The power of new-product introductions to stimulate market demand across business aviation has been proven time and again. Case in point: Cessna Aircraft.
Fifty percent of the models it will deliver during the next two years are aircraft that were certified within just the last 12 months, such as the Citation Latitude and the CJ3A. Observes Cessna CEO Scott Ernest: “It’s important to keep our [product development] pipeline full.”
Ernest has especially high expectations for the Citation Latitude, which didn’t even exist on paper three years ago. The midsize-category jet certainly is a different product for Cessna, with its wide, stand-up cabin. The company has been conducting demonstration flights and has a growing sales backlog, not including 150 units recently purchased by fractional-ownership provider NetJets.
As core as turbine-powered aircraft are to Cessna’s model lineup, the company is channeling 30 to 40 percent of its investment in product development in turboprops. Absent from its current portfolio is a single-engine turboprop, and the addition of such an aircraft to Cessna’s product family is a high priority. About 30 percent of business aircraft owners and operators who acquire a light jet—a mainstay of Cessna’s product family, come from turboprops, according to Ernest.
The Beechcraft King Air C90GTx, the latest model in a long series of continuous enhancements to the King Air 90 series, offers standard features that deliver shorter takeoff and landing distances, better handling characteristics and enhanced passenger experience. Note the Hartzell swept blade turbofan propellors, with their 30-degree blade sweep and 96-inch diameter.
The venerable King Air turboprop is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, with 7,200 delivered to customers around the world since 1964. At the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) annual meeting and exhibition this week, Cessna announced significant performance upgrades to its Beechcraft King Air C90GTx.
This is not your grandfather’s King Air.
The C90GTx features shorter takeoff and landing distances, making it accessible to an even larger number of rural airports, better handling characteristics and enhanced passenger experience, such as a private aft lavatory and a cabin 50 percent larger than some very light jets. The increased takeoff, climb and landing performance come from the incorporation of swept-blade propellers and dual aft body strakes from Raisbeck Engineering.
