06/09/2025 | Press release | Archived content
On June 9th, South Dakota Wing acquired a brand-new Cessna-182 from the Cessna factory in Independence, KS. Wing members Justin Johnson, Craig Goodrich, and Jeremy Langrock flew the new aircraft back to its new home in South Dakota.
"I am super excited to have the new airplane that has advanced equipment to continue to do our missions," Lt. Col. Justin Johnson stated. "A special thanks to Craig Goodrich and Jeremy Langrock for going with me. Also, to Jacob Roth, Kyle Clement, and Mike Cassidy for taking photos, videoing, and helping to debug the leading edges of the aircraft once we got back."
South Dakota Wing maintains an all glass-cockpit fleet with upgraded avionics to assist in search and rescue missions, cadet orientation flights, and low-level route surveys. In these low-level routes, aircrew record updated towers to the military and FAA, providing critical safety data to military aircrew conducting these low levels, some of which may fly as low as 500 feet above the ground. On these survey flights, CAP ensures that there are no new radio towers, or other things that would endanger the military aircraft at the low levels.
The new aircraft will allow SD Wing to maintain a mission-ready aircraft fleet in accordance with CAP regulations, and to continue its readiness for emergency response for the air force and local; state and national agencies; as well as aerospace education and support for the CAP "cadets" youth program.
Tagged As: airplane, Aviation, CAP, Civil Air Patrol, Search and Rescue,