Aircraft
Textron Aviation Marks 50 Years of Citation Bizjets
Textron Aviation has delivered more than 7,500 Cessna Citations in the past five decades.
From left, test pilot Milt Stilts, Cessna chairman Dwane Wallace, commercial aircraft marketing v-p James Taylor, test co-pilot Jim LeSueur, military and twin division v-p and general manager Max Bleck, senior v-p of aircraft operations Bob Lair, United Aircraft Canada president Thor Stevenson, and Cessna president Del Roskam pose with the Citation 500 after its maiden flight in 1969. (Photo: Textron Aviation)
From left, test pilot Milt Stilts, Cessna chairman Dwane Wallace, commercial aircraft marketing v-p James Taylor, test co-pilot Jim LeSueur, military and twin division v-p and general manager Max Bleck, senior v-p of aircraft operations Bob Lair, United Aircraft Canada president Thor Stevenson, and Cessna president Del Roskam pose with the Citation 500 after its maiden flight in 1969. (Photo: Textron Aviation)

It was 50 years ago this week that the first Cessna Citation business jet made its maiden flight, Textron Aviation publicly noted yesterday. Since that flight, the Wichita-based manufacturer of Citation business jets has delivered more than 7,500 of them, with the fleet amassing more than 35 million flight hours.