Cessna calls its Citation Mustang an “entry level jet” rather than the now ubiquitous very light jet appellation. That might be because Cessna has no pretensions about who will buy Mustangs: mostly individual owners rather than the corporate and charter world.

No matter what you call the Model 510, its a sophisticated jet that, in our flight trial, handily beat book performance by a whopping 17 knots in cruise, has

excellent fit and finish, a friendly aircraft/avionics/pilot interface and a cabin thats large enough to seat six adults comfortably.

Having built and flown its first jet in 1954 (the Air Force T-37 trainer), Cessna has been producing turbine airplanes for over half of its 80-year corporate history. The VLJ marketing frenzy was we’ll underway in 2002 when Cessna announced it would enter the fray and build the Mustang. While other manufacturers experienced certification delays, Cessna gave the appearance of a duck gliding across the pond toward September 2006 certification, achieving this milestone without appearing to break a sweat. Those who grasp the staggering costs and technical expertise required to certificate an airplane under the current FARs would understand the thrashing about that was going on subsurface as the duck sailed along serenely. But the final airplane gives little evidence of birthing pains.

The Basics

The Mustang is the smallest of the Citations, just 40 feet 7 inches long, with a wingspan of 43 feet 2 inches. Its powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW615F full FADEC turbofan engines delivering 1460 pounds of thrust each. TBO is 3500 hours. With the benefits of FADEC arresting start-up overtemps, we predict TBO will rise with service experience. The higher specific fuel consumption of a turbofan versus