Cessna Citation Encore flying a visual approach and landing to runway 12R at the St. Louis Downtown Cahokia Airport (KCPS). The copilot is the flying pilot and we have a good view of downtown St. Louis and the Gateway Arch as we turn from the downwind to base leg. This is my first aviation video with a Gopro camera.
Tag Archives: citation landing
Flying the Cessna Citation Mustang into O’Hare International Airport, Chicago
A pre-dawn arrival and landing in a Cessna Citation Mustang at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. O’Hare is the world’s 2nd busiest airport and flying single pilot in this airspace can be a challenging experience. I arrived before 6:00 am so avoided the peak traffic times but even so, approach was very busy with airline traffic entering the terminal area. This was evident by the high number of ATC radio calls and the approach controllers request to maintain a higher than normal speed to the marker. No problem for the Mustang, which can slow rapidly. There’s no speed limit on the speed brakes and the gear extension speed is 250 Knots. Pull the throttles to idle, extend the speed brakes, drop the gear and your decelerating towards the outer marker like you just dropped anchor. In the center of the instrument panel on the Multi-Function Display (MFD) you can see how helpful the G1000 moving map display is for situational awareness. On the flight plan page I flip through various approaches to 27L and select and load the 27L ILs approach. With all the city lights on the ground it can be very difficult to visually identify and maintain the landing runway. The course line and all the approach fixes are presented on the MFD map and greatly aid in identifying the airport and the runway. More than one seasoned pilot has started his turn towards the airport and rolled out on the wrong runway. Once cleared for the visual approach the map display is great for confirming you’re on the correct course to the assigned runway. The lighting on runway 27L consist of an ALSF2 Approach Light System leading to the runway, a 4 light PAPI Precision Approach Path Indicator to the right of the runway for visually maintaining the glide path, and at the far end of the runway the pulsing white lights across the runway are hold short lights for use in land And Hold Short Operations LAHSO. Unfortunately, with an early morning summer takeoff I picked up lots of bug splats on the windshield which are visible in the video.
Citation Mustang Landing at Spirit of St. Louis Airport
A Cessna Citation 510 landing on runway 26L at Spirit of St Louis Airport. The Citation Mustang is a single pilot light jet with a fairly low landing ref speeds. For this landing the aircraft was at a weight of 7,500 lbs., the ref speed was 91 kts and the required landing distance was only 2,380 ft. The maximum landing weight is 8,000 lbs. In the video it was a little bumpy on final and you can see that the pitch tends to vary a little more than it does on other aircraft. I think this may be due to the relatively short coupling of the wing and fuselage and would probably be more noticeable to pilots transitioning to the mustang from larger aircraft. Over all, the Mustang has the feel of a sports car and is a good short field performer. Here are a couple of takeoff performance examples at the maximum takeoff weight and high temperature.
Max takeoff weight of 8,645 lbs and Flaps-15
Airport elevation sea level, no wind and temperature +40C
Takeoff distance required is 4,440 ft
Max takeoff weight of 8,645 lbs and Flaps-15
Airport elevation of 5,000 ft., no wind and temperature +20C
Takeoff distance required is 5,020 ft
Cessna Citation, Thunder Storm at Washington Dulles Airport and Landing Chicago O’hare
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| Citation Encore Master Warning Panel |
A Cessna Citation Encore (CE-560) waits out a severe thunder storm next to a United Airlines Airbus 319 on the holding pad at Washington Dulles Airport. Both aircraft are turned into the gust front and the rain can be seen moving across the ramp. The wind registered 46 kts or plus 50 mph on the standby attitude indicator, “the little one” but it was probably higher sense it only registers the portion of wind that goes straight into the pitot tube. The primary airspeed indicator on the flight display doesn’t register airspeed till it reaches a minimum of 60 kts. The inflight portion of the video shows the cabin, cockpit, and instrument panel with the master warning test activated so that the warning lights are illuminated. The landing is at Chicago O’Hare airport.
Cessna Citation Night Landing at Nashville International Airport (BNA) Runway 31
Flying at night has its own rewards and challenges. On a clear winter night the view can be spectacular. At other times darkness and restricted visibility can increase pilot workload or cause disorientation. On this night we were treated to a spectacular view of Nashville Tennessee. Unfortunately video doesn’t capture the beauty that many pilots are treated to in the thin cold air at flight levels or flying over city lights on a clear winter night. This night we approached Nashville from the west just as the first bands of pink broke on the horizon. While on a wide downwind on the north side of the field Nashville approach cleared for the visual approach to runway 31. This route takes you over a large unlighted area to the east of the field which in the dark appears as a large void. The void is actually the J Percy Priest Reservoir. During night flights especially in poor visibility it’s easy to get disoriented or lose track of how high you are above the ground. In order to ensure adequate ground clearance the aircraft is flown at a minimum safe altitude(MSA) till its flight path intersects with a Visual approach slope indicator (VASI) or electronic glide path. This ensures that the airplane maintains a safe obstacle free flight all the way to the surface of the runway. On this flight there wasn’t a VASI so the ILS was used to back up the visual approach for terrain clearance. An ILS provides an electronic vertical path to the runway which displays on the pilots attitude indicator. Unfortunately, Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) accidents while avoidable have been happening since the dawn of powered flight. The FAA places great importance in CFIT training for pilots which is reflected in the training at pilot training centers Like FlightSafety. The best way to avoid CFIT is training, standard procedures, and good situational awareness.
Cessna Citation Encore Night Landing at Nashville International
A Cessna Citation CE560 takes off from Spirit of St. Louis airport (SUS) at sunset, climbs out over st Louis and makes a night Landing at Nashville International Airport (BNA)on runway 31. The middle of the video during this IFR flight is a night view of the aircraft cockpit.
Cessna Citation Encore landing in Snow Showers
A Cessna citation Encore CE-560 lands during a snow shower at the Springfield Illinois airport.
Cessna Citation II Landing in Rain
The Cockpit view from a Cessna Citation 550 corporate jet as we fly around weather. We use weather radar and a GNS 530 with XM Satellite and WX Weather Service to avoid the cells. This combination is the best way to go. I like to think of the Garmin as my strategic display for weather planning and the weather radar as my tactical display for maneuvering around cells. At our destination we have to fly around some cells and get into a little rain just before landing.
Cessna Citation II Cockpit and Landing
A Cessna Citation II landing on runway 30L at the Cahokia Illinois airport. The Citation II is an eight seat corporate jet that cruises at 365 kts. Cessna’s citation corporate jets fly all over the world and have been one of the most successful private jets ever built.