TRU Simulation’s Full Flight Simulator for the Cessna Citation Ascend Achieves FAA Qualification, Expanding Advanced Training for Midsize Jet Pilots

TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 16, 2026--

TRU Simulation + Training Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, and an affiliate of Textron Aviation, announced today its Full Flight Simulator (FFS) for the Cessna Citation Ascend has achieved Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Level D qualification. This milestone significantly enhances advanced training options for midsize jet pilots, delivering a highly immersive and true-to-life training environment on the recently FAA certified Citation Ascend. European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) qualification is anticipated in 2026, further extending the simulator’s global reach.

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“Pilots deserve training capabilities that reflect the advanced technology and performance that the Citation Ascend brings to the midsize jet category,” said Jerry Messaris, vice president and general manager, TRU Simulation. “Achieving FAA qualification ensures pilots can train in the most realistic environment available, building confidence and precision for every mission.”

With advanced features designed to elevate pilot training, the Citation Ascend FFS includes TRU Simulation’s REALCue motion system, delivering highly realistic motion feedback using a Six Degrees of Freedom (6DOF) electric platform with 60-inch stroke actuators. The intuitive motion user interface simplifies diagnostics and manual operations through a user-friendly graphical interface.

For immersive visuals, the simulator uses high-definition projectors across a wide 200x40-degree display. Instructors benefit from a powerful yet easy-to-use IOS (Instructor Operating Station), featuring dual touchscreen displays and a wireless Remote Instructor Control Unit (RICU) for flexible control. The IOS also supports essential maintenance functions like Qualification Test Guide (QTG) testing and troubleshooting, ensuring smooth and efficient simulator operation.

About TRU Simulation

TRU Simulation + Training Inc., an affiliate of Textron Aviation Inc., is a leading provider of high-fidelity training devices and full-motion simulators for the aviation industry. With a strong commitment to excellence and innovation, TRU Simulation has been at the forefront of flight simulation technology for over a decade. Our customized simulator solutions empower pilots to navigate the skies confidently, while our state-of-the-art technology ensures safe and realistic training experiences. For more information, visit www.TRUSimulation.com.

About Textron Aviation

We inspire the journey of flight. For more than 95 years, Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. company, has empowered our collective talent across the Beechcraft, Cessna and Hawker brands to design and deliver the best aviation experience for our customers. With a range that includes everything from business jets, turboprops, and high-performance pistons, to special mission, military trainer and defense products, Textron Aviation has the most versatile and comprehensive aviation product portfolio in the world and a workforce that has produced more than half of all general aviation aircraft worldwide. Customers in more than 170 countries rely on our legendary performance, reliability and versatility, along with our trusted global customer service network, for affordable and flexible flight. For more information, visit www.txtav.com.

About Textron Inc.

Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Pipistrel, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, and Textron Systems. For more information, visit: www.textron.com.

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements which may project revenues or describe strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; these statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the timing of certification of new aircraft products.

TRU Simulation’s Full Flight Simulator for the Cessna Citation Ascend achieves FAA qualification, expanding advanced training for midsize jet pilots

TRU Simulation’s Full Flight Simulator for the Cessna Citation Ascend achieves FAA qualification, expanding advanced training for midsize jet pilots

MILAN (AP) — Jordan Cowan hoists his camera mount and glides across the Olympic rink as figure skating competitors warm up and, later, take their bows. Dressed in an ice-white tuxedo, he is as inconspicuous as possible.

The former U.S. competitive ice dancer is the first camera operator on figure skating ice in Olympic history, capturing intimate moments that the overhead or sideboard cameras cannot. While he isn’t on the ice during the routines, Cowan skates backwards after each program to record up close what is often a raw moment of pure joy or disappointment for broadcast globally to viewers at home and on big screens for the arena spectators.

“To be the first person out on the ice at the end of their performance is such a privilege, and I definitely want them to feel their feelings,″ Cowan said in an interview before the pairs short program on Sunday. “The ice is a sacred place for a skater.”

At no moment during these Games were the contrasting emotions starker and Cowan’s job more delicate than after American skater Ilia Malinin’s two free program skates.

The 21-year-old punched excitedly at Cowan’s camera after he aced his long program in the team competition, helping Team USA clinch the gold medal. After Malinin botched his final free in the singles competition, Cowan kept his distance as the skater crumbled into a grimace of abject disappointment.

“I’m there to tell the audience, ‘It’s going to be OK, he’s still here.’ You know, you finish a program, you’re still alive. There’ll be another day. To see Ilia’s emotion really is just part of his story,” Cowan said.

While on-ice cameras have long been part of speed skating and hockey, Cowan has helped create the niche for figure skating.

After retiring from competitive skating in 2011, he worked in ballroom dancing and was inspired by how television motivated amateurs to learn new dances. He wanted the same for skating and so in 2018 he started his company, On Ice Perspectives, since when he has since been creating viral video moments from all levels of figure skating across his social media platforms.

At the Milan Cortina Winter Games he is working for the Olympic Broadcasting Services, which provides footage to national broadcasting rights holders. He has filmed three U.S. Championships, the 2021 world exhibition gala, and ice shows internationally.

Cowan loves when skaters engage with him as they leave the ice. Many realize he has a microphone and send messages to loved ones. They regularly make heart signs with their hands.

“For that brief window at the end of the program, when you get to take in the audience by yourself, by having this silent camera slowly available to you, it gives a special moment that we have never been able to capture before,'' he said.

Cowan trains with Pilates and yoga to handle the camera while matching athletes’ speed. He has designed his own rig, starting with a light-weight steady camera mounted on an electronic stabilized gimbal, maintaining a level horizon no matter how much wind he catches. He’s added manual focus, cinema zoom and wireless transmission.

Besides the skate-on and skate-off moments during competition, he is also on the ice for the medals ceremonies and will be there for the closing gala when the top competitors perform their crowd-pleasing signature moves.

The gala is a unique challenge, as he will have to read their moves to both stay out of their way and capture the moment. It’s a skill that competitive skaters pick up from training alongside teammates and competitors.

His skating abilities and familiarity with the athletes and their programs make it work. And to blend into the icy background as much as possible, Cowan has been experimenting with both gray and white skating looks.

“I’ve trained myself to be able to follow skaters without knowing the choreography,” he said. “They know they don’t have to look out for me, and I’m going to do everything I can to stay out of their way because safety is my number one priority. The perfect compliment I get is when the skaters say they didn’t even realize I was out there.”

Jordan Cowan operates the steadicam before the pairs figure skating short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Jordan Cowan operates the steadicam before the pairs figure skating short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Jordan Cowan operates the steadicam before the pairs figure skating short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Jordan Cowan operates the steadicam before the pairs figure skating short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)