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These toilet-equipped planes are considerably more expensive than the Eclipse, but they may be preferable for owners, especially those
planning on using their jet's full range.
Yet the transition from fantasy to reality still faces big hurdles – not least the ability of the supply chain to keep pace with the logarithmic
rate increases suggested by Raburn. "We don't underestimate the production rate ramp-up and the challenge it presents," he says. "The question
is, will suppliers invest and keep up with the increases we need? Obviously, with big suppliers like Pratt & Whitney Canada and Fuji Heavy
Industries [wings], they're on top of it. It's the second-tier and smaller companies we have to be careful about."
Although the first Mustang airframes have been assembled at Wichita, the plan calls for production at Independence, Kansas, where Cessna's piston
singles are made. Production tooling is due to be transferred in mid-2005, with full production starting in the fourth quarter of 2005 – the
first time any of the Citation lines will have been built away from the Wichita area. Current firm orders for the little Cessna jet stand at
220.
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