The aircraft is one of 11 Model 172 Skyhawks being taken over the next 14 months by Northwestern Michigan College as it upgrades its training fleet. The order was placed through Cessna's authorized sales representative, Suburban Aviation in Lambertville, Mich.

“This milestone is significant as a tribute to the timelessness of the Skyhawk's design, and to the consistent excellence of assembly that allows us to remain not just competitive, but an industry leader,” said Rod Holter, general manager of Cessna's Independence facility. “The 172 remains one of the world's most popular training aircraft.”

“We really enjoy the fact that we can celebrate this excellent product and the number of deliveries with Cessna. We are excited to be Cessna's 7,500th delivery,” said Aaron Cook, director of aviation at Northwestern Michigan College.

The Skyhawk comes standard with the Garmin G1000 avionics package, one of the most advanced and integrated in the industry, giving the pilot unprecedented situational awareness.

“We considered six different aircraft models when we made the decision to upgrade our trainer fleet. We chose the Cessna Skyhawk because it is an excellent trainer. Its safety record, consistent parts availability and ease of maintenance also factored into our decision,” Cook said.

Northwestern Michigan College offers flight training to students as part of its degree programs, and it offers flight instruction for ratings and recurrency to non-students.

Based on unit sales, Cessna Aircraft Company is the world's largest manufacturer of general aviation airplanes. In 2006, Cessna delivered 1,239 aircraft, including 307 Citation business jets, and reported revenues of about $4.2 billion and a backlog of $8.5 billion. Since the company was originally established in 1927, more than 189,000 Cessna airplanes have been delivered to nearly every country in the world. The global fleet of almost 5,000 Citations is the largest fleet of business jets in the world. More information about Cessna Aircraft Company is available at www.cessna.com.

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