WAAS upgrades get STC for Cessna Citation Ultras and Encores

Posted by John McHaleWICHITA, Kan., 12 July 2011.Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) upgrades are now available for the Citation Ultra and Citation Encore, according to officials at Cessna Aircraft Co. The supplemental type certificate for the WAAS upgrade covers all Citation Ultras and Citation Encores serial number 260 through 750 with an upgrade to dual Universal UNS-1Espw flight management systems that are certified for coupled WAAS localizer performance (LPV) approaches. Previous WAAS updates were approved for CJ1+, CJ2+, CJ3 and Citation Encore+ models, plus the Citation Excel and XLS aircraft.Operators can perform the WAAS upgrades at any nine Cessna-owned Citation Service Centers in North America and Europe, says Stan Younger, Cessna's vice president of Service Facilities. Owners may contact any of the centers to confirm their avionics suite is WAAS-compatible and to schedule an appointment.WAAS enables pilots to have improved Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation accuracy, enabling access to multiple airports during difficult weather conditions. WAAS LPV approaches are similar to instrument landing system (ILS) performance; with some LPV with vertical guidance) procedures having minimums as low as 200 feet.