Williamsport, PA - October 16, 2007 - Lycoming Engines has donated eight aircraft training engines and engine stands to the Plattsburgh Aeronautical Institute in northern New York, giving its students hands-on experience during powerplant training.

Dennis Racine, Lycoming's director of marketing and customer leadership explained, “The future of our industry rests with the next generation of aviators and technicians. The Plattsburgh Aviation Institute is providing valuable training to students in the Northeast and Canada, and we are excited to partner with them in that effort. Training technical people to maintain the products we produce is crucial to the long-term success of Lycoming engines.”

In addition to the training engines and stands, Lycoming ensured that the students also had the necessary instructional aids, including Key Reprint manuals and DVDs on Lycoming products. Instructors can easily obtain the documentation for the specialized Lycoming training as well.

"Lycoming's generosity is helping us provide a better program to our students, while also giving them practical experience with the industry's most recognizable piston engines," remarked James McCartney, Plattsburgh Aeronautical Institute's project coordinator.

As a result of this relationship, Plattsburgh Aeronautical Institute instructors will also have the opportunity to visit Lycoming's training facility at Penn College, an affiliate of Penn State University, in Williamsport, PA. The training opportunity is a comprehensive four-day, hands-on, refresher course on Lycoming's current production piston aircraft engines.

“Since 1929, Lycoming has been known for the reliability, performance and quality of its engines. We hope that future graduates of the Plattsburgh Aeronautical Institute will help us keep this tradition alive as both Lycoming Engine experts but also as users of our engines,” added Racine.

Lycoming Engines specializes in Engineering, Manufacture, Service and Support of piston aircraft engines. Headquartered in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Lycoming piston engines power more than half of the world's general aviation fleet – both rotary-wing and fixed-wing. Lycoming Engines is a division of Avco Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Textron Inc. More information is available at www.lycoming.textron.com.

Textron Inc. is an $11 billion multi-industry company operating in 32 countries with approximately 40,000 employees. The company leverages its global network of aircraft, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft Company, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Greenlee, Fluid & Power, Textron Systems and Textron Financial Corporation. More information is available at www.textron.com.