Aircraft model
CESSNA 185E
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The 1966 Skywagon 185, and the year the type got the engine it is remembered for: the 300 hp Continental IO-520-D in place of the 260 hp IO-470-F, with maximum weight up from 3,200 to 3,300 lb. The 185E and the utility-category A185E that ran alongside it accounted for 988 aircraft between them. Forty extra horsepower on an airframe this light changes what the aeroplane can be asked to do off a short strip.
A 185 is a 180 with more engine and more gross weight, and it is the standard against which working taildraggers are measured. Nothing about ownership is cheap: the IO-470 and IO-520 are expensive at overhaul, the airframes are old enough that corrosion and previous repairs are the real subject of a pre-purchase inspection, and float and ski operations leave marks. Values have risen steadily for decades because the supply is fixed. Tailwheel and high-performance endorsements are both required and insurers will want meaningful time in type on top of them.
Compare with…
Put CESSNA 185E side by side with up to two other models.
- CESSNA 185E
What it is
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental IO-520-D |
| Horsepower | 300 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1966 |
| Production end | 1966 |
| Endorsements required | high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 145 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 470 nm |
| Service ceiling | 16,900 ft |
| Climb rate | 950 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 54 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,290 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,285 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,740 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 1,350 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,300 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,560 lb |
| Usable fuel | 65 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 16.8 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $160,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $335,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,700 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $48,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $68,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 34 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 14 |
| Median year built | 1966.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | — |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | — |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 0 |
| Transfers per 100 active | — |
| Airworthiness directives | 8 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | none |
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 5-6 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 9.3 of 103 |
| Support | 1.7 of 104 |
| Liquidity | —5 |
- Accident record: class median 38.47 · 74 models in class.
- Severity: class median 16.67.
- Access: class median 1,823.
- Support: class median 96.
- Liquidity: class median 17.67.
- 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.