12.20.2007  Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, this week delivered the 8,000th single-engine piston aircraft since resuming production in Independence, Kan., some 10 years ago. The customer for the 8,000th aircraft was the U.S. Civil Air Patrol (CAP), Cessna’s largest and one of the company’s oldest customers.

“The significance of this milestone delivery is to mark the successful partnership between Cessna, the Civil Air Patrol, and our friends at Yingling Aviation who incorporate special modifications to the Garmin avionics required for the CAP mission,” said Roger Whyte, Cessna senior vice president, Sales & Marketing.

The Civil Air Patrol, a volunteer force of more than 66,000 members of the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, has a fleet of more than 530 aircraft flying across the country, primarily in search and rescue missions. The Civil Air Patrol took its first new second-generation SEP in late 1997. The aircraft delivered today is the 178th taken by CAP since the restart.

Cessna produces the Skyhawk, Skylane, Stationair and Citation Mustang at its facility in Independence, located southeast of the company’s headquarters in Wichita. The Independence facility was built when Cessna reentered the single-engine piston aircraft market following a 10-year absence. The first Independence-made SEP was delivered in 1996.