Cessna moves Corvalis deliveries to Independence customer center

Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, has begun deliveries of the Corvalis line of high-performance single-engine piston aircraft at the company's state-of-the-art customer center in Independence, Kan., the first step in moving the entire production line from Cessna's facility in Oregon.

"We currently deliver the Cessna Skyhawk, Skylane, Stationair, and the Citation Mustang from the customer center in Independence. Using this facility for deliveries to our new Corvalis customers is a great way to begin the process that will transition the entire Corvalis production line to Independence later this year," said Rod Holter, vice president for Cessna Single-Engine/Mustang Operations.

The customer accepting delivery of the first Corvalis from the Independence customer center is Glenn Hughes from Utah, who already owns a Citation CJ2 and has a Citation CJ4 on order.

"Taking delivery of my new Corvalis in Independence has been a wonderful experience," said Hughes. "We plan to use our Corvalis for our business and it will be a great addition to our Cessna fleet."

The Corvalis TT is the world's fastest fixed-gear single-engine piston aircraft with a top speed of 235 knots (435 km/hr) and a service ceiling of 25,000 feet (6,620 m).

Cessna will close its Bend, Ore., facility as previously announced on April 29. The final assembly and delivery process for the Corvalis product line will be moved to Cessna's facility in Independence over the next few months. Cessna acquired certain assets of Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Co. in December 2007. Since then, in addition to making a number of significant improvements to the aircraft and its global product support, Cessna renamed these aircraft the Cessna Corvalis TT (twin turbo) and Corvalis (normally-aspirated).