Cessna Citation Mustang Tested to Commercial Airliner Standards

July 17, 2006

Farnborough, England - July 17, 2006 - Cessna Aircraft Company, a unit of Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT), does more comprehensive and exhaustive testing on its aircraft than any other general aviation manufacturer. The Cessna Citation Mustang has completed five lifetimes of structural fatigue testing, qualifying it as a no-life-limit airframe.

"Cessna consistently goes beyond what is required when testing and certifying an aircraft, often more than doubling or tripling the hours or cycles considered baseline for certification," said Russ Meyer III, Citation Mustang Program Manager. "For example, instead of the fatigue test article completing the baseline durability test of two lifetimes (30,000 hours) with no damage to the aircraft structure, we will continue testing to five lifetimes (75,000 hours). Many parts of the aircraft are tested to the same levels as commercial airliners. Ensuring Cessna customers have the safest possible aircraft is always our top priority."

The following is an update on testing and certification activities for the Citation Mustang.

  • FAA certification tests that have been completed include:

    • Flight envelope expansion to maximum airspeeds

    • Aircraft stability and control

    • Environmental chamber testing (from -40 degrees to 120 degrees Fahrenheit)

    • Autopilot certification

    • Climb certification

  • FAA certification tests in progress include:

    • Natural icing (flight into known icing)

    • Garmin G1000 avionics

    • Aircraft performance

    • Engine handling and operation

  • More than 3,100 hours have been accumulated on the Mustang's Pratt & Whitney Canada PW615F dual-channel FADEC engine. Pre-certification development is complete on the engines. The engine has been certified in Canada.

  • Static testing is more than 95 percent complete.

  • The main landing gear surpassed its goal of 75,000 landings, reaching more than 100,000 landings. The nose landing gear has 45,000 landings out of 75,000.

  • Structural fatigue testing is complete with 75,000 aircraft cycles.

Connect with Textron IR

David Rosenberg, Vice President, Investor Relations
(401) 457-2288
Kyle Williams, Manager, Investor Relations
(401) 457-2288

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