Cessna
Citation Bravo
Citations
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Cessna
Citation Forum
When Cessna decided to update its best-selling private
jet, the Citation II, the result was the fuel-efficient Citation
Bravo. It has a long range compared to other light sized private
jets and excellent short runway capabilities, allowing its owner
to choose from a large selection of small airports. Some examples
of non-stop flights include New York to Miami, Los Angeles to San
Francisco, and Aspen to Southern California.
One of the features that sets the Citation Bravo apart from the
competition is its comfort. The engineers designed the cabin to
be very quiet: they fitted this private jet with bagged insulation
and an isolated interior shell to eliminate the low-frequency engine
fan noise common in small private jets, and added a secondary seal
on the cabin door to cut wind noise.
The cabins in small private jets often fluctuate in temperature
throughout flight and cannot be controlled before engine startup,
resulting in blistering cabin temperatures on the runway. The Citation
Bravo offers a solution to this problem with an optional power cart
that can be plugged into the jet on the ramp to cool it before the
engines start.
The Bravo has several baggage compartments with a combined capacity
of seventy three cubic feet, or about seven suitcases, four golf
bags, and a few sets of skis. There is a convenient compartment
beside the cabin lavatory for coats and carryon items, and all of
the seats have storage drawers beneath them.
A frequent complaint that Cessna had received from its clients
was the difficulty of boarding its jets. They fixed this problem
by widening the airstair treads and adding an additional step to
make boarding easier, particularly for female passengers in high
heels.
The Bravo strikes the perfect balance between performance and cost.
It costs the same as its predecessor, the Citation II, but outperforms
it by far in climb, cruise, and altitude performance. The Bravo
lost 150 pounds of fuel carrying capacity, increased the maximum
takeoff weight by 500 pounds, and still managed to burn fewer pounds
of fuel per hour.
The increased performance of the Citation Bravo is largely due
to the new Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines. At the time of
its design, no other light sized private jets were using the PW530A
engines. They burn thirteen percent less fuel than the other engines
in the series. Cessna’s engineers saw their potential and
used them for the Citation Bravo.
Other updates on the Bravo were designed to help the crew out:
easier preflight, servicing, and maintenance tasks, and so on. The
Bravo is a very easy jet to fly, and pilots can become certified
to fly it solo. The majority of the improvements on the Bravo, however,
will be hard for the passengers to miss.
A landing gear new to the Citation series was added to the Bravo.
The gear is the trailing link type, which connects the wheel axel
on the landing gear to a gas strut that links up to the wing, allowing
the strut to absorb the loads of landing and taxiing over uneven
pavement. In other words, the new main landing gear will make taxiing
over uneven pavement and landings extremely smooth.
Cessna put an end to cabin pressurization problems in the Bravo
by increasing the pressurization to 9.1 psi and installing a digital
pressurization controller. It also equipped the cockpit with systems
providing TCAS traffic avoidance information, weather radar, and
maps.
If the Citation Bravo’s technical capabilities and passenger
offerings aren’t enough, consider its price. Its overall operating
cost rivals that of even the best-selling turboprops. When compared
to the average cost of other light business jets, it was second
only to the CitationJet. In summary,
it’s hard to find a better-performing light private jet anywhere,
even if you pay more.
Powerplants
Bravo - Two 12.8kN (2885lb) Pratt & Whitney Canada PW503As.
Performance
Bravo - Max cruising speed 743km/h (401kt). Max initial rate of
climb 3195ft/min. Max certificated altitude 45,000ft. Range with
four passengers and reserves 3520km (1900nm).
Weights
Bravo - Empty 3970kg (8750lb), max takeoff 6715kg (14,800lb).
Dimensions
Bravo - Wing span 15.90m (52ft 2in), length 14.39m (47ft 3in), height
4.57m (15ft 0in). Wing area 30.0m2 (322.9sq ft).
Capacity
Bravo - Standard seating for seven with max seating for 10 in main
cabin.
Information gathered from various internet sources. Reasonable
attempts have been made to ensure accuracy and veracity of sources.
However, this information should not be used for flight planning
or official purposes.
© 2006 BusinessJet.com, LLC
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