Aircraft model
CESSNA 180F
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The 1963 Skywagon, and the last of the four-seat 2,650 lb 180s. 129 were built. There is no change of substance from the 1962 model: the same 230 hp Continental O-470, the same airframe, the same weights, a lighter empty weight on paper mostly reflecting how a given aircraft was equipped when new rather than any design change.
The 180 is the aeroplane that built most of the backcountry strips in North America and it has never really been replaced. Values have gone one way for thirty years because nobody makes a new one and the bush and float market absorbs everything that comes up. Buy on corrosion, on the condition of the gear box structure and the tailwheel spring attachment, and on whether the aircraft has spent its life on floats — a salt-water 180 is a different proposition from a prairie one. Expect to pay for real tailwheel instruction and expect insurance to ask for it.
Compare with…
Put CESSNA 180F side by side with up to two other models.
- CESSNA 180F
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental O-470-R |
| Horsepower | 230 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1963 |
| Production end | 1963 |
| Endorsements required | high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 139 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 513 nm |
| Service ceiling | 21,500 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,130 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 54 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,080 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,330 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,120 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 790 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,650 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,530 lb |
| Usable fuel | 55 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 12.9 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $108,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $255,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,500 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $40,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $55,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 114 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 42 |
| Median year built | 1963.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 3 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 71.43 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 71.43 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 9 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 21.43 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 7 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 42 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 42 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 42 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 0.1 of 103 |
| Support | 1.8 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 5.2 of 105 |
These record scores treat CESSNA 180F as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes 3 aircraft registered under REARWIN. Prices are not combined.
- 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.