GA manufacturers of today won't even be thinking that they could go on to sell 45,000 of a new design, and in June 1955, Cessna Aircraft wouldn't have been thinking their new tricycle-undercart high-wing would achieve anything like that either.
And yet, 70 years later the Cessna 172 has surpassed that mark, with more being added to the score every month.
The raging success of the C172 has been attributed to simplicity, relative economy and high utility value, lending itself to so many mission profiles that there would be few pilots over the age of 40 that didn't have C172 time in their logbooks. It not only set the standard for light aircraft, it became the benchmark for other manufacturers to chase down.
"As the most popular aircraft in aviation history, the Cessna Skyhawk’s 70 years of success in pilot training and aviation programs highlight the aircraft’s exceptional design and enduring performance,” said Cessna vice president Piston Sales Chris Crow said this week.
“With our ongoing dedication to innovation, including the recent enhancements to the Cessna piston line-up, we look forward to seeing the Skyhawk continue to inspire the journey of flight as the go-to aircraft for flight schools and private pilots across the world.”
Cessna developed the C172 from the C170 taildragger, encouraged by a belief that if you made aeroplanes easier to land and control on the ground then more people would want them. They eschewed the third wheel on the tail and instead installed a nosewheel, branding the tricycle configuration as "Land-o-matic".
That steerable nosewheel meant the C172 could be turned around on a 30-feet wide taxiway with room to spare, and was much easier to land and control on the runway.
In June 1955, the first of 45,000 flew for the first time. The new model was fitted with a six-cylinder Continental O-300 engine and Cessna added it to the C170 type certificate initially. It would later be awarded its own type certificate.
Cessna priced the C172 at $US8295, pitching it at the business market as a time-saving tool for traveling. In the first 10 months, Cessna had accumulated 1000 signatures on order forms. In its first full year of manufacture in 1956, the company rolled out more than 1400 airframes.
For perspective, Textron built 1386 C172SPs over the nine-year period 2016-24. Eventually, the C172 would collect the epithets "pick-up [ute] of the sky" and "the pilot-maker" with much justification; it performed both these roles very well.
And many a private pilot's "old faithful" is a workhorse 172.
Initially, the aircraft had no name other than Cessna 172. The brand Skyhawk wasn't applied to the model until 1960.
Manufacturing continued with several changes and upgrades; most notably re-profiling the sloping turtle deck and raking back the tail fin. in 1967, Cessna did away with the six-cylinder Continental and replaced it with a 150-hp four-cylinder O-320-E2D Lycoming engine. The C172H was the last variant to use a Continental avgas motor.
It was around that time that Cessna started to think the Skyhawk had had its day, with the power of hindsight, a remarkable attitude only 10 years after the model's inception. The company designed the successor C177 Cardinal, but despite a sleeker design and strutless, cantilevered wing, the Cardinal couldn't match the Skyhawk; the 150-hp engine in the front just didn't have enough power for the new airframe.
Whilst Cessna persisted with the Cardinal by putting in a 200-hp engine and a constant-speed propeller (and eventually produced an RG version), the order books for the Skyhawk were as healthy as ever. It had seen off the upstart challenger without breaking into a sweat.
It seemed Cessna had the perfect formula for a simple, hard-working and reliable four-seat piston aircraft and could do no wrong with the various modifications over the years. And then came the C172N of 1977. Cessna opted for the 100RON-burning Lycoming O-320-H2AD engine, which would prove troublesome, unreliable and very unpopular thanks to modifications to the hydraulic lifters.
For the C172P of 1981, Cessna chose the more reliable O-320-D2J, in the process creating one of the most sought-after variants of the Skyhawk. In later years, many of the N model would be retro-fitted with this motor.
But in 1986, the Wichita production lines ground to a halt. A string of costly liability lawsuits in the USA sent insurance premiums to unsustainable levels, causing Cessna CEO Russ Meyer to remark in later years that the product liability had become "a real cancer". Cessna had no option but to mothball all single-engined pistons for fear of being held liable for accidents even when pilot negligence was proven.
It would be another nine years before the Skyhawk story could continue. Thanks to an act of congress passed in 1994, liability pay-outs became limited, and Cessna immediately began inspecting potential new sites for manufacturing piston singles again.
In 1996, the company presented to the world the upgraded and totally modern Cessna 172R Skyhawk, with innovative options like GPS, leather interior, airbags on the seat belts and a de-rated, fuel-injected IO-360 Lycoming out the front. It was general aviation's beautiful friendship renewed.
Today, the C172 legacy lives on, but not as we had known it. The standard C172S Skyhawk finally passed into history in 2012, usurped in demand by the 180-hp C172SP. With even better performance, the SP is still proving to be the aircraft to beat in the four-seat trainer market.
But the story would not be complete without mentioning the variants based on the original 1955 platform. It has formed the basis for the:
- C175 Skylark
- P172D Powermatic
- Reims FR172
- T-41A Mescalero air force trainer
- R172K Hawk XP
- 172RG Cutlass
- Turbo Skyhawk JT-A diesel.
And through all that, it is the most basic, uncomplicated version that has prevailed today. Over the past 10 manufacturing years, the C172 has outsold its closest competitor, Piper's PA28, by 400 airframes. Although these numbers are not anything like the manufacturing figures from the halcyon days of the early 1970s, they do show the Skyhawk is maintaining popularity.
Where does it go to from here? The C172 has been modified many times and will be modified again as a platform for new innovation.
At the time of writing Cessna is not showing any inclination to obsolete this 70-year-old airframe any time soon.