Textron Aviation Ends Cessna TTx Production

Textron Aviation is no longer selling the Cessna TTx, bringing to an apparent close production of the sleek high-performance piston single that originally drew its inspiration from a kitplane and grew into a fully Part 23 certified model that for a time was considered one of the best light airplanes in the world.

Textron Aviation quietly ceased production of TTx last month, according to a source with knowledge of the company’s move, and no longer advertises the model on its website. Cessna produced only 12 of the model in the fourth quarter of 2017 after selling 31 in total the year before, numbers that while small still outpaced production of the Beechcraft Bonanza, Textron Aviation’s other low-wing high-performance piston single.

The TTx began life in 2004 as the Columbia 300, which itself grew from the Lancair ES kit airplane. Columbia also built the glass-panel equipped 350 and turbocharged 400 before the company dissolved and Cessna purchased the design in 2007. Cessna initially produced the 350 and 400, then focused on the turbocharged model only. Its name was changed to Cessna 400, then to the Corvalis TT (for twin turbocharged) before Cessna settled on the TTx name in 2011.

Corvallis is a town in Oregon near Bend, where the composite airplanes were produced before Cessna moved production to Chihuahua, Mexico, and Independence, Kansas, in 2009. This proved to be a blow for the TTx as the composite parts from Mexico were initially defective.

Rumors of the TTx’s demise have swirled for some time. The airplane was never a strong seller for Cessna, despite a flight-into-known-icing package introduced in 2012 and other performance improvements that made the airplane a worthy competitor to the Cirrus SR22, the best-selling piston single in the world.

A request for comment wasn’t immediately returned by Textron Aviation.