Sport Pilot Talk

AZPilot · Joined: 25 Jun 2009 Posts: 156

From AvWeb:

Cessna is telling 162 Skycatcher position holders that their order will be delayed six to 10 months because of design changes that resulted from the flight test program. "We did find a few things during our flight tests," Cessna spokesman Doug Oliver told AVweb. Most of the changes were needed to fix spin recovery issues.

Cessna lost two aircraft to unrecoverable spins, although the pilot in each instance was uninjured. Oliver said the rudder needs more surface area and the elevator and aileron travel needs to be increased on each aircraft and that work is currently being done after the aircraft are finished by the factory in China. Eventually, the design changes will be integrated into primary production but in the meantime it's causing delays as Yingling Aviation, which is reassembling the crated aircraft in Wichita, makes the modifications.

Oliver said all the computer modeling and wind tunnel testing each Cessna design undergoes can't precisely duplicate real world conditions. "It is important to remember that these aircraft, as with all Cessna aircraft, are designed to be in service for decades, so we prefer to take a little extra time now to ensure its long-term success," Oliver said. Cessna has the first production model Skycatcher on display at the Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Fla., which starts Thursday.

The first Skycatcher is owned by Rose Pelton, the wife of Cessna CEO Jack Pelton, and she's currently taking her Sport Pilot certificate on the aircraft. And yes, this one has the mods....

http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/bizav/1552-full.html#201872

LightSportFlyer · Joined: 10 Nov 2008 Posts: 64

Wow, a six to 10 month delay and now with Piper annoucing today they've entered the LSA market and will be delivering planes by April - what a blunder for Cessna.

I do not understand why it has taken Cessna so long to make the necessary design changes. After all they've known of them since the first Skycatcher crashed way back in September 2008 and then again with the second crash in March of 2009. That should of given them plenty of time to make the changes to the rudder system and thoroughly test them, they're not building the Dreamliner here for goodness sakes.

Makes me wonder if they're second guessing their decision to get into the LSA market and perhaps are trying to buy some time before they commit alot more money in a still tough aviation market.

LightSportFlyer · Joined: 10 Nov 2008 Posts: 64

It will also be interesting to see which engine Cessna finally decides to go with. In 6-10 months Lycoming should finally have finished their own upgraded LSA engine, the IO-233, and seeing how they are part of the Textron family it wouldn't make much sense to go with a competitors engine, namely the Continental O-200D.

It won't look very good for Cessna not to use the IO-233 when Lycoming is aggresively promoting their engine to other LSA manufacturers to use in place of the Rotax - all the while sister company Cessna wouldn't even use it in their own LSA.

frfly172 · Joined: 08 Jan 2009 Posts: 67 Location: Quincy Mass

looks like a stall waiting for GA to recover.Probably also waiting for the lyc engine.If they can build new citations every few years it seems the lsa was an afterthought.Piper may have done it right by buying a proven design.Cessna may not be t6he leader in lsa if they keep this up.