By Garth Calitz

The Cessna 172 is the premier training aircraft and the most widely used single-engine plane ever constructed. It features forgiving flight dynamics, excellent visibility, a low landing speed, and a forgiving stall. It's no surprise that very few pilots, regardless of their flying experience, do not have a C172 endorsement on their license.

The Cessna 172 originated as a version of the taildragger Cessna 170, featuring tricycle landing gear and basic standard equipment. In January 1955, Cessna tested an enhanced model of the Cessna 170, known as the Cessna 170C, which was powered by a Continental O-300-A engine and equipped with larger elevators and a more angular tailfin.

Cessna 170

Despite being tested and certified, Cessna opted to equip the variant with a tricycle landing gear, resulting in the modified Cessna 170C taking flight again on 12 June 1955. To minimize certification time and expenses, it was incorporated into the Cessna 170 type certificate as the Model 172. Subsequently, the 172 received its own type certificate, 3A12. The 172 quickly became a sales sensation, with over 1,400 units produced in 1956, its first complete year of production.

The early models of the 172 looked much like the 170s, featuring the same straight rear fuselage and tall landing gear legs. However, the 172 was distinguished by its straight tailfin, in contrast to the 170's rounded fin and rudder. In 1960, the 172A introduced updated landing gear and a swept-back tailfin, a design that remains in use today.

The last aesthetic change, introduced in the 1963 172D and all subsequent 172 models, was a lowered rear deck that included an aft window. Cessna promoted this enhanced rear visibility as "Omni-Vision."

Production stopped in the mid-1980s but restarted in 1996 with the 160 hp Cessna 172R Skyhawk. In 1998, Cessna added the 180 hp Cessna 172S Skyhawk SP to its lineup.

The Cessna 172 can be altered through a variety of supplemental type certificates (STCs), which include enhancements like increased engine power and greater gross weights. Available STC engine upgrades boost power from 180 to 210 hp, incorporate constant-speed propellers, or permit the use of automobile gasoline. Other modifications involve expanding fuel tank capacity in the wing tips, adding baggage compartment tanks, installing wheel pants to decrease drag, or improving landing and takeoff performance and safety with a STOL kit.

In 1958, a Cessna 172 was utilized to establish the world record for flight endurance, a record that remains unbroken. On December 4, 1958, Robert Timm and John Cook departed from McCarran Airfield in Las Vegas, Nevada, aboard a second-hand Cessna 172 with the registration number N9172B. They returned to McCarran Airfield on February 4, 1959, after spending 64 days, 22 hours, 19 minutes, and 5 seconds in the air.

The flight was organized as a fund-raiser for the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund. Supplies of food and water were transferred by aligning speeds with a chase car on a straight desert road, using a rope and bucket to hoist them aboard. Fuel was obtained by lifting a hose from a fuel truck to the aircraft, filling an auxiliary belly tank installed for the flight, transferring that fuel into the aircraft's regular tanks, and then refilling the belly tank. The drivers navigated while another person maintained the vehicle's speed with his foot on the accelerator pedal.

Engine oil was added by means of a tube from the cabin that was fitted to pass through the firewall. Only the pilot's seat was installed. The remaining space was used for a pad on which the relief pilot slept. The right cabin door was replaced with an easy-opening, accordion-type door to allow supplies and fuel to be hoisted aboard. Early in the flight, the engine-driven electric generator failed. A Champion wind-driven generator (turned by a small propeller) was hoisted aboard, taped to the wing support strut, and plugged into the cigarette lighter socket; it served as the aircraft's source of electricity for the rest of the flight.

The pilots chose to conclude the marathon flight because, after 1,558 hours of continuous engine operation during the record-setting journey, combined with several hundred hours already on the engine before the flight (significantly exceeding its usual overhaul interval), the engine's power output had diminished to a level where they struggled to climb after refueling. The aircraft is exhibited in the passenger terminal at McCarran International Airport. Photos and details of the record flight are available in a small museum on the upper level of the baggage claim area. Following the flight, Cook stated: "Next time I feel in the mood to fly endurance, I'm going to lock myself in our garbage can with the vacuum cleaner running. That is until my psychiatrist opens up for business in the morning."

In October, a fully electric Cessna 172 successfully completed multiple flights using advanced lithium batteries. This aircraft, developed by Colorado-based Beyond Aviation, had been subjected to ground testing and short hop flights for nearly a year, with tests increasingly focusing on range and altitude.

The power demands of electric aircraft are more complex than those of electric cars because of the significant temperature changes experienced during ascent and the substantial power needed for takeoff. The flight tests of the Cessna 172 showcase the capability to provide the lightest high-power battery systems in a production-ready format for applications where minimizing weight is crucial.

The Cessna 172 could be considered the most graceful compromise in aviation history. While it may not have excelled at any single task, it undeniably excelled at providing its owners with a fulfilling experience of everything they desired in a personal aircraft. For numerous owners, the 172 was the aircraft of a lifetime.

Why not? It was and remains a great, enjoyable flyer; an excellent choice for short-haul, modest-payload cross-country trips; a fantastic trainer and a reliable IFR platform.

For some owners, the 172 was a transitional aircraft. After gaining initial experience with what was typically their first personal airplane, buyers frequently upgraded to something larger, faster, and more capable. For many years, the natural progression was to another Cessna model, the 182 Skylane. Others advanced further to higher-performance models; there was even a retractable version of the 172, which was a favored option for flight schools as a complex trainer.

Currently, the Cessna 172 is the most popular airplane in history, with approximately 43,000 units produced, including its variants, as reported by Cessna. Even after 55 years, the production count continues to grow.

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