The Citation Mustang – Horses for Courses

By Rob Neil.

For ploughing a field, one would choose a Clydesdale horse; for racing, a thoroughbred racehorse. For affordable, economical, practical, speedy flight for up to six people over short distances, one would choose a Mustang.

When the first Citation Mustang was delivered in 2006, it became the smallest in the family that Cessna appropriately calls its “Sensible Citations”. The family now extends from the diminutive 3,921 kg (8,645 lb) Mustang to the 16,375 kg (36,100 lb) Citation X (the new Citation Columbus 850, which is not due for certification until 2013, will be larger still).

The fact that its Citation range is the world’s biggest selling range of business jets suggests that Cessna has the recipe about right; the three biggest-selling business jets of all time are all Citations and whichever between-jet comparison one looks at or reads, it will inevitably include one or more Citations.

A business jet buyer wanting the fastest business jet in the world will have to spend at least US$80 million and wait for many years for a new supersonic Aerion. A buyer wanting the biggest jet in the world will pay even more (US$300 million-ish) for a new A380—and possibly have to wait even longer to get one.

No single aircraft can possibly be all things to all people; a biz-jet buyer must consider his or her requirements carefully and select an aircraft for the attributes that best fit its intended application.

For a user regularly needing to commute between New York and London, the Citation Mustang would be entirely the wrong choice of aircraft, as its occupants would have to swim more than half way—and the Atlantic is particularly cold in winter.

Conversely, for the operators of ZK-MUS, one of two Citation Mustangs based in New Zealand, it would have been an extravagant folly to invest in a 16-tonne, Mach-0.92 Citation X to commute throughout a small, narrow country that is only 1,500 kilometres long from tip to toe, and which the Mustang can traverse in only an hour and a half.

Not only would the Citation X’s size and speed be wastefully irrelevant in such a role, the aircraft simply wouldn’t fit into many of New Zealand’s typically small airports at which the Mustang is right at home.

Their decision to buy the jet was not made lightly by ZK-MUS’s owners. They had been commuting regularly around New Zealand for years using commercial flights, but as their business interests continued to expand, when the Mustang arrived on the market, it simply made good practical sense to buy one.

In the early days of private jet aviation, first-generation business jets were (not unreasonably) viewed as rather “extravagant toys” for wealthy people who had nothing better to spend their money on. While this (now false) perception lingers in some corners, the reality is that technology has transformed the business jet into a vital productivity tool for many people. This is evidenced by the fact that at a time when many airlines are scaling back new aircraft orders and others are either going broke or merging to stay solvent, business jet sales continue to grow at record levels. So popular—and important—have private jets become to the kind of people whose time is money that many jets are now worth more on the second-hand market than they are new.

The decision to base ZK-MUS in Wellington derives from an understanding by its owners of the importance of such a resource to genuinely busy people—those who simply cannot afford to remove themselves from their business activities for the amount of time it takes to travel around the country using commercial air travel.

A good example of the difficulties faced by time-constrained business travellers to smaller regional airports where scheduled flights are minimal is the Wellington–Wanaka route, which generally has only a single scheduled flight in or out each day. Not only is the service unsuitable in terms of timing—the airline timetables are such that a return trip to Wanaka involves wasting a full day because it stops in Christchurch in both directions—the commercial service, which is probably not overly profitable for the airline, comes at an exorbitant premium and can cost as much as $1,000 per person return from Wellington.

The single daily commercial flight leaves Wellington just after 9:00 am each day. After stopping in Christchurch, it doesn’t get to Wanaka until nearly midday. This takes no account of the ground travel and check-in time accompanying any such flight. A business needing to send an executive, or perhaps an executive and two or three associates, can be paying three or four thousand dollars in air fares alone for a single business trip to a place like Wanaka. In all likelihood, such a business would also need to accommodate its personnel overnight in Wanaka—or possibly for two nights—in order to coincide with inconvenient airline schedules.

A single such journey is bad enough; what if the company needs to send its personnel from Wellington to destinations like Wanaka, Hawera, Invercargill, Tauranga or Keri Keri several times a month? All of a sudden, the “cost” of operating a private jet is put into a different perspective. For a Wellington-based business or even a private customer for whom time is so valuable, the use of an aircraft as economical as the Mustang immediately becomes a prudent choice.

Based in New Zealand’s capital city, the Mustang should be perfectly placed to attract numerous national charters. Many businessmen, politicians and VIPs need to travel to and from Wellington regularly and for these people, the use of the Mustang is likely to prove as economically practical as it does for its owners. For someone needing to go to a small regional airport now, for a business or special event that simply won’t wait, then the Mustang will be the perfect tool for the job.

In order to get a better understanding of what the Mustang offers its owners and future charter customers, the writer was invited to accompany one of the aircraft’s owners on a recent flight.

Daniel Renwick of Cessna’s Australian distributor, Aeromil Pacific, was our pilot for the trip. The Mustang’s New Zealand owners had not yet employed a full-time pilot, and Vincent Aviation’s staff had not been type-rated in the USA. With their need to make a number of Wellington–Auckland trips, the Mustang’s owners had asked for Aeromil’s assistance to supply a temporary pilot.

The Mustang is unmistakeably a Citation. Looking very much like all of the straight-winged Citations that have preceded it, the Mustang is simply a little smaller. Cessna has done an incredibly good job of producing a product that fulfils much of what has been promised for VLJs (very light jets) in terms of simplicity and affordability. Everything about it shouts “practicality”.

There is plenty of room in the airy and inviting modern flight deck, which is dominated by the three massive display units of the Garmin G1000. The front seats are extremely comfortable and all of the aircraft’s controls fall perfectly to hand.

The Mustang is designed to be flown by a single pilot and Cessna has done an outstanding job of making everything as simple as possible. The flight deck feels very “Cessna”—which is a good thing. As a one-time Caravan pilot, the writer felt very much “at home”—albeit greedily looking forward to absorbing the G1000’s magic.

There was no intention for our flight to be any kind of “flight test”. Such things are best left to professionals like Captain Graeme Mollison, who will give Pacific Wings readers his impressions of the Mustang once he has had an opportunity to fly it. This flight was to experience the Mustang in its intended role as an effective corporate transporter.

However, there were a number of obvious features worth noting from a pilot’s perspective. For example, a walk-around is an absolute pleasure to carry out. Being as “small” as it is, the Mustang sits low to the ground and everything is accessible. Nice touches like the eye-level hydraulic reservoir level gauge inside the front baggage locker make inspections clinically clean and simple.

The aircraft’s “simple” nature is evident in its structure, which in places appears more like a (well built) piston twin than a biz-jet. This is a good thing, of course, and the Mustang is exactly as “complex” and no heavier than it needs to be to do its job well. Add any more complication, and you add unnecessary expense and place greater skill requirements upon pilots.

The Mustang’s main landing gear utilises a very solid trailing link set up that is designed to flatter pilots and cosset passengers with unfelt touchdowns. The aircraft’s forgiving straight wing and slow landing speed should guarantee a lifetime of consistently smooth landings, as published flight tests confirm.

The tiny Pratt and Whitney PW615F engines look so small—more like medium sized coffee grinders than jet engines—that they give the impression of being able to unclip ready for safe keeping in one’s flight bag overnight. Immediately noticeable upon inspection is the cleanliness of the engines’ tailpipes, which are remarkably soot-free—their appearance suggesting an extremely efficient combustion process; an appearance subsequently backed up by the miserly fuel-burn figures witnessed during our flight.

Starting the Mustang’s engines is “Playstation-simple”. With no condition lever, it is literally a push-button affair; the pilot simply presses the start button, moves the “throttle” to its idle detent (Cessna has even called it a throttle—perhaps to make things more familiar and comfortable for those stepping up from piston twins?) and the FADEC takes care of everything automatically.

As it comes to life, the Garmin avionic system—which is now standard across the Cessna range—is a joy to behold. The two PFDs (pilot’s flight displays) are large 10.4-inch units, while the huge central MFD (multi-function display), at 15 inches, looks like an IMAX theatre screen in this setting.

Just like a piston single or twin, ground steering is accomplished by using the rudder pedals—another familiar touch for pilots upgrading from smaller, lighter aircraft.

Throughout our hour-long flight, Daniel highlighted many of the “idiot-proof” features built into the Mustang—most coordinated through the intuitive G1000 avionics that integrate the aircraft’s many systems. Virtually everything is taken care of automatically, including emergency descents, should they ever be required. As a reviewer in another publication put it: “The systems on the plane are idiot-proof in so many different phases of flight that you’d have to try really hard to hurt yourself.”

For those who criticise the Mustang for being too small, it is the perfect size for its market—and don’t forget that if size is all-important, Airbus has the A380 available (take a big cheque book)! Owners needing to carry 6–10 people regularly will not consider a Mustang. However, for those who will be ZK-MUS’s regular users—those who need to carry up to five people over short distances—the Mustang is ideally proportioned.

Importantly, for the aircraft’s size, the Mustang’s luggage capacity is extremely generous. There are other, larger business jets that have smaller baggage compartments and luggage capacity in proportion to their size.

For those who criticise it’s relatively “slow” speed (it is slightly slower than either the Phenom 100 or the Eclipse 500), while the Mustang is admittedly far from supersonic, it is a good 60–70 knots faster than either a Dash-8 Q300 or ATR72—the types that typically carry passengers (down amongst the clouds and the bumps, which the Mustang avoids) in and out of New Zealand’s provincial towns.

It is also important to consider the Mustang’s speed in relation to where it will be used. In the continental USA, the Mustang’s speed of “only” 340 knots might (by some) be considered a crawl (for some journeys). However, in a small country the size of New Zealand, the fact that the Mustang is “slower” than a 737, for example, is largely irrelevant. A 737 cannot operate into many of the Mustang’s intended destinations, and the comparative speed difference over the short sectors is inconsequential. Offsetting any such difference are factors like its occupants’ ability to continue working (comfortably) in flight, the avoidance of time-wasting security and check-in procedures, and the flexibility to operate entirely without schedules.

For example, having decided to travel to Auckland, the Mustang’s passengers simply arrive at Wellington airport, climb aboard and close the door, the pilot pushes the start button and they’re gone. Meanwhile, passengers on a “faster” commercial Boeing 737 will be queuing at check-in, queuing for security, queuing for boarding and, once aboard, queuing to wait for the passengers ahead of them to find seats or stow cabin baggage. The ostensibly “slower” Mustang’s occupants will have a pull-out table between their luxurious leather armchair seats upon which to work, and will arrive in Auckland ahead of the “faster” 737. There, while the Mustang’s occupants immediately deplane, taking their luggage with them, and step straight into a waiting car at the FBO, the Boeing’s 136 travel-stressed occupants will have to queue to vacate their aircraft and queue and wait for their baggage to be unloaded.

Others might criticise the Mustang’s “limited” range. To those for whom range is all-important, Boeing produces an excellent aircraft called the 777-200LR…again, take a big cheque book.

The Citation Mustang has a range of over 1,100 nautical miles with full fuel (almost identical to the predicted range for the Phenom 100). While this would make for a damp, cold and slow swim across much of the Atlantic, it is more than adequate for non-stop travel between any two points in New Zealand. Furthermore, should customers wish to cross the Tasman in it, the Mustang can easily make the crossing with a single refuelling stop.

The Mustang does not have acres of polished walnut trim, hand-made Persian rugs, solid gold fittings, queen-sized beds, showers or even a galley, although its platinum leather interior finishes are beautifully made. Ostentatious extravagance is not what the Citation Mustang is all about. This is an aircraft designed for private owners (many of whom will fly the aircraft themselves) to carry a small number of passengers comfortably, inexpensively and relatively quickly over relatively short distances.

The cockpit is extremely spacious and comfortable for the aircraft’s size. It has been suggested by others that the Mustang’s pilots (many of whom will be Cessna’s direct customers) may even be better catered for in this regard than pilots flying much bigger business jets, where they would be merely the “employees” of the important people occupying the luxurious passenger cabins behind them.

Importantly, the passengers in the Mustang’s cabin are very well catered for. The four good-sized leather seats in club configuration (with a pull-out table between them on each side) are beautifully comfortable and the cabin is extremely quiet. Passengers conversing in normal tones can be heard easily from the flight deck and even with the little P&W engines at takeoff power, the passenger cabin is quieter than any commercial jet.

While compromise is inherently unavoidable in any aircraft design, the Citation Mustang is perhaps the cleverest example this writer has seen of modern technology reducing it to a minimum; Cessna has brilliantly minimised the degree to which it has had to rob Peter to pay Paul in any regard. The Mustang is not a supersonic Aerion, a mega-sized A380 or even a Gulfstream 650—but it does not pretend to be any of these. It is an honest, practical, efficient and affordable small private jet that is perfectly designed and built for canny owners and operators who understand the benefits of private jet travel, but don’t want to pay a fortune for them.

ZK-MUS’s owners have thought carefully about what they wanted from an aircraft, and correctly chosen the Citation Mustang as fitting a niche perfectly. The availability of MUS for national charter from Wellington will undoubtedly result in its being seen frequently around New Zealand, where for this country’s particular course, the Mustang appears to be very much the right horse for many people.

Ceiling (maximum certified)     41,000 ft (12,497 m)
Full fuel payload with one pilot (200 lbs)    600 lbs (272 kg)
Maximum takeoff weight     8,645 lbs
Engines     Two Pratt Whitney PW615F
Takeoff thrust    1,460 lbs ea. (6.49 kN)
Airport Performance (dry, level, hard-surfaced runway with zero wind)
Takeoff distance (SL, ISA, MTOW)    3,110 ft (948 m)
Landing distance (SL, ISA, MLW)    2,380 ft (729m)
Flight Performance
Maximum cruise speed     340 KTAS (630 km/hr) at 35,000 ft (10,668 m)
NBAA IFR Range (full fuel, maximum takeoff weight)    1,167 nm (2,161 km)
Outside Dimensions
Wingspan     43’2″ (13.16 m)
Overall height     13’5″ (4.09 m)
Overall length    40’7″ (12.37 m)
Cabin Dimensions
Height     54″ (1.37 m)
Width     55″ (1.40 m)
Length (excluding cockpit)     117″ (2.97 m)
Exterior baggage capacity Volume 57.0 ft3 (1.61 m3)

Charter enquiries for ZK-MUS may be directed to Acernus Aero Limited, PO Box 10-240, Wellington, or facsimile 04 472 4744 (international, 64 4 472 4744).