WICHITA, Kan., June 17, 2009 – Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced its authorized sales representative, Japan Aerospace Corporation, received an order for a Citation Sovereign from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Japanese equivalent to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
“The Citation Sovereign was selected by JAXA after a rigorous and exhaustive evaluation process. Their aircraft will be modified to be used for aircraft performance and aerodynamic research,” said Roger Whyte, Cessna’s senior vice president, Sales and Marketing.
“This is a great confirmation of the versatility and performance of the Sovereign.”
The Citation Sovereign was certified in Japan in 2007. There are currently more than 125 Cessnas in Japan, which includes more than 20 Citations.
Since the first delivery in late 2004, more than 250 Citation Sovereigns have been delivered. Certified for operations to 47,000 feet (14,326 meters), the Sovereign can take off from airfields as short as 3,640 feet (1,109 meters) and has a maximum range of 2,847 nautical miles (5,272 kilometers) and a maximum cruise speed of 458 knots true air speed/527 miles per hour (848 kilometers per hour).
