This light private jet shows the ability to continually evolve a time-tested airframe into a jet chartering workhorse. The Citation Ultra has the right combination of range, load, speed and short-field capabilities.
For its time, the Ultra offered the longest cabin in its class with 17.3 feet. Slide, swivel and reclining executive passenger seats are arranged in a facing, double-club configuration. Adding a forward closet/refreshment center cuts the number of seats to seven.
When it comes to avionics systems, simplicity is best. The engineers of the Honeywell Primus 1000 suite realized the importance of details like consolidating multiple displays into a few, easy-to-interpret ones and placing screens close to the controls to which they apply. The predecessor of the Ultra had a confusing array of five screens and more than eight analog controls. The Ultra consolidated the mess into four sleek screens. The relevant controls are located directly on the screens’ faceplates to improve pilot hand-eye coordination and flight performance.