CESSNA 172S

The Skyhawk SP, the 180 hp version introduced in 1998 and the standard new 172 ever since. It is the aeroplane most American pilots now learn in. Compared with the 160 hp 172R it climbs better, carries more and copes properly with hot and high airfields, which is why it displaced the R entirely. The airframe and engine have not changed since 1998; the panel has, twice. Through the 2004 model year every Skyhawk SP has a conventional round-dial panel with Bendix/King radios and, at most, a KAP 140 autopilot. The Garmin G1000 arrived for the 2005 model year and is the panel on new Skyhawks from then on; aircraft from the changeover should be checked rather than assumed. From 2008 the Garmin GFC 700 autopilot replaced the KAP 140 on G1000 aircraft, and from 2017 the panel is the G1000 NXi. A 2004 Skyhawk is therefore a six-pack aeroplane and a 2006 a glass one.

It is the safest, dullest purchase in general aviation: parts everywhere, every mechanic knows it, every school teaches in it, and resale is reliable. The criticisms are real but small. It still only carries about 570 lb with full tanks, so it is a two-adults-plus-bags aeroplane, not a family-of-four aeroplane. It is slow for the money — 124 knots for the price of a well-equipped used car collection. And early G1000 aircraft can be expensive to keep current as display and database hardware ages. If you want easy ownership rather than performance, this is the answer.