Cessna

Aircraft Manufacturer

At a glance

Models: 62
In production: 13
Cruise: 91–525 kt
Power: Piston • Turbofan • Turboprop

Overview

Cessna is an American general-aviation manufacturer founded in Wichita, Kansas, in 1927 by Clyde Cessna, best known for the high-wing single-engine aeroplanes that have trained generations of pilots and for the Citation family of business jets. It remains in production as a brand of Textron Aviation, having been a Textron company since 1992 and part of the unified Textron Aviation business since its formation in 2014.

Heritage

Clyde Cessna built his early reputation on the full-cantilever wing, a strutless design that set his monoplanes apart in the 1920s, and the company he founded grew after the Second World War into the largest general-aviation manufacturer in the world. Its post-war high-wing line, from the two-seat 120 and 140 through the 150, 172, and 182, came to define the light-aircraft market, and the 172 Skyhawk became the most-produced aeroplane in history. Cessna entered the business-jet market in the early 1970s with the first Citation and built it into one of the broadest jet families in aviation. Ownership passed to General Dynamics in 1985 and to Textron in 1992; in 2014 Textron combined Cessna with the former Beechcraft and Hawker lines to form Textron Aviation. Like the rest of the American light-aircraft industry, Cessna halted piston-single production in 1986 during the product-liability crisis and resumed it in 1996 after the General Aviation Revitalization Act limited that exposure.

Design Signature

The Cessna name is synonymous with the strut-braced high wing, tricycle undercarriage, and forgiving handling that made the Cessna 172 Skyhawk and Cessna 182 Skylane the default trainers and touring singles of general aviation. That same high-wing utility philosophy carried into turbine power with the Cessna 208 Caravan, a single-engine turboprop operated worldwide for cargo, commuter, and float work. At the other end of the range, the Citation line pursued approachable, owner-flyable business jets rather than outright speed, a formula that grew into one of the most widely fielded jet families in business aviation.

For Owners

The 172 Skyhawk, 182 Skylane, and 206 Stationair singles, the Caravan turboprops, and the Citation jets all remain in production under Textron Aviation, which maintains factory parts and service for the current range and supports much of the legacy fleet through a broad aftermarket and one of the largest owner communities in general aviation. Owners of the many out-of-production models, from the 300 and 400-series twins to the early high-wing singles, benefit from that same parts depth and from Textron’s continued custody of the type certificates, though support thins on the rarer and older airframes.

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