Citation X - Pros/Cons

[girlpilot]

Any idea where I can find a solid list of pros and cons about the Citation X? I seem to only be able to find all "pro" comments. Or maybe some of you out there can just provide me some?

Thx

 

[501261]

C750 is a great airplane, certainly every airplane has some cons. The C750 has an enemic climb rate compared to a Lear 31, yet it's a rocketship compared to a CJ. The C750s need a lot of runway compared to other aircraft in its class, but compared to a fully loaded 747 it hardly needs any runway at all.

 

[crash-proof]

Great point. It seems the Citation X is in a category of it's own.

But how about when it comes to comparing it against something like a GIV or a Challenger? They all are in the same performance category, but a the Citation X has a tiny cabin.

Appreciate any comments as far as cabin size vs. speed....

 

[TMMT]

I wouldn’t go so far as to compare the G-IV or CL-601 to the CX, the G-IV can depart at 74,000 lbs and climb straight to FL410 and long range cruise at .80, NBAA IFR is 4200 nm.

We can routinely step up to FL450 inside of two to four hrs with no problem and if your big ole butt absolutely positively has to be there today we can high speed cruise around .84 or even .85 but we will cut our IFR useful almost in half, Mmo is .88.

Longest legs I’ve done so far have been Chicago to Paris and Honolulu to Tokyo all under 4,000 nm. The jet is ideal for the 7 to 9 hr trip market, just enough cabin to keep comfy in during the oceanic crossing or for the 11 pax Atlanta to San Diego run we routinely make.

I imagine if you factor in a step climb to an efficient cruise alt, 350 to 410, a fuel stop and turn time the G-IV would be at or near the 4,000 nm mark with the CX, but a fair comparison in my opinion is the CX vs. the G-V, the V clobbers it hands down and even broke a NY to LA speed record the CX held.

And the CX cabin is not really that tiny IMHO.

The problem I’ve heard from the CX operators are the problems associated with center working you up to 490 and higher then working you down, they often call for speed restrictions that place the CX as slow as the rest of the traffic below it so as to facilitate a good fit on the let down.

A buddy of mine routinely flies one into Europe for a west coast production company and he is always complaining about Euro Controls lack of desire to let them unbridle the ole gal, especially at lower flight levels, lower I mean 370 to 450.

TMMT

 

[CXAV8]

Compare the X to A/C in it's price range. The cabin is small compared to large A/C(G-IV,G-V, CL-604), but so is the price. It is designed to go fast and does it's job fairly well. To do this the low speed handling has been sacrificed. A 5000ft. runway can be very tight. Cesna's quality(i.e. pilot seats, paint, window shades, trim) leaves little to be desired.
On the positive side the avionics are great and the ability to top FL450 routinely, makes the T-storms look quite a bit smaller.

 

[banned username 2]

We actually had a Citation X on order and took delivery of it back in early 98... We sold it immediately and bought the Falcon 50EX's instead... We operate out of 5,000 ft and very often have a crosswind (the X doesn't like crosswinds) I hear it can be easy to drag a wing tip in a heavy crosswind... The plane was ordered because the CEO at the time wanted it... For our missions the 50EX (Comparably priced and sized) was a much better purchase... yeah it's a little slower (M0.86) but we can go anyhwere in the continental US any day out of our 5,000 ft (wet or dry) And the 50EX has pretty much all the same avionics capabilities as the X (Full Glass)

 

[onetaco]

Whew....I need to take a cold shower.




furloughed and lucky to fly a c-172,
onetaco

 

[girlpilot]

A buddy of mine routinely flies one into Europe for a west coast production company and he is always complaining about Euro Controls lack of desire to let them unbridle the ole gal, especially at lower flight levels, lower I mean 370 to 450.

TMMT

Thanks for the feedback.
Referring to this comment above, it is also my understanding that in the US there are also such restrictions in high traffic areas (i.e. Eastern corridor). A couple of questions:
1 - Does this happen in other parts of the US (not just the east coast)
2 - How does that affect the overall performance of the Citation X (i.e. is it slower, burn more fuel?????)

 

[GVFlyer]

The problem I’ve heard from the CX operators are the problems associated with center working you up to 490 and higher then working you down, they often call for speed restrictions that place the CX as slow as the rest of the traffic below it so as to facilitate a good fit on the let down.


TMMT

We play a kind of 3 dimensional Tic Tac Toe. We were filed at 470 coming out of New York this morning, but we continued up to 490 to get the winds out of our face. About 300nm - 400nm from destination we started looking down on the TCAS, and for contrails below the 10,000 ft that the TCAS will look down, for other aircraft on the arrival that we would have to descend through. We then tried to pickup spacing on the aircraft that we saw for an unrestricted descent. Today there were just a couple of American Airliners at 390 and it worked out for us. We normally cruise at .82 at 490, but by bumping it up to .84 we were able to get far enough ahead of them to get a PD to 240 followed by a descent to 10,000. Somedays though, it works out just like for your CX friends or ATC just won't let you down then they give you some slam-dunk impossible crossing restriction.

GV