The first Citation Sovereign production aircraft (serial number 001) has completed its first flight, several weeks ahead of schedule. During the 1.8 hour flight, tests were conducted for: Stability and control, configuration changes, and engine operation including in-flight restarts.

The Sovereign prototype took its maiden flight on February 27, 2002, and has logged over 130

flight hours. To date, it has completed envelope expansion, preliminary stall development, runway performance and various systems development tasks.

Testing of Sovereign serial numbers 001 and 002 will primarily focus on certification of systems and hot and cold weather evaluations.

FAA certification is expected in late 2003, with first customer deliveries in early 2004. Currently, Sovereign sales activity exceeds 100 orders.

“We were able to fly the first production aircraft early because of the hard work and dedication of the Sovereign Team,” said Brad Thress, Sovereign senior product director. “To date, the Sovereign has met or exceeded all of the specifications that were originally announced and we continue to proceed to certification flight testing.”