Clear on Top

“WELCOME TO THE FUTURE!” A bold statement from the company that introduced aviation to the “Phantom” and its full cantilever wing over eight decades ago. So what is Cessna up to this time?  This is a questions that we all want to know.  In a recent email blast, Cessna Aircraft officially let it be known that they have something up their sleeve.  While maintaing the veil of secrecy, Cessna did leave us a few clues as to what we might expect and when the secret will be shared.  According to the email blast, Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In is the venue that Cessna has chosen to begin a “new era of technological advancement for Cessna piston aircraft” by unveiling “the new star of thier piston model line.”  Interesting…Cessna appears to be sticking with the piston after all.  There has been much speculation that the new aircraft would be a turboprop; possibly a mid model aircraft between the Corvalis and the Mustang, but this does not appear to the be case.

So what does this inquiring mind predict it will be?  My guess is that the new star of the piston line will be something of a Frankenstein, combining traits of the Cessna NGP that was unveiled in 2006 with those of the current production Corvalis TT.  I suspect it will be FIKI (Flight Into Known Icing) capable using Thermawing technology and will most likely be equipped with a BRS (Ballistic Recovery System) from the factory.  These two items in particular would level the playing field with their main competitor, Cirrus. These items alone would not make it superior to its competitors so I would assume that the aircraft will have 6 seats and maintain the fixed gear design, but I predict that the game-changer will come in the form of pressurization and / or a DeltaHawk diesel power-plant coupled to a full FADEC system that is integrated into a G1000 avionics suite.

Will it be the trademark Cessna high wing design, or will ancestry take a bow to a redesigned low wing profile? I plan to find the answer to this and many other questions at the Cessna display this year at Sun-N-Fun.

See you in the future.