Textron Aviation features leading products, mission capabilities at Avalon 2017

Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, today announced it is displaying a variety of its product offerings at this year’s Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defense Exposition (Avalon) with channel partner Hawker Pacific, including a Cessna Citation Latitude, Beechcraft King Air C90GTx, Cessna Grand Caravan EX, Cessna TTx, Beechcraft Bonanza G36, Cessna Skylane 182, and the Textron AirLand Scorpion jet model. The show will run from Feb. 28 to March 5 in Geelong, Australia.

“Our active fleet of jet and turboprop aircraft continue to lead their segments in the region, and with special mission capabilities available on our entire product line, we can continue to support customers’ evolving missions,” said Chris Bogaars, regional vice president of Sales, Asia-Pacific. “Asia-Pacific is an ideal fit for the extensive mission and performance capabilities our product portfolio offers.”

Leadership in the region

With the largest active fleet of more than 1,200 jet and turboprop aircraft, Textron Aviation continues to be the leader in the Asia-Pacific region. Cessna Citations are among the most popular business jets, including the M2, CJ3+ and CJ4 light jet models in addition to the XLS+ and Sovereign+ series. The company’s latest Citation Latitude midsize jet has a maximum range of 2,850 nautical miles and a best-in-class four-passenger range of 2,700 nautical miles at high-speed cruise, making it an ideal platform for the region. The aircraft offers an unrivaled cabin experience featuring the most open, spacious, bright and refined cabin environment in its category. The Latitude leads its segment with more deliveries in 2016 than any other aircraft in its category, and has quickly become one of the world’s best-selling business jets since entering the market in August 2015.

Leading the turboprop segment with more than 900 aircraft operating in region are the best-selling Cessna Caravan and Beechcraft King Air platforms. These aircraft offer an unmatched combination of performance and flexibility to meet a variety of business and special mission aviation needs. The total ownership experience goes beyond the ample range, solid load capacity and numerous cabin configurations by providing dependability and low operating costs, ensuring customers receive the most value for their aircraft.

The company continues to invest in the turboprop segment to ensure customers have access to the latest technology and innovative solutions. The new clean-sheet, high performance Cessna Denali  single engine turboprop is the latest example of that investment. With an expected first flight in 2018, the Denali is designed to outperform its competition in capability, pilot interface and ownership costs. Engineered to achieve cruise speeds of 285 knots and full fuel payload of 1,100 pounds, the Denali will have a range of 1,600 nautical miles at high speed cruise. Powered by GE’s new advanced turboprop engine and featuring the Garmin G3000 intuitive touchscreen avionics suite, the Denali will be optimal for customers in the region due to its combination of range, payload, cabin amenities and performance capabilities.

Strengthening special mission and defense portfolios

Textron Aviation offers the broadest lineup of special mission platforms in the industry, with its entire product range available in special mission configurations using innovative technologies and advanced engineering techniques. The versatile Cessna and Beechcraft platforms continue to be used throughout the Asia-Pacific region in multiple roles such as air calibration, flight inspection, surveillance, maritime patrol and air ambulance. 

Beechcraft Defense Company is also building strong positions in the Asia-Pacific defense market, with 11 T-6C aircraft operating in New Zealand. To date, Beechcraft has delivered more than 900 T-6 trainers, which have amassed nearly 3 million flight hours

Designed and built with leading-edge technologies, Textron AirLand’s Scorpion jet is a bold new direction for tactical aircraft. The Scorpion jet provides unparalleled acquisition and operating costs and is built to excel in numerous roles, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, close air support, armed reconnaissance, maritime and border patrol and jet training missions. The company will be exhibiting a model of the Scorpion jet at its Avalon chalet.

New technologies for piston products

Textron Aviation recently introduced the next generation Garmin G1000 NXi integrated flight deck to its piston product line, bringing customers the latest in performance enhancements. The platform incorporates leading cockpit technologies including significant flight display modernization with faster processing times, improved graphics rendering and enhanced readability with LED back-lighting. These capability improvements, as well as additional optional enhancements, combined with the company’s class-leading piston products offer pilots a greater overall flight experience.

Dedicated support across the region

As a part of the company’s most capable and accessible global service network, Textron Aviation has more than 30 authorized service facilities supporting the fleet of aircraft throughout the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, the company also has five in-region field service representatives offering maintenance, inspections, parts, repairs, refurbishments and other specialized services for the entire range of Textron Aviation products.