Cessna Aircraft Company has reported on target progress for three of the aircraft development programmes sprung on the business aviation industry at last year's NBAA show. The Citation CJ1 is the latest reincarnation of the CitationJet line and first customer deliveries are due at the beginning of next year. Meanwhile, Cessna says that sales of the new Citation Sovereign continue to grow at a high rate for what it is claiming is 'the only midsize aircraft known to be under development'. A recent 17-city domestic tour of the mock-up was said to have produced commitments extending into 2005.\rWind tunnel testing for the Sovereign is reported to be complete and engineering work is progressing well. Type certification, production ramp up and the first delivery are all anticipated to occur in 2003. Cessna vice chairman Gary Hay believes that the aircraft will be the perfect upgrade for operators of almost 2,000 midsize jets. "It has a much larger cabin than any other midsize jet, great versatility, excellent all-round performance and the same sensible features that have made other members of the Citation family so popular," he said.\r"All the Citation Sovereign features coupled with reasonable pricing and low operating costs have resulted in firm orders for almost 100 airplanes to date." The manufacturer believes that the aircraft will have the largest cabin of any midsize. Cessna says that the CJ1 was developed as a result of the market demanding new technology and additional utility. The aircraft offers operators a 200-pound gross weight increase, for more payload over greater distances, and the new Pro Line 21 avionics system.\r"Customer response has exceeded our expectations with our backlog extending into the first quarter of 2001," says senior vp, sales and marketing, Roger Whyte. Type certification is expected to be awarded by the end of the year. To date more than 315 CitationJets have entered into service worldwide, flying more than 250,000 flight hours.\rHot on the heels of the CJ1, its bigger brother, the Citation CJ2, is expected to receive certification by the second quarter of 2000, with customer deliveries to follow in early 2001. The CJ2 prototype is being flown up to four times a day to meet the deadlines and two additional Citation CJ2s will enter service and begin flying before the year's end.