Order for 12 new CAP airplanes made at Sun 'n Fun

By Maj. DOUGLAS E. JESSMER
Florida Wing Director of Public Affairs

LAKELAND, April 22, 2010: Civil Air Patrol will have 12 new Cessna 182 Skylanes by the end of the year, thanks to an order made during the annual Sun 'n Fun Fly-in.

Cessna Aircraft Co. announced the deal this week. CAP is Cessna's largest fleet operator, and the organization operates one of the largest fleets of single-engine piston aircraft. CAP aircraft fly about 112,000 hours annually across the country, primarily in search and rescue and disaster relief missions.

"The Skylane is a versatile four-place aircraft that is well-suited for the critically important CAP mission profile," said John Doman, Cessna's vice president for worldwide propeller sales. "We're glad to be able to support CAP's increasingly important mission and value our long-term partnership with them."

Florida Wing Commander Col. Chris Moersch said Cessna aircraft are vital to CAP's flying missions.

"The dependability and reliability of these airframes, and support from Cessna allows Florida Wing to lead the nation in mission hours flying in support of our communities, the state of Florida, and our nation," he said.

The fly-in is the second-largest air show in the nation; Florida Wing personnel conducted emergency services taskings at the show, as well as operating a drug-demand-reduction display and static aircraft display.

Civil Air Patrol, the uniformed, volunteer auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 56,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 90 lives in fiscal year 2008. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the nearly 22,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 67 years.

For more information, please contact Florida Wing Public Affairs.