Cessna Aircraft Company says that their single engine piston aircraft order book is bulging. Over the past three weeks, Cessna has received over 450 single engine aircraft orders. This equates to over 150 new orders per week. With 2005 production sold, these aircraft are all scheduled to deliver in 2006.

"We attribute this influx of orders to two things," said Phil Michel, Vice President of Marketing. "First, our customers are excited about flying their favorite airplanes with the all-glass, fully-integrated Garmin G1000 avionics suite. Cessna's single engine piston aircraft and Garmin's G1000 are a natural fit. Both set the standard for reliability, performance, safety and simplicity of use.

"Second, when the market for new aircraft is heating up, we carefully monitor the time between aircraft order and delivery. With our CSTAR distribution network, we feel it's in everyone's best interest to hold that time to a minimum. Although we suspended order taking for a short time to help shorten the order to delivery time, this influx of new orders has even exceeded our expectations. This level of activity is testament to Cessna's leadership position in the market and to our customers' desire to buy new Cessna single engine aircraft."

Cessna's single engine piston aircraft product line includes the 172R Skyhawk, 172S Skyhawk SP, 182T Skylane, T182T Turbo Skylane, 206H Stationair and T206H Turbo Stationair. All Cessna single engine piston aircraft are available with traditional gauges, Bendix/King, or Garmin G1000.

All customers taking delivery of a G1000 equipped Cessna single engine piston aircraft have the advantage of Cessna's FAA/Industry Training Standards (FITS) approved G1000 orientation program. The program is designed to assist customers in their transition from traditional aircraft panel gauges to the new all-glass, jet-like cockpit. Currently, this exclusive program is offered at Cessna's single engine aircraft manufacturing facility in Independence, Kansas. Cessna will introduce a factory authorized instructor program that will enable this unique training to be available at select Cessna Pilot Centers and Cessna Sales Team Authorized Representative locations.

Cessna delivered 654 single engine piston aircraft in 2004. Of these, over 90 percent were equipped with Garmin's G1000 avionics. In 2005, Cessna expects to deliver approximately 900 single engine piston aircraft.

FMI: www.textron.com, www.cessna.com