1985 Cessna S550 Citation S/II à Vendre (N17LP)
Vendu
Disponibles maintenant: 2001 Citation Bravo — $2,300,000
Caractéristiques de l’Avion
- Prix Demandé
- Vendu
- Year
- 1985
- Model
- Cessna S550 Citation S/II
- Registration
- N17LP
Notes du consultant
The short version
A 1985 Cessna S550 Citation S/II, registration N17LP. Two Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D engines, CE-500 type rating.
This aircraft has been sold. The page stays up because the S/II is the least understood aircraft in the straight-wing Citation line, and the misunderstanding is expensive in both directions — buyers dismiss good ones, and buyers overpay for the wrong reasons.
What the S/II actually is
The S/II sits between the Citation II and the Citation V. It is not simply "a Citation II with a different badge", and it is not a Citation V either.
The important change is the wing. Cessna gave the S/II a new-design wing, and that is the difference that matters in operation: better climb and better cruise performance than the II it replaced, without moving into the larger, heavier 560 airframe. Everything else about the proposition stays recognisably straight-wing Citation — good field performance, honest handling, a cabin sized for the mission rather than for the brochure.
For a buyer, the practical framing is this: the S/II gives you most of the performance improvement over a Citation II without the II's limitations, in an airframe that is generally cheaper to acquire than a 560.
Why it gets overlooked
Two reasons, and both are market artefacts rather than engineering ones.
It was built in smaller numbers than the II or the V. Fewer examples means fewer listings, which means less familiarity, which means buyers searching for "Citation II" or "Citation V" often never see it. That is inefficiency in the market, and inefficiency is where value hides.
The name confuses people. "S/II" reads like a variant of the II rather than a distinct model. Buyers assume it is a trim level. It is not.
The consequence is that a good S/II can sit on the market longer than an equivalent II or V, which sometimes — not always — shows up in the price. Anyone shopping the straight-wing Citations should include the S/II in the search rather than filtering it out, if only to have a fuller picture of what the money buys.
The other side of the coin
Smaller production numbers cut both ways, and this is the part an honest page has to include.
Resale takes longer. The same thin market that may help you buy will slow you down when you sell. If a short time-to-sell matters to you, that is a real consideration.
Type-specific knowledge is less widespread. The JT15D engines and the general airframe are well understood everywhere, but shops that have seen many S/IIs specifically are fewer than shops that have seen many Citation IIs. That is a reason to choose a pre-purchase facility with care, not a reason to avoid the type.
Neither of these makes the S/II a bad aircraft. They make it an aircraft to buy with open eyes — which is true of everything on this site.
What to verify on any S/II
Engine status and programme. The largest cost variable, as on every aircraft of this generation. Confirm whether hours are total time since new, where each engine sits against hot section and overhaul, and whether any hourly programme covers them.
Inspection status, as the actual report with dates and hours, not a summary.
Corrosion and basing history. A 1985 airframe has had forty years to be stored well or badly. Ask where it lived, not just who owned it.
ADS-B Out and RVSM. Installed, certified and current for the airspace you will use. Confirm WAAS capability if LPV approaches matter for your destinations.
Damage history and title. In writing, plus your own independent search.
A pre-purchase inspection at a facility you choose, and on a lower-production type it is worth choosing one with genuine Citation experience. A seller who resists any of this has answered the question — including us.
Who the S/II suits
An operator who wants better performance than a Citation II offers without moving up to a 560, and who is buying to keep rather than to flip. Someone already inside the CE-500 family, since the rating carries across. A buyer willing to look past a model name that the market misreads.
Who it does not suit
Anyone who needs to be able to sell quickly. Anyone who needs transcontinental range — this is a short-to-medium-leg aircraft like the rest of the straight-wing line. And anyone who wants the reassurance of a large, liquid market of comparable aircraft to price against.
What is currently available
The aircraft listed on this site today is a 2001 Citation Bravo, serial number 550-0995 — the last and most refined development of the same 550 family the S/II belongs to, with PW530A engines enrolled on Power Advantage+ with full coverage and a Honeywell Primus 1000 panel.
For anyone weighing an S/II, the Bravo is the natural comparison: newer, on an engine programme, and in a more liquid market — at a higher price. Which is the better buy depends on how long you intend to keep it. Its full specification and assessment are on its own page.
Further aircraft are due into inventory. When enquiring, saying how long you expect to own the aircraft is genuinely useful — on this part of the market it changes the recommendation.