Aircraft model
CESSNA 500
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Citation 500 is the original Citation, the aeroplane that made private jets ordinary. Cessna built it deliberately slow by jet standards — 350 knots — with a straight wing, so that it lands slowly and gets into runways that faster jets cannot use, and priced it where turboprop operators could reach it.
It is now the cheapest jet in existence and that is exactly the trap. The purchase price is a small fraction of ownership: the JT15D-1 engines are old technology and thirsty, engine programmes for them are limited, and unscheduled maintenance on a fifty-year-old jet can exceed the aircraft's value in a year. Avionics must be brought up to current airspace requirements, a six-figure exercise on its own. A CE-500 type rating is required and, unlike the 501, two pilots.
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Put CESSNA 500 side by side with up to two other models.
- CESSNA 500
What it is
| Seats | 8 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 2 |
| Engine | Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-1 |
| Horsepower | — |
| Fuel | JetA |
| Certification basis | FAR25 |
| Production start | 1972 |
| Production end | 1976 |
| Endorsements required | multi-engine |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 350 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 1,300 nm |
| Service ceiling | 41,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 2,680 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 82 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 3,000 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 2,500 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 8 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 4,950 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 1,245 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 11,650 lb |
| Empty weight | 6,700 lb |
| Usable fuel | 553 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 120 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $360,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $950,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 3,500 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $400,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $700,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 354 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 63 |
| Median year built | 1974.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 3 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 47.62 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 15.87 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 15 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 23.81 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 11 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 63 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 63 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 63 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing multi-engine, turbo-fan, 2 engines, 7+ seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 7.9 of 103 |
| Support | 1.4 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 2.4 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 1.23 · 42 models in class.
- Severity: class median 10.
- Access: class median 9,850.
- Support: class median 197.5.
- Liquidity: class median 32.81.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.