HARTFORD, Conn., Sept. 22, 2011 — Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, said today 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.

Announced in 2007, the Skycatcher is Cessna’s entry in the popular light sport aircraft category. It features the Garmin G300 avionics suite and a Teledyne Continental O200D engine. The two-seat, single-engine aircraft has a maximum cruise speed of 118 knots with a maximum range at 6,000 feet of 440 nautical miles. Fabrication and assembly is centered at Shenyang Aircraft Corporation in Shenyang, China. Aircraft are shipped to Cessna’s U.S. reassembly site.

Source and image: Cessna