Yesterday at LABACE Cessna unveiled the cabin mockup of the Citation Latitude for the first time in Brazil, giving show-goers the opportunity to see the type’s capacious cabin. Measuring 77 inches wide and 72 inches in height, the flat-floor cabin offers unprecedented headroom for an aircraft in the midsize class. Cessna offers two cabin configurations, coach and club, with seating for up to nine passengers. Six swivel seats form the basis of both configurations.

Pitched between the existing XLS+ and Sovereign, the Citation Latitude will offer a 2,500-nm range and a Mach 0.8 cruise at up to 45,000 feet. Powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW306D turbofans, the Latitude is expected to take off at ISA and in zero wind in 4,030 feet. Cessna sees these performance figures as being a good fit for the Latin American market.

For the flight crew the Latitude will provide a state-of-the-art workplace based on Garmin’s G5000 avionics suite. The flight deck is very similar to those installed in the latest Citation X and Sovereign aircraft. Four touch-screen control panels form the primary interface with the aircraft’s systems, with smartphone-style iconography. The system has been designed to allow control to be effected with as few hand/eye movements as possible.

Three large WXGA high-definition screens can act as either primary flight displays or multifunction displays, the latter incorporating split-screen capability. The avionics suite includes the Garmin SVT synthetic-vision imagery, which displays the terrain, obstacles, traffic and runways ahead of the aircraft on the pilot’s PFD. This greatly enhances situational awareness, particularly in full IFR and nighttime conditions.

Currently Cessna is nearing completion of the first Latitude airframe, and is planning to certify the aircraft in 2015. A 4,000-nm range aircraft, known as the Longitude, is scheduled to follow in 2017.