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The Cessna 162 Skycatcher is an American single-engine, side-by-side two-seat, high-wing, strut-braced, tricycle gear light-sport aircraft (LSA) that was designed
and produced by Cessna Aircraft Company. Its intended market was flight training and personal use. Cessna had announced its intentions to study the feasibility of
developing and producing an LSA on 6 June 2006. The concept design was unveiled on 24 July 2006 at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh as
the Cessna LSA (also referred to as the Cessna Sport), via a marketing study of the feasibility of producing an aircraft compliant with the U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration's new Light-Sport Aircraft category. On 13 October 2006, the prototype Cessna Light Sport Aircraft, s/n CSA-010001, registered N158CS, flew first.
Further development of the new model resulted in the Cessna 162 Skycatcher. On 8 March 2008, the first prototype SkyCatcher flew; the first initial production
configuration aircraft flew on 1 May 2008. The Cessna 162 was equipped with a direct drive air-cooled, carbureted Continental O-200-D engine, producing 100 hp at
2800 rpm. The aircraft was also equipped with a two-blade, fixed pitch composite propeller. The 162 featured a Garmin G300 EFIS, a Garmin SL40 communications radio,
a GTX327 transponder, and a 121.5 MHz ELT. Available options included an autopilot and audio panel. The aircraft's doors were different from previous two-seat
Cessna models. The doors open by swinging upward. The controls have a single hand panel mounted yoke instead of Cessna's usual two hand panel mounted yoke.
The airplane's structure was mostly aluminum with a fiberglass cowling. The airplane would be assembled in China of U.S.-made components and then shipped back
the United States for final assembly and delivery. On 17 september 2009, the first production line assembled-in-China Cessna 162 Skycatcher to be flown took
flight at Cessna’s Shenyang production facility in northeast China. The Skycatcher received its ASTM LSA approval on 22 July 2009. Cessna had at that time more
than 1,000 orders for the SkyCatcher, but priced itself out of the market due to the far too high price which was eventually asked for the 162 and the underwhelming
performance. Because of this most orders were canceled before production really started. In October 2012, the CEO of Cessna, Scott Ernest, proclaimed that the Cessna 162
had no future. Once this decision was made, Cessna stopped offering the 162, and as of January 2014, the Skycatcher aircraft was removed from the official Cessna
website. Finally the Cessna 162 was in production from 2009 to December 2013. Only 192 aircraft were sold, and the rest of the only 275 aircraft built were used
for parts until December 2016 when the remaining aircraft were scrapped.
The ICAO Aircraft Type Designator for the Cessna 162 Skycatcher is C162. |
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The 2011-built Cessna 162 Skycatcher s/n 16200054 was registered N6029M with Airworthiness Date 6 April 2011. Although registered in the
USA, Cessna 162 N6029M is operated in Europe from the beginning, first in the Czech Republic and since 2020 in Germany.
On 27 February 2022, Cessna 162 Skycatcher N6029M was seen with FLIGHT TRAINING ORGANIZATION titles at Flugplatz Leer-Papenburg (EDWF) in Germany. The
Flight Training Organization titles remind of the time that the Cessna 162 Skycatcher N6029M flew for DSA in the Czech Republic. |
