Cessna Citation CJ4

The CJ4 is a machine!

In FSE, it has room for 10 passengers. FSEconomy pricing seems to start (as of October 2025) at ~v$800,000.

For the lucrative v$20k / 7 passenger VIP / 900-1,200 nm assignments I sometimes chase, I’ve found it to be a great fit, if I’m willing to ignore the GPS issues. I find it’s much less grindy than trying to do these jobs in the Cessna 208 (which is what I was using before).

Retractable landing gear.

In MSFS, it has a very healthy cruise speed of ~450 knts¹ and an operating ceiling of at least 45,000 ft. However, landing speed will full flaps is still only ~100 knts.

In MSFS, the GPS navigation has proved frustrating to figure out. One tip is that if you send a flight plane from the EFB (the “tablet”), you often need to hit EXEC on the plane’s computer to get it to load. The GPS navigation also really doesn’t like VFR patterns and sometimes refuses to pick up direct paths between airports (rather than using Victor Airways). I also haven’t been able to use FLC (Flight Level Change) mode to climb successfully. However, a combination of HDG (Heading) mode for lateral navigation with FLC for decent and VS (Vertical Speed) for climb works well enough when the GPS is non-cooperative.

The plane also climbs very well all the way to 30 or 40,000 feet. Indeed, care must be given not to hit overspeed if the throttle is wide open and not aggressively climbing. At these high altitudes, the plane generally handles very well at up to 16x time compression.

At cruise, I try to aim for 600 PPH (Pounds Per Hour) of fuel, which is ~80% throttle.

Similar planes include the Beechcraft 350.