Cessna delivered the first production Model 172 in 1956, adapting it from the earlier tailwheel-equipped 170 by adding a tricycle landing gear that made it far more forgiving for new pilots to land. The original version came with a 145 hp Continental O-300 engine and a maximum gross weight of 2,200 lb. Cessna built more than 4,195 of them in the model’s first five years alone, with over 1,400 delivered in 1956 alone.

The Skyhawk went on to become the best-selling aircraft ever built, with more than 43,000 produced by 2010, a production run that has continued into the present with the current 172S and 172R models. Its combination of simple systems, forgiving handling, and low operating costs made it the default choice for flight schools worldwide, and it remains the aircraft most working pilots first trained in.

Cessna kept the airframe in near-continuous production for decades, pausing only briefly in the 1980s before resuming output in 1997 with the modernized Skyhawk 172R and later the 172S, both fitted with fuel-injected Lycoming engines and, on newer models, Garmin glass cockpit avionics.

Aircraft: Cessna 172S Skyhawk

• Length: 27 ft 2 in (8.3 m)
• Wingspan: 36 ft 1 in (11.0 m)
• Height: 8 ft 11 in (2.7 m)
• Empty weight: approximately 1,680 lb (762 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 2,550 lb (1,157 kg)
• Engine: Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 hp
• Cruise speed: 124 to 126 kt (143 to 145 mph / 230 to 233 km/h)
• Range: approximately 640 nm (737 mi / 1,186 km)
• Service ceiling: 14,000 ft (4,267 m)
• Crew/capacity: 1 pilot, 3 passengers