Cessna is marking a couple of major milestones at this 52nd annual NBAA gathering, including the delivery of the 3,000 Citation airplane here on Wednesday.

This is also to be the last NBAA with Russ Meyer as chairman and CEO. He's to retire as CEO effective the end of 1999 and be succeeded by current Cessna vice-chairman Gary Hay. Meyer will remain chairman.

Meyer has been with Cessna for 25 years, and has been CEO for 24. He has overseen establishment of a business jet line with no fewer than eight aircraft.

Cessna jets range from the entry-level, $3.7 million CJ1, a direct derivative of the popular CitationJet CE-525 (some 360 in service) with added payload and updated avionics, to the $16.5 million Citation X, touted as the world's fastest business jet, an airplane with a 470-knot sustained cruise speed that Cessna says "turns transcontinental missions into quick out-and-back day trips."

The 100th Citation X rolled out of the Cessna's W-7 plant at Wichita on August 20.

Cessna's other offerings are the new CJ2, the Citation Bravo, Excel and new Ultra Encore, the Citation VII and Cessna's latest, the Citation Sovereign, slated for 2002. Cessna is second only to Bombardier in business aviation with a market share in dollar value forecast by Virginia's Teal Group at 19.1% for the coming decade. By unit count, 1,934 Cessna jets account for 32% of the world's business jet fleet.
Cessna is distinguished by "unparalleled ability to mix and match fuselages, wings and engines," Teal says.

CJ1 sales have now pushed the CitationJet total past 400. Type certification of the CJ1 is expected by the end of 1999 with deliveries to start in the first quarter of 2000. The CJ1 will have a pair of Williams Rolls-Royce FJ44-1A engines making for a 200-pound payload boost over the CitationJet. It's to cruise at 323 knots with an NBAA IFA maximum fuel range of 1,261 nmi.

The CJ2, which is just over four feet longer than the CJ1, with greater wingspan and a larger tail, will have FJ44-2C engines for even greater power and performance. It's to cruise at 360 knots with a range of 1,451 nmi. First flight took place this past April. Cessna took the CJ2 into line production at Wichita with serial number 003 this past July. Certification is expected in the second quarter of 2000, with first customer deliveries early in 2001.

Both the CJ1 and CJ2 are fitted with an identical suite of Collins Pro Line 21 avionics. Prices are cited as $3.695 million for the CJ1 and $4.29 million for the CJ2.

Cessna's new Ultra Encore (Citation 560), with a pair of PW535As replacing the Ultra's JT15D-5Ds, will fly 130 knots faster than competing turboprops yet be cheaper to operate, Cessna promises. Ultra Encore type certification is targeted for the fourth quarter of this year, followed by customer deliveries in the second quarter of 2000. The Ultra Encore is priced at $6.875 million (in year 2000 dollars).

The 8-passenger Citation Sovereign is said to be the only new midsize business jet in development, and to boast the largest (24 feet) cabin in the class. The Sovereign will be powered by PW306C engines yielding a 444-knot cruise speed and 2,500-nmi range. Service ceiling is 47,000 feet. It's priced at $11.995 million in 1998 dollars.

Cessna expects to achieve Citation Sovereign type certification in the second quarter of 2002 and to begin customer deliveries in the third quarter. Executive Jet last year ordered 50 Sovereigns.
Also new at Cessna is a 74,000-square-foot Wichita engineering center slated to open at the end of this year. A new completion center opened there this past April.