Cessna

Cessna’s 162 SkyCatcher is a totally modern flight trainer at a very reasonable price.

I believe all of us would declare Cessna’s new 162 SkyCatcher light sport airplane (LSA) to be a success if it flew about as well as the legendary 150/152 series of two-seat trainers. I’m happy to say the 162 flies as well as, and in some respects better than, the 150/152 and also has a […]

In anticipation of a flurry of training activity surrounding the introduction of the Cessna 162 SkyCatcher, Cessna has launched its Cessna Sport Pilot/Private Pilot Course, which recently won Part 141 approval from the FAA. The Web-based course gives customers, Cessna Pilot Centers (CPCs) and instructors access to materials anywhere there’s an Internet connection. The scenario-based […]

The University of North Dakota’s Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences will take delivery of six more Cessna 172 Skyhawks next month. That makes 44 new Cessnas UND will have received within 18 months. The UND Skyhawks will come equipped with the Garmin G1000 avionics suite. UND operates a fleet of 116 aircraft, including eight helicopters. […]

Cowlings suffer an inordinate amount of abuse from rock dings, hangar rash, maintenance wear and the vibration and stress associated with doing their basic job. North Central Aircraft Products Inc. in Mankato, Minnesota, is now offering relief to owners of cowlings ready for pasture. The company is offering carbon fiber PMA replacement cowls for all […]

It was one of those fine, late-fall, California desert nights: velvety-black, moonless and calm. The 182 took off from the North Las Vegas Airport bound for Rosamond, California, which is in the Mojave Desert about 70 miles north of Los Angeles. The pilots aboard, two ATPs who had logged between them 53,000 hours in military […]

According to a report from parent company Textron, Cessna delivered 84 Citations in the second quarter of this year, compared with 117 for the same time period last year. Revenues also decreased by $630 million, a shortfall of some 42%. Profits were down also, to $48 million (from $214 million) due to low sales volume […]

On the first day of AirVenture Cessna announced that its 162 SkyCatcher LSA had achieved ASTM certification. It’s equipped with a 100-hp Continental engine and the Garmin G300 integrated flat-panel avionics platform. The airplane will be assembled in China of U.S.-made components and then shipped back the United States for final assembly and delivery. Cessna […]

Whenever new pilots ask me to suggest a first airplane to learn to travel in, the Cessna 182 Skylane is always at the top of my list. My recommendation of the Skylane is especially strong for a pilot new to IFR flying. Part of the reason I believe so firmly in the value of the […]

Last year when Bend, Oregon, company Columbia Aircraft exhausted its last gasp efforts at getting enough cash to stay in business and declared bankruptcy, there was immediate speculation that Cessna would buy the company’s assets at auction. As it turned out, Cessna had been looking at that possibility for some time already. And by the […]