WICHITA, Kan., April 19, 2010 – Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced today it received an order during last week’s Sun ’n Fun Fly-In in Lakeland, Fla., for 12 Skylanes from the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), Cessna’s largest fleet operator.

The Skylanes will be delivered before the end of the year.

“The Skylane is a versatile four-place aircraft that is well-suited for the critically important CAP mission profile,” said John Doman, Cessna’s vice president, Worldwide Propeller Sales. “We’re glad to be able to support CAP’s increasingly important mission and value our long-term partnership with them.”

In 2009, Cessna once again sold and delivered more single-engine piston aircraft than any other manufacturer. Cessna’s line of four-seat pistons is the best selling family in the world with six models ranging from the 172 Skyhawk, the best-selling civil aircraft in history, to the Corvalis TT, one of the world’s fastest fixed-gear single-engine piston aircraft. Cessna also produces a six-seat model, the 206 Stationair.

The Civil Air Patrol, a volunteer force of 59,000 members of the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, operates one of the largest fleets of single-engine piston aircraft in the world with 550 currently in the fleet. These aircraft fly approximately 112,000 hours annually across the country primarily in search and rescue and disaster relief missions.

Source: Cessna