Sebring, Fla., January 17, 2008 – Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, today at the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo announced the locations of its United States reassembly facilities for the Cessna SkyCatcher.

Following production in China, SkyCatchers will be test flown, disassembled and shipped to three Cessna authorized service stations in the United States: Eagle Aviation in West Columbia, S.C., Yingling Aviation in Wichita, Kan., and Southwest Platinum Aviation in North Las Vegas, Nev. The facilities will reassemble the aircraft and conduct acceptance test flights prior to delivery to Cessna Sales Team Authorized Representatives, who will in turn distribute the aircraft to retail customers.

Cessna has partnered with Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) for production of the new Model 162 SkyCatcher light sport aircraft (LSA) in Shenyang, China. Cessna will ship the SkyCatcher's engine and avionics, along with raw materials, from the United States to Shenyang for assembly by SAC. Cessna will provide on-site personnel to oversee assembly, quality assurance and technical support.

Cessna announced the go-ahead for the SkyCatcher LSA in July 2007. The aluminum aircraft is designed to meet American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard F2245 for the light sport category. First flight of the prototype Model 162 is set for the first half of 2008 and deliveries are expected to begin in 2009. Cessna expects to produce up to 700 a year at full-rate production.

A mockup of the Cessna SkyCatcher is on display from Jan. 17-20 at the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Fla.