The project is perceived as the follow-on development to the now-canceled Cessna Citation Columbus. Its fuselage cross-section is the same as the Cessna Citation Latitude. The aircraft has a T-tail empennage and area rule fuselage contouring. The aluminum wings incorporate moderate winglets. Construction is aluminum for both wing and fuselage. The cabin is 7 inches shorter and 6 inches narrower than the Columbus design. Initially, the Snecma Silvercrest engine was selected to power the aircraft, however the production model is powered by Honeywell HTF7000 turbofans. The Silvercrest was planned for the larger Citation Hemisphere, but Textron suspended its development in July 2019 as the turbofan did not meet objectives. Its wings and empennage are similar to the Hawker 4000 with winglets leading to a 5.3 ft. larger wingspan. The moderately super-critical wing have a quarter-chord sweep of 26.8° for its inner section and 28.6° for the outer section. The six-passenger Latitude fuselage has been reinforced and stretched by another row of seats to accommodate eight people in double club. The manufacturer has not announced the final design weights ; BCA estimates a 24,000–25,000 lb. basic operating weight. Cabin height is 6.0 ft., width is 6 ft. 5 in., floor width is 4 ft. 1 in and cabin length is 25 ft. After a takeoff at below the MTOW, the climb rate is at FL200. At its Mach 0.83, TAS max cruise, fuel flow per side is per hour at FL430 and ISA -4.
Development
Announced at the May 2012 EBACE and scheduled for introduction in 2017. The first flight-test aircraft completed its first flight on October 8, 2016. The second flew in November, and in March 2017 the third, used to develop avionics and systems and to collect flight simulator data before two others will join the test program. The two aircraft completed 125 flights for more than 250 hours as production of the aircraft commenced at Textron Aviation's Wichita, Kansas facility. Less than eight months after the first flight and after more than 200 missions for nearly 400 hours, on track for certification later in 2017, the fourth prototype joined the flight-test program on May 6, fully outfitted for interior, environmental control system, pressurization and cabin technologies evaluation. The first production unit was rolled out on June 13, 2017 as the four test aircraft have flown 550 hours and a fifth aircraft will join in summer 2017. In October 2017, test aircraft have completed more than 1,200 flight hours over 600 flights, for a certification expected by the end of 2017 or in early 2018. In February 2018, as the five aircraft accumulated over 1,000 flights and 2,000 hours, US approval and customer deliveries were expected before the end of the second quarter before European validation six months later. After 3,000 hours on five aircraft, flight testing will conclude by early June 2018, and 200,000 pages of documentation will be completed after a month. As testing has doubled for certification, expanding related documentation, it is expected in the third quarter of 2018 with deliveries from late in this quarter or early in the fourth, less than a year after originally planned. It received a partial exemption for fuel tank flammability requirements applicable through January 2020 to keep its third-quarter approval goal, but a compliance plan had to be submitted by October 1, 2018. On October 15, 2018, fractional operator NetJets announced the purchase of up to 175 Longitudes, sold for $26 million each, along 150 Citation Hemispheres, priced at $35 million. After 4,050 hours in 1,650 test flights, the Longitude received a provisional FAA type certification on December 20, allowing deliveries in early 2019. The fuel tank flammability requirements were addressed on December 5, with airplanes to be delivered having the definitive installation but limiting it for high elevation airport or RVSM operations, and restricting maintenance. The provisional type certification allowed to begin customer training flights and Textron expects certification in February 2019, while deliveries to NetJets should begin in the third quarter. On September 23, 2019, Textron Aviation announced its FAAType Certification, after 6,000 flight hours, 11,000 test points and a world tour. The first was shipped in early October. On December 31, 2019, Netjets took delivery of its first Longitude from its order for 150, expecting to enter service early in the first quarter of 2020.
