500/501
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The first Cessna business jet was a six seater designed to operate from shorter airfields that were usually populated by light-to-medium twin turboprops. A FanJet 500 prototype flew in September 1969, and there followed a number of design changes before the aircraft received FAA certification two years later on 9 September 1971, certificate A22CE. Renamed the Cessna 500 Citation business jet, it now had a longer forward fuselage, repositioned engine nacelles, a larger tail and added dihedral to the horizontal tail.
Textron made the first delivery in January 1972. It was the first business jet to feature a fan jet engine, and Textron claimed it set new standards in economy, ease of operation and low noise levels, referring to it as the ‘sensible Citation’.
The Citation was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT15D-1 turbofan engines and these, along with straight rather than swept wings, made it cruise more slowly than other business jets. Thus it earned the nicknames Slowtation and Nearjet; vulnerable to bird strikes from the rear.
In early 1976, its wing span was increased from 43.9 to 47.1 ft. It also gained thrust reversers and higher gross weights.
Production ended in 1985.
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| World fleet | Charter fleet | Typical pax | Cabin volume | Cruise | Range | Years | |
| Citation I | ●●● | ●● | ● | ●●●●●●●●● | ●●●●●●● | ●●●●●● | ●●●●●●●●●● |
| Citation I SP | ●●● | ●● | ● | ●●●●●●●●● | ●●●●●●● | ●●●●●● | ●●●●●●●●●● |
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| 25/11/2022 | EASA: 10080739. ●●●●●●●●●●
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| December 5, 2023 | Citation owners eye Blackhawk's Garmin GI-275 installation |
| April 25, 2023 | Blackhawk close to tick for GI-275 on Citation series |
| November 2, 2020 | Ontic on to a winner with JT15D parts deal |
| September 21, 2019 | Textron marks a half century of Citation innovation |
| December 3, 2014 | Me & My Aircraft – Small jets: Buyers are spoilt for choice in crowded small jet segment |
| July 9, 2012 | Me & My Aircraft: Fresh contenders will bring the best technology to the light jet arena |
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