As we soared into a perfect azure sky, with the incomparable Alps framing the shoreline of the beautiful Bodensee, I could clearly see the advantages of owning an aircraft such as the Mustang. Europe is full of wonderful places, and in an aircraft such as this, none of them are very far away!

As I began walking around Cessna’s latest jet at the Freidrichshafen AERO show I was curious to discover how many similarities the aircraft in front of me shared with the Citation CJ1 I had flown in 2004. Interestingly, although this new aircraft is also a Citation it is, in many respects, very different from its illustrious ancestor, the original Citation 500. Indeed, although the development of the 500 series has been very much an evolutionary process, the Mustang’s fuselage, wing, and engines are all new. That’s not to say that this aircraft is revolutionary – far from it. It is simply a logical development of the most successful series of business jets ever made.

One of the first things I spotted was that the cabin windows are noticeably different from those of the CJ1. Not only are they oval, but they also seemed to be mounted further up the fuselage. I deduced that this arrangement would place them nearer to the eye level of the passengers when seated. The next facets I noticed were that that the nose appeared perceptibly thicker than was the case with earlier Citations, and that the windscreens seemed more sharply swept. Closer inspection revealed that, unlike earlier models, (which used hot bleed air) the windscreens are electrically heated. I thought this was a much better method than on earlier aircraft. Why? Well, the main problem with using engine bleed air is that although it works great when the engines are spooled up, you may well have had the engines throttled pretty far back during the descent and even on the approach. Consequently, they may not be so efficient, just when you need them. Furthermore, bleed-air windshield heating systems are notoriously noisy, to the point where cockpit communication can become difficult, even when using an intercom. Electrical heated windshields are a much better idea, which is one of the reasons most airliners use them. As I was soon to discover, not only does the Mustang have systems that are comparable to those of a modern jetliner, some aspects are actually more advanced than any airliner currently in service. More on this later.

The first thing to do was adjust the seat and rudder pedals, and I was slightly surprised to note that there wasn’t an eye position reference indicator. However, the seat provides plenty of adjustment both vertically and longitudinally. Turning my attention to the controls and instruments, my initial thought was that this is an extraordinarily well-designed cockpit, and I was impressed by how sensibly arranged everything was. All the controls fell readily to hand, and I particularly liked the way the various switches were sensibly sited together in sub-groups. All the circuit breakers are easy to see and reach, colour coding is used for some of the toggle switches (such as the anti-ice) and - most importantly - most of the switches are usually just left in the ‘normal’ setting anyway, and are rarely moved.

I also approved of the fact that, unlike many light jets, there is no overhead panel – instead, all the switches and gauges are on the instrument panel and centre console. The console also carries the thrust levers, pitch trim wheel and co-located indicator, flap lever, an alphanumeric keypad for the Flight Management System and the switches for aileron and rudder trim. One small but interesting item that caught my eye was that jets are traditionally fitted with ‘thrust levers’, but the Mustang’s are labelled as ‘throttles’. A clever marketing ploy to enhance the aircraft’s attractiveness to pilots trading up from a piston twin?

The instrument panel is dominated by the huge, centrally mounted 38cm multi-function display (MFD) and each pilot has a large Primary Flight Display (PFD).

When I flew the CJ1 a few years ago I thought the cockpit was nicely laid out, but compared to the Mustang’s it is terribly cluttered. I’d say that the Mustang’s avionics and pilot/aircraft interface have definitely set an entirely new level for light jets. They are absolutely amazing, and much more advanced than any current airliner in production. The quantity of information available, the clarity with which it is presented and also the amount of redundancy built into the avionics is nothing less than remarkable. Chuck is an excellent instructor, and did a great job of explaining how it all works. That said, I would imagine that the bulk of the two-week ground school is mostly devoted to learning how to operate the avionics.

Time to start the engines. This was very straightforward, thanks to the dual-channel FADECs. Both engines lit instantly, and I was soon easing the aircraft out of our parking space and towards the active runway. Taxiing out was very undemanding, and you can see the wing tips from the cockpit. As mentioned earlier there are no thrust reversers or thrust attenuators, and consequently the brakes are powerful. However, they are nicely progressive and not at all ‘grabby’ (unlike some aircraft with powered brakes that I’ve flown).