Cessna 172E Skyhawk       N2992U     (c/n  172-50592

                                     

                                        I have always thought that a well equipped Skyhawk is the epitome of a classy lightplane.  Cessna
                                        evidently thought so too, since the 172 was the aircraft with which they elected to resume light plane
                                        production following a twenty year hiatus from the late 70s to the late 90s.  During this period Beech,
                                        Cessna and Piper quit building lightplanes.  Why?  Well, when Joe Blow purchased his Skyhawk
                                        in 1978, took off overloaded from a high and hot airfield in a thunderstorm and came to an untimely
                                        end, his widow sued Cessna.....and won.   So the manufacturers said, in essence, "The Hell with it....
                                        we'll not build singles any more".    The gap was filled with foreign imports (who laughed at such law-
                                        suits) and home builts.    Around the end of the last century the courts became somewhat (but not
                                        entirely) more sympathetic to the manufacturers cause, and production recommenced.    This lovely
                                        1963 Skyhawk is not very much different from its 2006 counterpart.  This shot was taken at the Air
                                        Oasis dealership at Long Beach Municipal, California, in December of 1963.