Adds Flight Training Schools To Cessna Pilot Center Network

Cessna Aircraft Company said Thursday at the AOPA Aviation Summit in Hartford that it has surpassed 100 deliveries of the Model 162 Skycatcher light sport aircraft. The milestone 100th aircraft was delivered to Sporty’s Pilot Shop this summer and will be given away in Sporty’s annual drawing early next year. Cessna began deliveries of the Skycatcher in December 2009 and has received orders for more than 1,000 of the aircraft.

A new addition to the Skycatcher is the McCauley designed and delivered first production ASTM certified 1L100 fixed-pitch composite propeller. This all-composite two-blade, fixed-pitch propeller was made specifically for the Skycatcher’s Continental Motors O-200D engine. The composite propeller became standard equipment on the Skycatcher beginning with serial number 108, and it will be offered to existing Model 162 owners for retrofit.

“Fitting the Skycatcher with the new composite prop is truly a benefit to the airplane and the pilot,” said Tracy Leopold, Cessna Skycatcher business leader. “The single piece design gives it great strength and is a little over 14 pounds lighter than the aluminum propeller used on the Skycatcher.”

Designed as a low-cost flight trainer, Skycatchers have been delivered to many Cessna Pilot Centers around the U.S. and international deliveries began this year. In March, King Schools released its Flying the Skycatcher DVD training program, the official pilot transition course used in Cessna Pilot Centers worldwide.

And speaking of flight schools, the company also announced Thursday that it has added five flight training organizations to its global network of more than 250 Cessna Pilot Centers.

The newest members of the CPC network are:

• Colt Aviation, Big Rapids, MI.
• Flugsportgruppe Zuercher Oberland (FZGO), Feharltorf, Switzerland
• MERA Inc., dba Benz Aviation, Grand Haven, MI.
• Middle River Aviation, Baltimore, MD.
• Island Air Express, Panama City, FL.

CPCs are flight training affiliates that use the new Cessna Flight Training System and Cessna aircraft and offer customers an array of services including flight training.

“With the recent release of our online Cessna Instrument Pilot Course, Cessna Pilot Centers offer a truly integrated approach to training. We invite the highest quality additions to our CPC network as part of our ongoing effort to make flying more accessible and to re-energize pilot training,” said Julie Filucci, manager, Cessna Pilot Centers for Cessna.

FMI: www.cessna.textron.com