“A lot of people who are on the fringe of the industry, or are not in the industry,” explains Pierce, “don’t think of Cessna Aviation,, as a real leader in aircraft interiors, when in fact we are.” That being said, a quiet flight experience means very little if the cabin itself isn’t equally refined. “It’s as quiet as any other jet I’ve flown,” Pierce says. Combined with the plane’s ability to fly as high as 48,000 feet-which reduces fuel flow and allows pilots to find smoother air and better weather-it gives the world’s most powerful business jet an unfathomably quiet passenger experience. So, we were very careful to ensure that no bolts are touching each other.”Īs for the interior, Cessna’s proprietary soundproofing system applies several layers of very flexible materials to minimize any noise coming from the outside. “If you have a bolt extending through a nut plate and it touches another part of the airplane,” Pierce explains, “you actually have a noise transfer point from one part to another. What’s more, they ensured seamless construction all the way down to the nuts and bolts. As opposed to stuffing the walls with insulation-which gets heavy and takes away room from the cabin-the Cessna team opted for a structural approach leveraging both interior and exterior design.Įxternally, Pierce and his design team made sure that no part of the outside of the airframe left any big gaps that could create noise, particularly around the belly of the airplane where the landing gear is. At those kinds of speeds - comfort first and foremost, says Pierce, “depends on how much the plane can reduce noise fatigue. Of course, once you are able to achieve speeds of nearly Mach 1 on a private jet, you do not want to sacrifice luxury or comfort for all that power. We wanted to go after that speed number, and not just speed for the sake of speed, but speed with efficiency.” “Business jets had already seen long cabins, short-field runway performance, super docile handling characteristics, and single-pilot capability. “When we started this process, we were looking to do something that had never been done before in business jets,” he says, referring to the jet’s inception in the late 1980s. The bottom line according to Pierce, is that efficiency is optimized in every possible aspect of the Citation X. Which is not much more than other jets in its class, which actually makes the Citation X more efficient since - considering its speed – it gets you to your destination that much quicker. The Cessna Citation X is the fastest sub-sonic cross-continental business jet in the world, reaching a top speed of Mach 0.92 (700 mph) while consuming an average of 336 gallons per hour.
However, it’s not just the look that makes this aircraft so special. It just looks mean sitting on the ramp.” Pierce was part of the integrated team that designed the Citation X. Speaking to XOJET, one of the best-known operators of this world-class jet, Mike Pierce, a 34-year veteran of Cessna Aviation, said, “It’s long and lean with sleek swept wings and big powerful engines. It is the Cessna Citation X, and it is easily one of the most popular private jets in the world. It has been called “science in motion.” When parked alongside other private jets on the tarmac it cuts an outstanding profile of sleek and sexy power.