citation 500 question

[falcondrivr]

any straight wing citation experts out there that can give me a rundown on the 500,550,551,560 product line over its life. im in the market to buy, and am curious as to the basic changes that cessna made to the airframe from the I to the Ultra over the course of its life so far. performance mostly.

 

[blzr]

any straight wing citation experts out there that can give me a rundown on the 500,550,551,560 product line over its life. im in the market to buy, and am curious as to the basic changes that cessna made to the airframe from the I to the Ultra over the course of its life so far. performance mostly.

The performance has increased. Still a 360kt aircraft. They are easy to fly and relatively simple to maintain. The Pratts are EXPENSIVE to overhaul. I don't know if Cessna has any engine programs such as MSP or JSSI. If they do, take full advantage of it!!!

If you are looking for performance and speed in a Cessna, look at the Encore.

 

[ekuflyer]

The 500 series (350knts) airplanes are the basis for all in the series. The 501 is a SP setup of the 500. The 550 (II) (380 knts) is a stretched 500, the 551 being SP and limited to 12,500 lbs. The 550 Bravo (400 knts) improved the 550 with Honeywell Primus avionics and newer Pratt engines (535's ?), and trailing link gear. The 560 (415 knts) was another slight stretch as well as a cuffed wing. The Encore (560) (420 Knots) took the 560 and added a hot wing and trailing link gear as well as newer Pratts (PW 535). Now there is an Encore+ with FADEC and Proline 21. The red headed step child of the bunch was the S550. It took the II and added a cuffed wing with TKS deice (400 Knots). All the 500-560 airplanes except the Bravo and Encore used some version of the Pratt JT-15D engines.

Now the CitationJet (525) series airplanes (CJ, CJ1, CJ1+, CJ2, CJ2+, CJ3, and the soon to be CJ4) took all the good from the 500-560 airplanes and made them better and cheaper to operate using the Williams FJ44 engines, but that is another story.

 

[BoilerUP]

I hear the CJ3 does, and the CJ4 most certainly will, outperform the Encore...don't have any experience to verify that, though.

Overhauling both of our JT15D-4s on our C-II cost about $650k three months back...I hear overhauling the PW530As on the Bravo is about double that.

 

[mavrck]

If you look into a II, make sure it has the Branson mod that brings the gross weight up to 14,500. Without it, the II has a gross of 13,500. That means full fuel, 2 crew, and maybe 2 pax and you are at gross weight.

 

[Tgaug6300]

I hear the CJ3 does, and the CJ4 most certainly will, outperform the Encore...don't have any experience to verify that, though.

Overhauling both of our JT15D-4s on our C-II cost about $650k three months back...I hear overhauling the PW530As on the Bravo is about double that.

The CJ3 is a very strong performer. Direct climb to 450. 1800nm range and huge baggage compartment. the CJ3 beats the Encore+ in cabin size due to not having the wing spar running through the cabin. The Encore+ also still has a very small baggage compartment. The Encore beats the CJ3 in speed and useful load though. With the CJ4 coming on line the Encore will most likely be dropped.

 

[stratman560]

Overhauling both of our JT15D-4s on our C-II cost about $650k three months back...I hear overhauling the PW530As on the Bravo is about double that.

True and also the TBO went up to 4000 hrs vs. i believe 3500 on the JT15D's. Probably still paying more for those new powerplants but they burn less than the JT15D's and the per hour reserve will help out a bit with a 4000 hr TBO....not much, but a bit.

 

[ultrarunner]

If you look into a II, make sure it has the Branson mod that brings the gross weight up to 14,500. Without it, the II has a gross of 13,500. That means full fuel, 2 crew, and maybe 2 pax and you are at gross weight.

What Mavrck says is true....for EARLY serial number II's.

Later II's had a gross weight increase to 14,300 or 14,400 that came direct from Cessna. If you get one of those you can use a service center.

 

[Galaxy]

At NBAA there was a guy that had a stc for putting Williams on a Citation II. I think there was a 40% increase in performance and a 40% decrease in fuel. Not too sure on the numbers but it seemed like a deal if you had an old Citation coming up on an expensive overhaul. They were in the process in getting the mod for the Citation V.

 

[tracearabians]

We operate a straight Citation V ( 560 ). It will true 420 kts on a regular basis .

 

[U of I Tweak]

We fly an Ultra (essentially a V with the Honeywell Primus 1000). Depending on the altitude we'll see 400-425 KTAS. It's not too hard to fly, but they are all designed around a single pilot concept. As noted earlier the 501/551 are single pilot versions of the 500 and 550. However, the cockpit layouts are very similar from one version of the plane to the next. Any of them can be flown single pilot if a checkride is taken in that specific airplane. As a result, the FO can't really reach some of the switches and the speed placards are not in view. Our engines are on JSSI. I think TBO is 3600 hours with Hot section inspections half way. Systems are all fairly similar from the 500 - 560. It climbs alright, until the upper 30's. On typical trips we'll climb to 36-38ish and burn off some fuel before continuing. I know this is kind of a random stream-of-consciousness post, but hope it helps and if you have specific questions I'll do my best to help answer.