Textron Aviation announced the delivery of four new Cessna 172S Skyhawk flight trainer aircraft to the Philippine Navy. The Cessna 172S Skyhawk is the world’s leading flight trainer and the most-produced single-engine piston aircraft. It delivers an intuitive but sophisticated cockpit experience in a platform ideally suited for learning the skills needed to become a true pilot in command.
“The Cessna Skyhawk continues to be the Philippine Navy’s aircraft of choice for flight training,” said Bob Gibbs, vice president, Special Mission Sales for Textron Aviation. “Customer faith in our legendary products and trust in our company and our team are at the core of our relationship with military training academies worldwide.”
With simple flight characteristics, great visibility and a sophisticated glass cockpit outfitted with GARMIN G1000 NXi avionics, the Cessna 172S Skyhawk piston boasts a slow landing speed and a lenient stall, ideally suited for student pilots. The Philippine Navy acquired the four aircraft via a Foreign Military Sale managed by the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). This sale contributes to U.S. security and foreign policy goals by building the Philippines’ maritime domain security capacity and deepening our overall strategic partnership with the Philippines. The four Cessna 172S Skyhawks join an existing fleet of Cessna 172 training aircraft with the Naval Air Wing at Sangley Point, Philippines.