As Piper announced the PiperSport, Cessna whispered news of delivery delays for the the SkyCatcher. It seems there are some tooling changes required in China in order to incorporate the design changes made following the spin accidents. These changes will delay any significant deliveries by six to twelve months. In the meantime a small number will be delivered and the modifications will be made in the US by Yingling Aviation.
Some are asking why these changes aren't being done in China - after all, labour is cheap and it would get deliveries (and a bit of cash) flowing. There are of course rumours. Is Cessna having quality issues in China? Are the aircraft coming off the line a little heavy? Is the local training taking longer than originally thought?
The official line remains that the delay is due to changed tooling requirements…
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