Aircraft
Cessna's Citation Jet Line Surpasses Five Decades
Cessna delivered 691 Citation 550s and a variant until production ended in 1985.
A Cessna Citation 500 undergoing flight testing. (Photo: Textron Aviation)
A Cessna Citation 500 undergoing flight testing. (Photo: Textron Aviation)

Fifty years ago, the maiden flight of a new Cessna turbine-powered airplane would create a wholly new market for what is now Textron Aviation and a family of business jets that’s since sold more than any other—more than 7,500, to be exact—and amassed more than 35 million flight hours. It was on the afternoon of September 15, 1969, that the first Cessna FanJet 500 took off from the then-named Wichita Municipal Airport for an hour-and-45-minute-long flight in which it reached a maximum speed of 225 knots.