Cessna Projects It Will Deliver 150 LSAs In 2011

It looks to be a better year for most things Cessna. And that starts with the Skycatcher program. When we interviewed Cessna's Bob Stangarone at the 2011 Sebring US Sport Aviation Expo, the company had reported that it had received more than 60 Skycatcher light sport aircraft from Shenyang Aircraft Corporation -- and better yet, in conjunction with its reassembly site at Yingling Aviation in Wichita, KS, Cessna has delivered more than 30 Skycatchers.

Times, indeed, have changed.

The company expects to deliver 150 Skycatchers in 2011, including the first models featuring the McCauley two-blade, fixed-pitch composite propeller. The Skycatcher LSA program, announced in 2007, is Cessna's much-vaunted entry in the LSA category.

It features the Garmin G300 avionics suite and a Teledyne Continental O200D engine. Priced at $112,250, the two-seat, single-engine aircraft has a maximum cruise speed of 118 knots with a maximum range at 6,000 feet of 440 nautical miles. Fabrication and assembly is centered at Shenyang Aircraft Corporation in Shenyang, China. Aircraft are shipped to Cessna's U.S. reassembly site.

Designed as a low-cost flight trainer, Skycatchers have been delivered to several Cessna Pilot Centers around the country. Cessna Pilot Centers are independently owned and operated flight training affiliates that offer Cessna's proprietary training curriculum and Cessna aircraft for flight training. There are more than 280 CPCs in the United States and around the world, providing customers with an array of services including flight training.

The following CPCs are now using the Skycatcher in flight training: Atlas Aviation, Tampa, FL, Bay Air Flying Service, St. Petersburg, FL, Bob Miller Flight Training, Lancaster, NY, Downtown Aviation, Memphis, TN, Eagle Aircraft, Valparaiso, IN, Falcon Executive Aviation, Mesa, AZ, Kansas Aviation, Wichita, KS, Panorama Flight Service, White Plains, NY, SkyVenture Aviation, Fayetteville, AR, Space Coast Aviation, Merritt Island, FL, Spirit Aviation, Thomason, GA, Suburban Aviation, Ypsilanti, MI.

On an even higher note, the Skycatcher design team was named winner of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Piper General Aviation Award for 2010. AIAA presents the Piper General Aviation Award annually for outstanding contributions leading to the advancement of general aviation. The award honors William T. Piper, Sr., who was founder and first president of Piper Aircraft Corporation 1929-1970.

FMI: www.cessna.com, www.aero-tv.net, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, http://twitter.com/AeroNews