New Hampshire Receives Newest Cessna Aircraft for Civil Air Patrol

CONCORD, N.H. — The New Hampshire Wing of the Civil Air Patrol welcomes a new Cessna 172 “Skyhawk” to the wing’s fleet, delivered by Lt. Col. Kenneth Peperissa, of Penacook, N.H., and Capt. Mark Donovan of Moultonborough, N.H. The pair of Civil Air Patrol instructor pilots accepted the aircraft from Cessna’s factory in Independence, Kansas and flew it to the Granite State, logging 1,300 miles over two days while bringing it to its new home at Concord Municipal Airport. This is the state’s seventh Civil Air Patrol aircraft, part of a fleet of 560 across the nation. 

"This new Cessna Skyhawk represents a significant addition to the New Hampshire Civil Air Patrol. With its modern instruments and cockpit, our pilots will be able to train to the standards required for commercial pilots using what the FAA considers a ‘Technically Advanced Aircraft.’ This will help improve our overall pilot training programs and proficiency,” said Colonel Darin Ninness, commander of New Hampshire Wing. 

While the Cessna 172 is a well-established design—the most popular single-engine aircraft ever built—New Hampshire’s new Skyhawk is completely state-of-the-art. It boasts a fully digital Garmin G1000 NXi cockpit navigation system, the new Electronic Stability and Protection system, and other advanced features. “Colonel Peperissa and Captain Donovan will be key to helping our pilots become familiar with the new features of the glass cockpit systems,” Col. Ninness added. 

The Cessna 172 is a versatile aircraft used by the New Hampshire Wing for the wide variety of missions assigned by the Civil Air Patrol, the United States Air Force, and the State of New Hampshire. These missions include forest patrols, aerial photography, search and rescue, youth development, and promotion of air, space, and cyber power. New Hampshire Wing ranks second in average annual flight hours per aircraft throughout all of Civil Air Patrol. 

Lt. Col. Brian Riis, New Hampshire Wing director of operations, said, “For each of the last ten years, New Hampshire Wing has exceeded the flying-hour goals set by the Air Force for our aircraft. We’ve proven that we can safely and effectively use our aircraft to accomplish our assigned missions, and our training and proficiency programs. We look forward to serving the State of New Hampshire and Northern New England in the coming year.”