Aircraft model
CESSNA 172RG
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Cutlass RG, built 1980-1985: a 172 with retractable landing gear, 180 hp and a constant-speed propeller. Cessna built it so flight schools would have a cheap complex aeroplane for commercial licence training, and that is still overwhelmingly what it is used for. It cruises at about 140 knots, which is 16 knots better than a fixed-gear 172S for a good deal more maintenance.
The landing gear is the whole story. The hydraulic retraction system is more complex than the airframe deserves, the actuators and power pack leak and fail with age, the gear saddles wear, and there is a documented history of collapses and gear-up incidents in school service. A pre-purchase inspection must include a full gear swing and a careful reading of the system's maintenance history, and an owner must budget for it as a recurring cost rather than a surprise. At 180 hp no high-performance endorsement applies, but a complex endorsement does and insurance costs noticeably more than for a fixed-gear 172.
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Put CESSNA 172RG side by side with up to two other models.
- CESSNA 172RG
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-360-F1A6 |
| Horsepower | 180 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1980 |
| Production end | 1985 |
| Endorsements required | complex |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 140 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 720 nm |
| Service ceiling | 16,800 ft |
| Climb rate | 800 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 42 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,775 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,340 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,095 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 723 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,650 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,555 lb |
| Usable fuel | 62 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 10.1 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $85,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $218,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 2,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $32,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $46,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 1,095 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 447 |
| Median year built | 1980.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 19 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 42.511 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 15.662 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 107 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 23.943 |
| Airworthiness directives | 7 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 447 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 447 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 447 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 8.5 of 101 |
| Severity | 8.4 of 102 |
| Access | 7.5 of 103 |
| Support | 7.7 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 7.9 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 40 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 28.36 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 11.65.
- Access: class median 767.75.
- Support: class median 141.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.57.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.