The Cessna Citation XLS 560 G-OMEA on approach to Inverness Airport Scotland. SCO 9887.
With the success of Cessna's high-end Citation VII, the manufacturer saw a market for an aircraft with the Citation X's features but aimed at a more traditional market, where it would chiefly compete with twin-turboprop aircraft. Rather than being a direct variant of another Citation airframe, the Excel was a combination of technologies and designs. To produce the Excel, Cessna took the X's wide, stand-up cabin fuselage, shortened it by about 21 feet ( m) and mated it with an unswept wing utilizing a supercritical airfoil (based on the Citation V Ultra's wing) and the tail from the Citation V. To power the aircraft, Cessna chose the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW500 turbofan. The Excel has the roomiest cabin in its class of light corporate jets and can seat up to 10 passengers (in high-density configuration; typically the number is six to eight in a corporate configuration), while being flown by a crew of two. The project was announced at the annual NBAA convention in October, 1994, and the prototype aircraft took off on its first flight on February 29, 1996. By the time FAA certification was granted in April 1998, Cessna had over 200 orders for the aircraft. By the time the 100th Excel was delivered in August 2000, the Wichita production line was producing an aircraft every three days. By the time the aircraft was superseded by the Citation XLS, a total of 308 had been built. The Excel has had an exceptional safety record, with only 6 accidents on record. The Citation Excel was the original version of the Citation Excel series of aircraft. There were two cockpit configurations of the original model involving where the landing gear was on the panel. With the gear on the left hand side, the MFD was moved to the right slightly and both radios were moved to the right of the MFD next to each other.
Size: 5965px × 4100px
Location: Dalcross Airport, Inverness. Highland Region. Scotland. United Kingdom.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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