Wichita, KS—Yingling Aviation announced today that it delivered the first upgraded version of its comprehensively remanufactured Ascend 172 light single engine aircraft to Suburban Aviation, Inc. of Suburban Toledo Airport in southeast Michigan. Suburban was named an Ascend 172 dealer in September, 2016. The firm provides localized, rapid and responsive support to its customers, utilizing the same standards and procedures established at Yingling.
“Suburban is an outstanding example of a successful family enterprise. As a Cessna Factory Authorized Service Center, they have provided a full spectrum of aircraft maintenance, especially for Cessna single and twin engine aircraft since the company was founded in 1984,” explained Lynn Nichols, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingling. “Their strong background and superior reputation were among the reasons we selected them as one of our initial Ascend 172 dealers,” he added. In addition to the company’s on-site flight training, sales and service at Suburban Toledo Airport, it also provides all of the flight instruction for Eastern Michigan University at Willow Run Airport (KYIP) in Ypsilanti through a sister company, Eagle Flight Centre.
Suburban’s chief executive officer Tom Trumbull and Scott Trumbull, president, are “extremely pleased to have a demonstrator Ascend 172 to utilize in marketing the airplane to a substantial list of prospects.” Tom explained that “in the past, we’ve identified individuals who want to have the ownership experience and who are willing to lease back their airplanes for flight instruction, but the numbers just didn’t add up. That’s because today’s new Cessna Skyhawks come with a $400,000+ purchase price. Now that we have an actual ‘like-new’ airplane to show prospects, the concept of a lease back agreement becomes possible. It’s practical, it offers owners a potential ‘win-win’ proposition, and it’s actually affordable again,” he added.
A Cessna 172N model, the rebuilt airplane is painted in Yingling’s standard paint scheme with Snow White base color and Capri Blue and Black stripes. It is equipped with Garmin’s G500 EFIS, Sandia Quattro standby instrument, GTN-650 Global Positioning System (GPS), GMA-350 audio panel, GNC-255A Nav/Com, GTX-345 ADS-B In/Out transponder, LED lighting, and Rosen Sun Visors.
We expect this plane to be extremely popular for training and personal rentals. The Ascend program should allow us many years of use with minimal downtime for maintenance for years to come,” Scott Trumbull said.
