Cessna Re-Enters Single Engine Aircraft Market
 

In 1986 Cessna Aircraft shut down its single engine manufacturing plant. This was due to the high escalating liability costs. However, with the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994 it cleared the way for Cessna to begin manufacturing single engine aircraft. Wichita, Kansas, November 20, 1996 -- At the 49th Annual Meeting and Convention of the National Business Aircraft Association, Cessna announced that its new single engine piston aircraft manufacturing facility is producing airplanes on schedule.  “We are building the best Skyhawks, Skylanes, Stationairs, and Turbo Stationairs thatCessna has ever manufactured,” General Manager, Single Engine Piston Aircraft Pat Boyarski said. “We’re using the most advanced systems available on the market, and we’re meeting all our timelines.”

The Cessna 172 Skyhawk received its FAA type certificate on June 21.  “We began Skyhawk production at the Independence facility on July 10, shortly after  the grand opening celebration,” Boyarski said. “Then, on schedule on November 6, we  rolled the very first Independence-built Skyhawk out of the factory. Now, we’re preparing the airplane for its January 1997 delivery to AOPA Airplane Sweepstakes Winner Sharon Hauser.” Also, the 182 Skylane, 206 Stationair, and T206 Turbo Stationair programs have progressed quickly since beginning production in Independence.  “We started building Skylanes at Independence on September 25,” Boyarski said.  “We received the 182’s type certificate on October 10 and will deliver the first one to AOPA in February 1997. Our flight-test results on the new engines for the new Stationair and the Turbo Stationair prototypes have exceeded engineering expectations, and we are scheduled to begin production on those aircraft in Wichita in the coming weeks. We’ll start building them in the Independence facility by late summer 1997.”