Since first unveiling the initial concept design at the 2006 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh and formally launching the program at the same event a year later, Cessna’s Skycatcher has been the subject of both excitement and criticism.
Launching the program 30 months ago, Pelton enthused of the Skycatcher’s potential to entice many new faces to take up flying. Speaking to Australian Flying in October, Pelton further earmarked the Skycatcher as the vehicle that will re-introduce enthusiasm into learning to fly as the modern-day replacement to the enduring C152.
However, throughout its development phase some of the Skycatcher’s initial luster has been curtailed by an at times undue level of criticism.
In November 2007 Cessna announced that Skycatcher production would be outsourced to China’s Shenyang Aircraft Corporation to reduce production costs and save the company having to build a new factory.
While admitting shifting production offshire is, “a big break of tradition”, Pelton explains that the move was integral if the Skycatcher was going to be introduced to the market at the proposed price of US$110,000. Cessna’s subcontract with Shenyang saw Skycatcher production commence in China, with Cessna themselves overseeing quality assessments and regulatory requirements to an FAR-certified standard. Once completed, the components are then shipped back to the US and re-assembled for delivery.
The reputation of Chinese-produced consumer goods is widely mired, however that trend doesn’t carry over to China’s aviation and aerospace industries, with Chinese manufacturers contributing parts for the Boeing 787 as well as Airbus and Bombardier aircraft.
“You’re never going to get over the stigma until people see delivered product and believe that that delivered product is acceptable,” Pelton concedes. “We’ve seen it - they’ve produced the first aeroplane and all my guys that have been there have said it’s exceptional quality and they feel good about it. Now we have to get that out in some volumes before people say, ‘Okay, we don’t need to worry about it’.”
During Skycatcher testing two prototypes crashed six months apart in separate incidents, the first during stall testing and the second during aggressive spin testing.
As is standard operating proceedure for all new aircraft, the prototypes were tested far beyond the limits of their intended use, and Pelton insists that the incidents have only made for a better aircraft with the Skycatcher since undergoing redesigns.
“As devastating as it has been to have a few events, the aeroplane is much better as a result,” he stresses. “I’ve flown every configuration along the way personally; I went out and did spins in the final configuration to make sure it was something I was willing to stake our company’s reputation on.
“We’ve got an aeroplane that now, from a flight training market perspective, is going to really bring back some enthusiasm into flying. It’s safe, it’s stable, it’s fun, very roomy, it’s got great visibility. I think it’s going to be everything we had hoped initially, maybe had compromised mid-way through, but have gotten back to delivering now.”
And the proof is in the pudding, with ASTM compliance gained in July 2009 and the first Skycatcher fabricated and assembled in Shenyang successfully flying and performing numerous quality tests in September 2009.
Pelton expresses delight at this milestone, but says the focus now shifts to fast-tracking production to fill the more than 1000 Skycatcher orders already placed globally.
“We’re happy to get where we are today; now we have a lot of work to do to ramp up production to the volumes that we think are needed.”
Skycatcher roll out from Shenyang has now commenced, with the first batch being delivered to the Cessna factory in Wichita for re-assembly in late October. Pelton’s wife Rose is at the very front of the queue as the first Skycatcher customer, and she’ll use the aicraft to pursue her private pilot’s license.
Of the Skycatcher orders already placed, about 40 per cent are heading to flying schools and 60 per cent to individual owners/operators. Pelton anticipates that this split will likely remain constant.
“We’ve had numerous customers that I’ve met personally who have said, ‘I’m flying a 182 around today, and I bought the aeroplane for all of its capability. But I’m not using any of that capability – I’m flying myself, maybe a friend and we’re going 200 nautical miles’.
“The Skycatcher does that at almost 120 knots on a lot less fuel, so from the economics there’s a lot of people out there for who this may be a better solution.
“It’s a lot simpler than a 182 or 172, yet compared to the 152s it has a much bigger cockpit, improved comfort, and added technology that you wouldn’t get at that cost level. We think it’ll make end of cost operations very low. These are the advantages.”
Looking ahead, once deliveries get under way Cessna will shift its focus to developing the next model variant of the Skycatcher, with Pelton seeing plenty of potential to evolve the aircraft in due course.
“There’s room for IFR training platform, eventually at some point we hope engine technology and a decent powered version of it,” he reveals. “I would like to eventually move it into a FAR-certified platform, and we’re working with the FAA to say, ‘is there a next step above LSA that can be affordable to actually create a certification for it?’. It’s no longer a light sport.”
Cessna’s Australian representatives, Aeromil Pacific (all states except Vic, Tas and W.A.) and Airflite (all states except for NSW and Qld), have both already sold a considerable number of Skycatchers. Aeromil expects to start filling its orders in the second quarter of 2010, the first of which will be delivered to Camden-based Airborne Aviation, while Airflite anticipates receiving its first Skycatchers in late 2010-early 2011.
Cessna boss Jack Pelton.