1979 Cessna 551 Citation II/SP for Sale (N811VG)
Sold
Available now: 2001 Citation Bravo — $2,300,000
Aircraft Specifications
- Asking Price
- Sold
- Year
- 1979
- Model
- Cessna 551 Citation II/SP
- Registration
- N811VG
Consultant's Notes
The short version
A 1979 Cessna 551 Citation II/SP, registration N811VG. Two Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D engines, CE-500 type rating with single-pilot authorisation.
This aircraft has been sold. The page stays up because it covers the step most owners in this part of the market are actually considering: moving up from a piston twin or a turboprop into a first jet — and whether that step makes sense.
The honest comparison
The move from a high-performance piston twin or a light turboprop into a Citation is the most common step-up in owner-flown aviation, and it is frequently presented as an upgrade in every dimension. It is not. It is a trade, and the trade is worth setting out plainly.
What you gain. Altitude, and with it weather. A jet climbs above most of the weather that dictates a piston twin's schedule, and it does so quickly. Speed, obviously. Smoothness — passengers notice the difference on the first flight. And simplicity of operation in the cruise: a jet at altitude is a calmer aeroplane to manage than a piston twin working hard down low.
What you give up. Cost predictability, above all. A piston twin has bad months; a jet has bad months that are an order of magnitude larger. Field access at the very short end — a Citation is good on short runways for a jet, but a King Air or a piston twin will still get into places it cannot. And the ability to have most maintenance done by whoever is on the field.
What surprises people most is not the fuel. It is the fixed costs: insurance, recurrent training, hangarage, and the reserves you should be setting aside for engines and inspections whether or not you fly. Those continue in a year when the aircraft barely moves.
The training and insurance step is the real gate
Moving to a jet means a type rating. For the 551, single-pilot operation additionally requires the single-pilot authorisation, plus an insurer prepared to write the policy for the specific pilot.
Underwriters look at total time, multi-engine time, time in type and recurrent training. A pilot stepping up from a piston twin with modest total time will frequently be quoted a mentor-pilot or two-crew requirement for the first year — sometimes longer. That is not an obstacle to owning the aircraft, but it changes the operating cost, and it should be known before the purchase rather than after.
Recurrent training is annual and it is not optional in practice; insurers require it. Budget for it as a fixed cost, not an occasional one.
Is the step-up worth it?
The question that settles it is not about the aircraft. It is: how many hours a year will you genuinely fly, and how much of that is weather-limited today?
If you fly 150 to 250 hours a year, much of it in weather or over terrain, and the schedule matters, a jet earns its keep in ways a spreadsheet under-represents — trips completed, meetings made, days not lost. If you fly 60 hours a year in good conditions on short legs, the fixed costs will dominate and the aircraft will be an expensive way to do what you were already doing.
There is no shame in the second answer. The most useful thing a broker can tell some buyers is that the aircraft they are excited about is the wrong tool — and the ones who hear it tend to come back later, when it is the right one.
What to verify on any 551
A written insurance quote for your pilot, before anything else. It can end the discussion, and it is quick to obtain.
Engine hours, position against intervals, and programme status. On this generation an hourly programme is often absent, which means the next engine event is a single large invoice. Know where it falls.
Corrosion and basing history. A 1979 airframe has had over forty years to be stored well or badly. Hours tell you far less than storage does.
Inspection status, as the actual report with dates and hours.
ADS-B Out and RVSM, installed, certified and current for the airspace you will use.
Confirmation that it is a 551 rather than a 550, from the serial number, if single-pilot operation is the reason you are buying.
Damage history and title, in writing, plus an independent search.
A pre-purchase inspection at a facility of your choosing — not one the seller suggests, and that includes when the seller is us.
Who this suits
An owner-pilot stepping up who has the hours, or the willingness to fly with a mentor pilot while building them. Someone flying enough hours in enough weather for the capability to matter. A buyer whose budget covers the operating year, not just the purchase.
Who it does not suit
Anyone flying a small number of hours in good conditions. Anyone whose budget ends at the purchase price. Anyone who needs the shortest fields, where a turboprop remains the better tool. And anyone who has not yet obtained an insurance quote.
What is currently available
The aircraft listed on this site today is a 2001 Citation Bravo, serial number 550-0995 — a much later airframe, two-crew, with PW530A engines enrolled on Power Advantage+ with full coverage.
For a step-up buyer it is worth understanding what that programme changes: it converts the largest unpredictable cost into a known hourly number. For a first jet, predictability is often worth more than a lower purchase price. Its full specification and assessment are on its own page.
Further aircraft are due into inventory. When enquiring, the useful things to state are annual hours, typical legs, and what you fly today — that is what determines whether a step-up makes sense at all.