Posted on 07/23/2007 2:07:32 PM PDT by Domandred
The Model 162 SkyCatcher will be Cessna Aircraft Co.'s entry in the Light Sport Aircraft category.
Cessna made the announcement and rolled out a full-scale mockup Sunday during the opening day of the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual convention in Oshkosh, Wis.
The two-seat airplane has an initial price of $109,500 for the first 1,000 airplanes ordered, then the price will be $111,500.
Keeping the airplane in the $100,000 range was one of the goals set by Jack Pelton, Cessna chairman, president and CEO, during the program's development. Cessna announced its LSA program during the 2006 EAA convention and has been soliciting customer opinions before making the decision to proceed with production.
The airplane will cruise at 118 knots (136 miles per hour) with a maximum range of 470 nautical miles. The SkyCatcher has a maximum gross weight of 1,320 pounds and carries 24 gallons of fuel.
Cessna plans to build 700 airplanes a year once the assembly line reaches full production by 2011. Company officials hope the new airplane will be attractive to flight training schools as well as light sport aircraft enthusiasts.
The airplane will be certified under American Society for Testing and Materials regulations rather than the Federal Aviation Administration, although Cessna plans to conduct many of the tests required for FAA certification.
The company plans to certify the SkyCatcher in the first half of 2008 with first customer delivery scheduled in 2009.
Cessna is at the top of the Wichita Business Journal's 2007 list of the area's largest employers.
Small airplanes are to doctors as tornados are to trailer parks./snic
only in tv teasers and that looks childish , crass ,
and a venue to stage a sex in the city in suits to me.
True..that’s the state of TV today. I watched the first show..and it’s a well done flashback to the 50’s..kind of an R rated “Man in the Grey Flannel Suit”
cigarettes and open handed grab ass
more like Nip/Tuck
That I never saw...”Rescue Me” is more my style on FX
Which would you rather have bought in 1983 - this:
Or this:
Yeah, that's the same situation today - same old stuff tarted up, or something totally new.
Interesting question.
I am a pilot who lives on a private airpark about 30 miles south of Piper aircraft in Vero Beach Florida.
& years ago I asked someone who works there why a piper J 3 cub costs 138,000 dollars as it hasn’t changed on bit in 50 years. Still thirty years ago you could get one for about 20,000 dollars.
He said they still could produce one for about 30 or 35 thousand dollars but had to charge 138,000 dollars.
The difference going directly into a slush fund to pay off future lawsuits and lawyers.
Folks would crash and die and their spouses would sue Piper instead of say the mechanic that screwed up. Or maybe even the Pilot.
Piper doesn’t produce J-3 s any more just much more expensive craft.
A jury would award stupid amounts for a guy earning 30,00 a year to his family.
I’m all in on J A G.I love all the characters and the constant dig to Clinton
It’s really cute!! Look at that nifty modern instrument panel. Where’d all the instruments go? Gone with room left for cup holders! Students don’t even have to sit with a wrinkled chart on their lap any more?
By the way, there isn't enough money on earth that would entice me to live in that humid dump of a state of yours---http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1869454/posts
Was that with or without their converted V8? :-).....
The biggest engine the X11 variant of the Citation ever had was a 2.8L V6 (not related to the V8). And it was a FWD lead sled that tended to spin out of control when braking hard.
Not the Citation, I mean the Toyota aircraft, yes they were working on a converted Lexus V8 for Aircraft use.
It might get you a ride in one.......
I'm confident that Cessnas' entry will go a long way in legitimizing the LSA (Light Sport Aircraft) movement and raise the bar in terms of quality.
The 'bird' looks pretty substantial compared to some of the other fabric-covered 'kites' LSA's I've seen first hand. I'd trust it.
Though $100K, its' not out of line with the rest of todays possessions (just got my house appraised - $550K!!) and is NEW!
Could be a far more econimical "$100 Hamburger" flight, and, if an IFR-version is offered, a less expensive proficiency platform.
I'll wrangle a hop with the local Cessna dealer when it arrives...
They originally were going to fly it with the converted V8, but Toyota killed off the “Aero Lexus” project. The TA-1 flies with a Lycoming engine, IIRC.
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