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Cessna static display at Orlando Executive Airport

The Cessna exhibit features aircraft big and small, from the Corvalis in the foreground (that’s an upgraded Sovereign jet behind it) to a Citation X (The TEN has been renamed the X, its former name.) across from the Corvalis. The Citation X is the first Cessna to have winglets, and it set a record from Alaska to Florida days before the show. (Hint: It could have set the record without winglets. It’s fast.) The winglets have to be small because passive winglets put a greater bending moment on the wing in turbulence and during high-G situations, should those occur. A new technology, active winglets, use a control surface on the winglet (looks like a flap) to spoil the extra lift of the winglet and remove stress from the wing in momentary instances of high loading.

Alton Marsh
Alton K. Marsh
Freelance journalist
Alton K. Marsh is a former senior editor of AOPA Pilot and is now a freelance journalist specializing in aviation topics.

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