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LEISURE
The Ultimate
Tool for Business
and Pleasure
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9 772201 876005
23
MAY 2015
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Most pilots flying today learned in slow, noisy, ‘needle and dial’
aircraft. With the release of the ultimate tool for business and
pleasure, Cessna’s TTX, it is obvious that technological
advances have had a major influence on aviation.
SOUTHERN LANDS
Ambassador Consul-General of Brazil Carlos de Abreu celebrates the
70-year relationship between Australia and Brazil and highlights
opportunities to build stronger business ties
Puma Energy’s Ray Taylor
•
Shaver Shop’s Cameron Fox
•
Steadfast Group’s Robert Kelly
As featured in
The CEO Magazine
For more info visit
theceomagazine.com.au
By Paul Southwick
D
ubbed and looking
like the ‘Ferrari of the
Skies’, the TTX is a
sleek and beautiful,
four-seat, twin-turbo,
231-kW, fixed-undercarriage,
single-engine, low-wing, piston
aircraft, made of super strong and
light carbon fibre, with a luxurycar-like leather interior, airconditioning, ‘TV screen’ cockpit, a
top speed of 435 km/h, GPS
navigation, automatic pilot, ice
protection, multiple systems
redundancy, and airliner-like side
sticks for two.
At 435 km/h, Melbourne to
Sydney, Adelaide to Melbourne,
or Sydney to the Gold Coast would
each take just one hour and 40
minutes, in good weather of
158.
The CEO Magazine - May 2015 In Australia,
where so many
people travel
long distances
for business
or pleasure,
potential
Cessna
customers will
quickly see
the benefits,
freedom, and
time saving in
setting their
own transport
schedule with
the TTX.
course. There are almost no speed
restrictions or traffic jams in the
sky, and you can usually fly
direct—in a straight line.
In Australia, where so many
people travel long distances for
business or pleasure, potential
Cessna customers will quickly see
the benefits, freedom, and time
saving in setting their own
transport schedule with the TTX.
Each main state capital has a
general aviation airport, so it’s
easy to avoid congestion and
make beating the scheduled
airlines a safe bet. The normal
range of the TTX is over 2,000
kilometres, and it can fly with its
own oxygen system above the
weather at 7,620 metres. Total
take-off weight is 1,636 kilograms.
With a price tag nearing one
million Australian dollars, the TTX
might seem unobtainable for all
but the über rich. However, like
luxury boats, it may be syndicated,
making it much more affordable
for individual members. Owners,
including flying schools and clubs,
will likely hire out the aircraft.
Unlike car rentals, pilots only pay
for the actual flying time (in the
air), not by the day. You can share
the costs with your friends and
cover a lot of ground in 24 hours.
There is plenty of room for up to
54 kilograms of luggage in a large
baggage compartment. A smart
feature from Cessna is that the
back seats can be quickly lowered
and flattened into the rear baggage
area. So if there are just two of you
up front, a couple of sets of golf
clubs fit nicely in the back.
Stuart Simmons, head of sales for
Airflight, the Cessna dealer in
Victoria, says, “With the TTX’s
speed, range, creature comforts,
technology, and ease of flying,
Cessna has produced the perfect
aircraft for Australia.”
The CEO Magazine was given the
chance to fly US-registered TTX,
N362CS, just a few days after it
had been flown Down Under from
the factory in Kansas, via Canada,
the Azores, Greece, Jordan, the
UAE, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia.
Experienced ferry pilot, Tyson
Teeter, a former Cessna
demonstration pilot, and co-owner
of SouthWind Global Aviation in
Kansas, says it took 89 hours and
went very smoothly. “There are not
many personal aircraft that could
fly from Broome to Melbourne in
one day with just a single stop at
Alice Springs. We flew most of the
way on 75-per-cent power, using
64 litres of avgas per hour, at 370
kilometres per hour,” says Tyson.
He says although the TTX is more
expensive to fly than a basic
aircraft, the speed advantage must
be factored in. “At that speed, we
were getting 17.5 litres per 100
kilometres, in a straight line.”
The CEO Magazine’s flight was
from Moorabbin airport, a few
days before the TTX was mobbed
by admirers at the Avalon Air
theceomagazine.com.au
theceomagazine.com.au
Show, and its demonstration flight
around Australia and New
Zealand. Such is the appeal of the
TTX that Tim Steele, chief flying
instructor of the Auckland Aero
Club at Ardmore in New Zealand,
arranged an entire corporate
day around its visit. That was
typical of its Australasian
demonstration tour.
Approaching the aircraft, it was
love at first sight. It is said that
beautiful aircraft always fly better
than ugly ones. The TTX proves
this with its clean lines, sports
leather seats, gull-wing doors,
distinctive colour scheme, and
‘glass’ cockpit. The impression is
class, class, class.
After a pre-flight briefing, having
studied the manual and
procedures the night before, we
received clearance from the tower
to depart on Runway 17 Right.
The TTX was off the ground in
just a few hundred metres and in
no time reached 1,007 metres.
Heading towards Phillip Island,
we were indicating a ground
speed of 200 knots (370 km/h).
The side stick, with direct
connection to the control surfaces
by push rods, was firm and simple
to use. The aircraft was very
stable, but most of all, fast.
After some performance handling
and sightseeing, it was all too
quickly time to return for
landing under a strong and hot
summer sun. The TTX’s powerful
air-conditioning kept us cool.
With traffic shown on the large
colour screen, it was easy to avoid
the many other aircraft returning
to Moorabbin. Slowing down
was simple with the air brakes,
and in the circuit the TTX was
an angel, with impeccable
landing characteristics.
If you need a pilot’s licence before
your TTX purchase, it is not as
expensive as you think, and is the
most fun you will ever have. It
costs about $12,000 and usually
takes six to 12 months to complete.
The study, exams, and flight test
are of a high standard but nothing
any ordinary person who commits
themselves to can’t achieve. You
will need to build up some hours
and experience before flying the
TTX, and maybe gain an
instrument rating, as it allows you
to fly in cloud and above bad
weather to really get the most
from the plane.
One thing is for sure: If you do fly
a TTX, none of your friends’
sports cars or boats will ever look
quite as cool again, and you’ll
always arrive with style and
class—first, of course.
About Paul Southwick
Paul Southwick is a pilot, freelance journalist,
and writer based in Melbourne, and flew the
Cessna TTX courtesy of Airflite.
The CEO Magazine - May 2015
159.