The Rebirth of the Common Man's Aviation - Cessna 162 Skycatcher

Well, the title might be a little off the mark, but that's how Cessna rolled this program out a little more than two years ago. Cessna http://www.cessna.com/ determined, after demonstrating a static model of a smaller sport and private aircraft at the 2006 Oshkosh, Wisconsin EAA AirVenture annual airshow, that there was and would be a viable business model for a new aircraft, the Cessna 162 Skycatcher. Just a year after that show, the first prototype was put into the air. The first production aircraft flew in May, 2008, and by the end of 2008, Cessna had orders for more than 800 aircraft.

Cessna's announced intention was to bring back the sport to sport flying by making a new aircraft available for under $100,000 - and it came close, eventually setting the price at $109,500, and recently moving that to $111,500. The program has not been without some controversy, however.

Based on a lack of production facility space in the United States, Cessna determined to partner with a Chinese-government controlled entity, Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, to produce the new 162. Cessna announced that by doing so, it was saving over $70,000 per aircraft, and that, combined with the lack of domestic production capacity, is what made the business case. There have been some skeptical to this methodology.

The aircraft itself represents a pleasant and practical entry into the world of sport aviation. It is constructed mostly of aluminum, with a fiberglass cowling, powered by an air cooled Continental 100 hp engine. Its cruising maximum is 118 knots, and it has a 470 nautical mile range.

So - the jury's still out, so to speak, on the affordable everyman's flyer - let's hope, for the industry's sake, that the 162 Skycatcher represents the right step, in the right direction, at the right time.