Introduction

The CJ525 is a light business jet produced by Cessna. It is a part of one of the most popular business aircraft families - the CitationJet, with over 2,000 of them built between 1991 and 2017. After the project's launch in 1989, Model 525 had its first flight two years later, in April 1991. The aircraft received FAA certification the next year, and the first customer received the 525 in 1993.

Due to the notoriously slow cruising speeds of Citation I, Cessna started addressing the issues with Citation II, Citation Bravo, Encore and Ultra. Unfortunately, the improved cruising speeds increased the operational costs. The engineers at Cessna realised that with the lighter airframe, the higher operating costs can be eliminated, while still achieving targeted cruise speeds.  

The engineers managed to accomplish their goal - The Model 525 weighed only 3,171kg and could achieve cruising speeds of up to M0.65. Powered by two Williams FJ44s providing up to 8.5kN (1,900lbf) of thrust power, and with an MTOW of 4,850kg, the small business jet can climb up to altitudes of 41,000ft. 

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Installation and Documentation

TorqueSim provides an installer, and the whole process is straight-through. The installer also asks which texture resolution you would like to install, giving you an option between 4K or 8K. with a note saying that 8K textures require a big card, and advising you to pick 4K if unsure.

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The aircraft also comes with three manuals: CitationJet User Manual - a 46-page manual that introduces you to all the features included, as well as a basic introduction to the cockpit and instruments. Next up we have the UNS-1 Handbook - explaining the functionality of the UNS-1. Finally, the Normal Checklist for the 525 is also included, containing charts for standard take-off performances, max rate of climb speeds, cruise climb speeds, and standard landing performance. 

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First Impressions

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The first thing that caught my attention was the instrument layout in the cockpit. I had some previous experience in flying the Citation, although that was in CJ4, which is equipped with the ProLine 21 glass cockpit. On the other hand, the CJ525 has a classic 6-pack upgraded with a digital ADI and a Navigational Display. 

The preflight took some time, as I was amazed by the amount of interactable things in the interior and exterior of the aircraft. After the quick walk-around, I got into the cockpit and began preparing for the flight. After finding my way through the UNS-1 I was met with the dreadfully dark cockpit - the main battery had been discharged, meaning that I had to fill up the UNS again. Luckily, the v1.0.1 update brought in a power-failure auto-resume function, which saves all your hard work in case of loss of electric power.

For my first flight, I picked a short domestic hop between London Luton and the Isle of Man, operated on G-KION, a Cessna 525 with a livery that would be quite fitting for this flight.

After cross-checking the data between the Weight & Balance sheet and FMS, I was ready to start up the engine and escape from the cloudy London. With the amazing soundpack, you can hear every segment of the engine startup. Another cool thing is that you can see the flame inside the turbines during the starting process!

The engines were started up quickly and I started rolling down the taxiway at Luton. The aircraft comes with a Take-Off calculator, where all the info one might need can be found: N1 RPM percentage, flaps setting (0° or 15°), take-off roll length depending on headwind (or tailwind), and of course, the V-speeds. 

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The aircraft is very sensitive on the controls, especially with the rudder. The first take-off was a bit bumpy, as I was used to the rudder inputs on the airliners. The climb-out was nice and smooth, and the climb performance was pretty good too, with an average of around +1,800fpm to 26,000ft. However, if the aircraft is fully loaded, over ~25,000ft it will take its sweet time to reach the cruising altitude. 

I was lucky enough to take a fairly light-loaded plane, and the cruising altitude wasn’t so high as the flight time was a bit under an hour. Not long after reaching FL260, it was time to get back on the ground. The CJ525 doesn’t have an auto-throttle system, or a VNAV (although the UNS-1 can provide an “advisory VNAV”), so some manual work must be put in. It is definitely a fun challenge to keep track of many parameters, especially if you are used to flying the newer airliners.

Enjoying the golden hour during the uneventful descent into the Isle of Man, I was slowly preparing for the landing. The jet can be pretty tough to fly if it isn’t trimmed properly, but only minor inputs are required to correct and get back on the runway track. However, landing it is an absolute joy: just pitch it up slightly, cut the throttle at 10ft and watch it grease the runway slowly.

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Aircraft Systems

Alongside the Honeywell ED600 EADI, EHSI, and UNS-1, the aircraft also has an option for different avionic configs: Standard - equipped with the Bendix/King CNI 5000, consisting of two COM, two NAV, a single ADF and two Transponder radios, GNS530 - made up of two default X-Plane GNS530s and two Garmin GTX 330D transponders, as well as options for GTN750 and GTN750Xi, for which the RealityXP and upcoming TDS’ addons are required, respectively.

The Model 525 also features 150 fully modelled circuit breakers, which can pop out (such as the Vertical Gyro 1 and 2, if you decide to do some aerobatics mid-flight), and of course, you can see the consequences immediately. Another interesting thing is the Electric System Diagram, which shows the current state of the whole electrical system, from the position of BAT and GEN switches, the voltage of feed busses, as well as the voltage and amperage of the battery and generators. 

The only two inoperative systems for now are the weather radar and the GPU. The WX radar will be available once the X-Plane gets the native support for weather radar simulation that was showcased a few months before the release of TorqueSim CJ525. According to the developers, this feature “is fully dependent on X-Plane adding this compatibility.” The Ground Power Unit, however, is already in the sim, but only as a 3D model (it can be toggled by clicking a panel under the left-hand side engine). The GPU functionality will come soon though, as” the simulation of the interactions and electrical components needs a bit more work to finalize.”

Modelling and texturing

The CJ525 stuns, both with modelling and texturing. The amount of clickable parts in the cabin is staggering: from the ashtrays and the A/C blowers in the cockpit to the various storage compartments in the cabin, folding tables, adjustable armrests and blinds on the windows, cabin lights, and of course, the toilet in the back of the cabin, everything can be adjusted to your own liking! And it's not just the models, the textures are outstanding, and the wear around the edges of the instruments and gauges, as well as scratches on the quadrant next to the flaps and throttle levers.

It is always those little details that bring the immersion and make an addon outstanding - this bizjet is filled with them. Looking for little decals on the bottom of the windows, a first aid kit behind a seat, a cabinet filled with cans of Jet Fuel Diet, a bottle of Petrus Pomerol (a reputable chateau from France with an average price of $4,000 per 750ml bottle!), champagne glasses and paper planes in a drawer bellow, or maybe a toilet-paper roll? You name it, the plane has it!

The exterior is no different, with many clickspots for covers, doors, cones, and GPU. The small details such as rivets and screws along the fuselage and wings really give the aircraft the immersion and a nice touch of realism. One of the interesting features are the two panels in the aft cargo compartment: another circuit breaker panel and the aircraft’s battery that can be disconnected, as well as little doors behind the right wing, where you can check the hydraulic oil level.

Flight model

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The CitationJet feels just like a general aviation jet should - quick and agile. Even though it is still called a ‘Slowtation’, it has that feeling of rapidness. I didn’t have many issues while flying it, other than the larger rudder inputs, as I’m used to flying the big jets. While I may not be a real-life Citation pilot, from the performance charts I’ve managed to gather online, the aircraft seems to perform pretty accurately.

 Even though it has turbojet engines, it still has some remnants of the classic Cessna feel. One of those remnants is the trimming - you will have a hard time flying the aircraft if you aren’t trimmed properly. Considering the sensitivity of the aircraft, you might find yourself in a position to hold a stick (or a yoke if you use one) in an uncomfortable position for an extended period of time while you’re trying to stay on the glideslope until you trim the aircraft properly. Other than that, it is a really fun aircraft to fly!

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Sounds

The soundscape is phenomenal. From the more noticeable sounds such as engines and the switches and knobs in the cockpit to the less noticeable ones such as the sounds of extending the gears and the flaps, and the drag they produce. Even the sounds of the small details such as the drawers in the cabin, blinds on the windows, folding the table back, and the click of the flush button in the toilet, are replicated and bring up the immersion to another level. 

Even the details on the exterior, like unlocking/locking the cabin doors, extending the stairs, placing the cones around the aircraft, opening cargo doors, and even placing the chocks, windshield covers, and pitot/AOA probe covers, are marvellously replicated and sound just like their real-life counterparts. 

The CJ525 also features a Passenger Briefing System. Located on the very bottom of the copilot’s side of the cockpit, the PBS-400 has 6 voice recordings (Welcome, Safety briefing, Take-Off, Cruise, Descend, Landing) in four languages: English, French, German and Spanish. 

Another cool feature is the noise cancellation. Behind the left circuit breaker panel in the cockpit, a control module can be found. By clicking the power button, the noise cancellation mode is turned on and can be tuned to lower the level of noise cancellation if you prefer to hear the engines in the background.

Performance

The aircraft performed pretty stable on my system (RTX3060 12GB, i5-10400, 16GB RAM), usually somewhere around 30fps without any major upsets, even on larger and heavier airports. The GPU averaged around 50% (± 5%), while the CPU usage was much spikier, but still averaging around 45%, with peaks up to 85%.

Conclusion

This addon really impressed me. As I’ve said earlier, as an airliner guy, this aircraft really brought me outside of my comfort zone and made me learn something new. While the price may seem a bit hefty for a business aircraft, in my honest opinion, $84.95 is fully worth it for an aircraft of this fidelity, especially considering the amount of detail and hard work put into this project during six years of development, as well as how many features are still in development. If you are looking for an addition to your virtual fleet, and love to fly short hop or to challenging airports, check this plane out, I doubt you will regret it. In my honest opinion, the visual details and the accuracy of simulation compared to the real jet make this addon one of the best business jets for X-Plane.

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A huge thank you to TorqueSim for providing us with a review copy!