Sierra Citation SP Eagle II FJ44 Mod

[Groundpounder]

Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with the mod that puts Williams FJ44 engines on Citation I's? Not sure how much the mod costs, but Sierra is selling a fully pimped out aircraft for $3.4 mil, which seems pretty close to a new CJ1, or a used CJ2. Is it really worth spending that much money for a 20+ year old airplane?

 

[501261]

No

The short answer is no. Sure it’s a nice ride, but the dynamics are not in its favor. That’s why they’re not exactly selling like hot cakes. Their market is the owner-operator that is very comfortable in his Citation and has some money to spend. There are simply too many options in the used jet market to justify spending $3.4M on a 25 year old airplane that is still 50 knots slower than most jets and seats 3 less passengers.

 

[Lead Sled]

Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with the mod that puts Williams FJ44 engines on Citation I's? Not sure how much the mod costs, but Sierra is selling a fully pimped out aircraft for $3.4 mil, which seems pretty close to a new CJ1, or a used CJ2. Is it really worth spending that much money for a 20+ year old airplane?

I think that the jury is still out on this one. There have been some engine swap mods in the past that made real sense and were very successful in the marketplace - the Falcon 20, Hawker, and even the Jetstar are good examples. Don't quote me on this, but I've heard from a few Citation drivers that the Cessna hasn't been too enamored with the past Citation Sierra mods and that it's hard to get factory support for those aircraft once they've been modified. You had the same situation with the Riley turbine 421 mods a few years ago. I had the chance to fly one and it flew OK, but there is no way I would have ever recommended it to the boss. I don't see the wisdom in spending what amounts to the same money to get what amounts to the same airplane - only, like you say, one is 25 years older than the other. The same economics apply to the proposed Lear 20 series mods. I may be wrong, but it don't see them being very successful.

Lead Sled