BeechTalk - BT - Swan Song For Citation X: Farewell To Fastest Civil Aircraft

Username Protected · **Posted:** 22 Jun 2018, 18:37

http://aviationweek.com/business-aviation/swan-song-citation-x-farewell-world-s-fastest-civil-aircraft

Production of the Citation X, Cessna Aircraft’s 520-kt. muscle rocket, is coming to an end after a 22-year run. It was Cessna’s signature technical masterpiece during that era, an unmistakably red, white and blue American powerhouse that blew past foreign and domestic competitors with a 50-100-kt. speed advantage. Even sitting on the ramp, it had superstar allure, endowed with shapely curves, long graceful wings and two whopping big engines. ...

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X - Milk Money.jpg

Username Protected · **Posted:** 22 Jun 2018, 18:57

I helped design, test and certify (fuel system mostly) the 750 and flew in it many times.

Sorry to see it go; it was helping pay for my retirement!

I think the market has said it wants a larger cabin at the pricer of a little bit less speed.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 22 Jun 2018, 19:02

Makes me nostalgic Allen. I remember at a flyin standing alongside the nose of an X,
ten years ago. Looking up it seemed I could stand up straight, all 6’1”, inside the engine nacelles. Of course not, but the dream of the “Smash” generated was intoxicating that afternoon. The memory is a good one..

Username Protected · **Posted:** 22 Jun 2018, 20:53

I had the honor of meeting Arnold Palmer when he got out of his X. Spent some time talking to him in the shadow of his plane. A great man flying a great plane.

A used X is inexpensive if you can afford the maintenance and DOC.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 22 Jun 2018, 21:10

The X is the fastest jet between service centers. Used x’s Are very cheap and cost less to buy than a new Baron.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 23 Jun 2018, 01:03

I remember fueling Arnold Palmer's X at KBZN when I was a line guy back in the late 90s.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 23 Jun 2018, 06:34

Wait, wasn't Concorde the fastest civil aircraft?

Username Protected · **Posted:** 23 Jun 2018, 13:00

But the Concorde is no longer in service, making the X the current fastest active civil transport.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 23 Jun 2018, 13:08

I’ve known two Citation X operators, and they both had real trouble with reliability.

What a hot rod though.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 23 Jun 2018, 13:09

I had a friend once tell me he’d be skeptical to fly .9 in anything built by the company that made the 172.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 23 Jun 2018, 13:21

Username Protected wrote:

I had a friend once tell me he’d be skeptical to fly .9 in anything built by the company that made the 172.

So he would be really nervous to fly this:

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When it was from the same company that did this:

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Mike C.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 23 Jun 2018, 13:31

Username Protected wrote:

I had a friend once tell me he’d be skeptical to fly .9 in anything built by the company that made the 172.

Sounds like an ignorant comment from a self-proclaimed expert who doesn’t know as much about airplanes as he thinks he does. There are plenty of those out there.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 23 Jun 2018, 13:40

Username Protected wrote:

I had a friend once tell me he’d be skeptical to fly .9 in anything built by the company that made the 172.

Sounds like an ignorant comment from a self-proclaimed expert who doesn’t know as much about airplanes as he thinks he does. There are plenty of those out there.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 23 Jun 2018, 17:15

I had no clue that there was a relationship between Lockheed and Cessna.
In defense of my friend, it was back when the first 750 was being certificated as he was flying Gulfstreams. There was a sibling rivalry between the drivers of the different jets of the day. Nearjet, slowtation, traumahawk... I did get to tour the Cessna factory when Arnold Palmer’s airplane was awaiting delivery. At the same time Cessna was working on a small jet for the military to replace the T-37; it was a cute jet that eventually got scrapped.

Username Protected · **Posted:** 23 Jun 2018, 17:41

Early in my professional career, I was an engineer for a private company that had a Citation X (it was the 100th one off the line, as I recall). I’d occasionally be involved in some trips with the execs and had many opportunities to be a passenger in that plane.

I was just beginning my own journey into flying, and fondly remember the stunning speed. I’m sure I’ll never move through space so fast again.

After several hops, though, I learned that I preferred trips in the company’s Cheyenne. The friendly and well-qualified captains in our flight department were happy to let me occupy the right seat and soak it all in.

That was a while back, but the experiences definitely planted the seeds that eventually led to my own progression through the ATP rating.

Thanks for letting me steer this thread into a brief reminiscence of some fond memories! It’ll be sad to see the X go.

M