Cessna's C162 Skycatcher has been awarded the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Piper General Aviation Award for 2010.
The annual award, named in honour of Piper Aircraft Corporation founder William T. Piper, Sr., recognises a company or product judged to have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of GA. The AIAA is the world's largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession.
The Skycatcher is Cessna's entry in the new Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) category. The aircraft achieved required ASTM compliance in late 2009, and the first customer model was delivered not long after in December. Cessna has more than 1,000 Skycatcher orders in its book to date.
The Skycatcher design team will be officially recognised at the 10th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations (ATIO) Conference, September 13-15, in Houston, Texas.
While on the matter of the Skycatcher, we recently caught wind of rumours that Cessna were planning on moving production of the aircraft from Shenyang, China to Mexico. However we’ve since had direct correspondence with Cessna Chairman, CEO and President Jack Pelton, who has advised that there is no truth in those rumours and Skycatcher production will remain in China.
To watch a brief video introduction to the Cessna Skycatcher click here.