1985 Cessna 501 Citation I/SP for Sale (N361DE)
Sold
Available now: 2001 Citation Bravo — $2,300,000
Aircraft Specifications
- Asking Price
- Sold
- Year
- 1985
- Model
- Cessna 501 Citation I/SP
- Registration
- N361DE
Consultant's Notes
The short version
A 1985 Cessna 501 Citation I/SP, registration N361DE. Two Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D engines, CE-500 type rating with single-pilot authorisation.
This aircraft has been sold. The page stays up for a question that applies to every aircraft on this site and to most of the market: when is it worth paying more for a later example of the same type?
Later is not automatically better, but it usually costs more
A 1985 Citation I/SP and a 1977 Citation I/SP are the same aircraft in most respects that matter to a pilot. They fly the same, they use the same rating, they carry the same people into the same runways.
The later one will almost always be worth more money. It is worth understanding what you are actually paying for, because some of it is real and some of it is not.
What is real:
*Fewer calendar years of everything.* Corrosion, seals, wiring, hoses and the general accumulation of forty-plus years of decisions. Eight fewer years is eight fewer years of exposure, and on airframes of this age that is not a small difference.
*Production refinements.* Manufacturers improve things through a run. Later serials often incorporate changes that earlier ones need a service bulletin to match — and some of those bulletins are expensive.
*A shorter list of compliance items.* Later serials frequently sit outside the applicability of directives that affect early ones. That is money, and it is checkable in advance.
What is not real, or not reliably:
*A better maintenance history.* A well-kept 1977 aircraft beats a neglected 1985 one comprehensively. Year of manufacture tells you nothing about how an aircraft was treated, and treatment matters more than vintage at this age.
*Better avionics.* Everything from this era has been retrofitted, or has not. The panel is a function of what previous owners spent, not of the build year.
*Lower operating cost.* The engines, the inspections and the insurance do not care how new the aircraft is.
How to actually compare two examples
Ignore the year for a moment and compare the four things that decide cost of ownership:
1. Engine status. Hours since new, position against hot section and overhaul, and whether any hourly programme covers them. 2. Inspection status. What has been done, and what falls due in the next twelve and twenty-four months. 3. Compliance. Outstanding airworthiness directives and service bulletins for that specific serial. 4. Avionics. What is installed, certified and current for the airspace and approaches you need.
Add the expected cost of each over the period you intend to own the aircraft, and add it to the purchase price. That total — not the year, not the sticker — tells you which aircraft is cheaper.
Run that arithmetic honestly and a later aircraft sometimes wins comfortably, and sometimes loses to a well-documented earlier one. Both outcomes are common. What is never true is that the newer year is a reason on its own.
The single-pilot question still applies
As with any 501, the reason to choose this variant over a 500 is single-pilot certification — and the practical gate is not the certification but the insurance. Underwriters decide based on the pilot, not the aircraft: total time, time in type, currency and recurrent training. A written quote for the specific pilot, obtained before making an offer, is the cheapest risk reduction available in the entire transaction.
What to verify on any 501
A written insurance quote for your pilot, first.
Confirmation from the serial number that it is a 501, not a 500 described loosely.
Engine hours since new, intervals and programme status.
AD and service bulletin compliance for that specific serial. The list differs across the production run — this is where the "later is better" argument is either proved or disproved for the two specific aircraft in front of you.
Corrosion and basing history, which at this age outweighs the build year.
Avionics inventory with ADS-B Out and RVSM certification status, and WAAS capability if LPV approaches matter to you.
Inspection status, as the actual report.
Damage history and title, in writing, plus your own search.
A pre-purchase inspection at a facility you choose — not one the seller suggests, and that test applies to us as much as to anyone.
Who it suits
An owner-pilot with the rating and the insurance, flying short legs from runway-limited airports, who is prepared to compare aircraft on total cost rather than on year of manufacture.
Who it does not suit
Anyone buying the newest year they can afford as a proxy for condition. Anyone whose budget ends at the purchase price. Anyone who needs range or a factory-modern cockpit.
What is currently available
The aircraft listed on this site today is a 2001 Citation Bravo, serial number 550-0995 — a genuinely later aircraft rather than a later example of the same one, with PW530A engines enrolled on Power Advantage+ with full coverage and maintenance tracked on CESCOM.
It is the case where paying more for later is easiest to justify, because what you are buying is not the year but the programme and the documentation. That is exactly the distinction this page argues for. Its full specification and assessment are on its own page.
Further aircraft are due into inventory. When enquiring, it helps to say how long you intend to keep the aircraft — the comparison above changes completely between a three-year hold and a ten-year one.