CESSNA 172 HISTORY AND CESSNA 172 SPECIFICATIONS

by Christopher Harris, ATU student and Instructor
(Bates City, MO)

CESSNA 172 HISTORY & CESSNA 172 SPECIFICATIONS

On a cold November day in 1955 the Cessna 172 Skyhawk's maiden voyage would be the start of the most successful mass produced light aircraft in history!

Between 1956 and 2008 over 43,000 Cessna 172 Skyhawks have been built.

In it's first year 1400 flying Cessna came of the production line.

The first Cessna 172 was built in 1955 and called the 1956 model.

Throughout the years the Cessna 172 has had very little change imposed on it's design.

This allows the aircraft to maintain performance and yet improve minor details that enhance the experience of flying Cessna 172s and learning to fly Cessna 172s.

One of the more noticeable changes would be advertised by Cessna as Omni-Vision, which was the revised landing gear and a lowered rear deck that allowed an aft window.

The final aesthetic development would occur in the mid-1960s.

This was the well known Cessna 172 sweptback tail which is still in use today and has remained almost unchanged.

The Cessna 172s dimensions and airframe have remained the same since then, except for updates in avionics and engines, including the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit in 2005.

CESSNA 172 SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE BASIC MODEL

The basic 172 appeared in November 1955 as the 1956 model and remained in production until replaced by the 172A in early 1960.

It was produced with a Continental O-300 145 horsepower six-cylinder, air-cooled engine and had a maximum gross weight of 2200 pounds.

The Cessna 172 POH came out with all the performance specifications you could ever hope for.

The new Cessna 172 price was $8995 and a total of 4195 were constructed over the five years.

The combination of low price and performance made the 172 the " Learn to fly Cessna ".

CESSNA 172a SPECIFICATIONS

The 1960 model 172a introduced a swept back tail and rudder, as well as float fittings. The new Cessna 172 price was $9450 and 1015 were built

CESSNA 172b SPECIFICATIONS

The 172B was introduced in late 1960 as the 1961 model and introduced a shorter undercarriage, engine mounts lengthened three inches, a reshaped cowling and a pointed propeller spinner.3

For the first time, the "Skyhawk" name was applied to an available deluxe option package.

This added optional equipment included full exterior paint to replace the standard partial paint stripes and standard avionics. The gross weight was increased to 2,250Lbs.

CESSNA 173c

The 1962 model was the 172C.

It brought to the line an optional autopilot and a key starter to replace the previous pull-starter.

The seats were redesigned to be six-way adjustable.

A child seat was made optional to allow two children to be carried in the baggage area.

The 1962 price was $9895.

A total of 889 172C models were produced.

I will end this article by saying TUNE IN NEXT WEEK FOR MORE SPECS, HISTORY AND FACTS ON MORE OF CESSNA 172 VARIATIONS AND I'LL HAVE MORE PICS OF THE CESSNA 172 INSTRUMENT PANEL, AND MUCH MORE!