Prescott Campus Orders Two New Cessna Skyhawks to Meet Growing Enrollment

Cessna Aircraft Company, a subsidiary of Textron Aviation Inc., recently announced it has received an order from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Prescott, Ariz., Campus during the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) AirVenture last week for two new Cessna Skyhawk 172s.

Doug May, Textron Aviation’s vice president of Piston Aircraft, and Dr. Karen A. Holbrook, interim president of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, signed the purchase agreement this week in Textron Aviation’s booth at the annual air show and convention in Oshkosh, Wis.

The aircraft will be delivered later this year to Embry-Riddle’s Prescott Campus, continuing the university’s commitment to update its flight training fleet currently composed of 16 Skyhawks and to support continued enrollment in flight programs. Embry-Riddle operates 69 Cessna 172s university-wide in its training fleet.

“Embry-Riddle's Prescott Arizona campus has experienced unprecedented growth in the number and quality of bright young people who want to enter our rigorous programs in the fields of aviation, engineering, aviation business, security and intelligence, and the sciences,” said Prescott Campus Chancellor Dr. Frank Ayers. “We are so very proud of our long-standing relationship with Cessna and Textron, and these two additional aircraft, added to our large state of the art fleet are helping the campus support that growth by providing additional opportunities for our amazing young pilots to fly.”

This past May, the Prescott Campus Golden Eagles Flight Team bested more than three dozen university competitors to capture its 10th national championship at the 2016 National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference (SAFECON) competition in Ohio. All 10 national championships were achieved in Cessna aircraft.