Aircraft model
CESSNA 175C
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The 1962 Skylark, the last of the 175s, and the model year in which Cessna finally admitted the problem by fitting the improved GO-300-E and selling it as a de-luxe Skyhawk rather than a separate model. Maximum weight is 2,450 lb, up from 2,350. The aeroplane is a 172 airframe with a geared Continental turning a big slow propeller, which on paper gives 175 hp and better climb.
In practice the geared O-300 is why almost nobody wants a 175, and why they are the cheapest four-seat Cessna you can buy. It runs at 3,200 rpm through a reduction gearbox, it sounds wrong to anyone used to a direct-drive engine, pilots habitually ran it below its design speed, and the reputation for short cylinder and gearbox life followed. A very large proportion of surviving 175s have been converted to a direct-drive Lycoming O-320 or O-360 under a supplemental type certificate, which makes them ordinary 172s with a different data plate and a better one to own. Establish which you are buying before anything else.
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Put CESSNA 175C side by side with up to two other models.
- CESSNA 175C
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental GO-300-E (geared) |
| Horsepower | 175 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1962 |
| Production end | 1962 |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 118 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 589 nm |
| Service ceiling | 14,500 ft |
| Climb rate | 790 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 56 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,450 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,170 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,125 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 813 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,450 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,325 lb |
| Usable fuel | 52 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 9.8 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $60,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $95,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,200 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $34,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $48,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 93 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 44 |
| Median year built | 1961.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 22.73 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 22.73 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 9 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 20.45 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 4 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 44 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 44 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 44 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 0.2 of 103 |
| Support | 1.7 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 5.7 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 32.28 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 775.
- Support: class median 147.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.9.
- 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.