Airplane Goes Down Under, Will Spend A Year As A Sales Demo

The first international delivery of a Model 162 Skycatcher has been made to a customer in Australia, according to a news release Wednesday from Cessna. The aircraft will be on display at the Australian International Airshow - Avalon 2011 - in early March.

The first international Skycatcher, delivered to Aeromil Pacific, based at Sunshine Coast Airport in Queensland, will be used for sales demonstration throughout 2011.

The Skycatcher, announced in 2007, is Cessna's entry in the popular light sport aircraft category. It features the Garmin G300 avionics suite and a Teledyne Continental O200D engine. Priced at $113,500 (2011 delivery), the two-seat, single-engine aircraft has a maximum speed of 118 knots with a maximum range of 470 nautical miles.

The Skycatcher design team was named winner of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Piper General Aviation Award for 2010. AIAA presents the award annually for outstanding contributions leading to the advancement of general aviation.

Designed as a low-cost flight trainer, Skycatchers have already been delivered to several Cessna Pilot Centers around the U.S. More international deliveries are slated for later this year. Cessna has delivered more than 30 aircraft to date and plans to deliver 150 Skycatchers in 2011.

FMI: www.Cessna.com