Aircraft model
CESSNA 305A (O-1A)
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Cessna 305A is the L-19 Bird Dog, a tandem two-seat military observation and liaison aircraft built on a 170-derived wing with a new narrow fuselage, huge greenhouse glazing and enormous flaps. It served in Korea and Vietnam as an artillery spotter and forward air control aircraft, and surplus airframes have been on the civil register for decades.
It is bought for short-field flying, glider towing and for the history. The visibility is extraordinary and the short-field performance genuinely remarkable — it will get off in a few hundred feet. It is slow, at 90 knots, and carries only two people. Practical considerations are a surplus airframe with a military history to verify, a tailwheel with 213 hp in front of it, and a fleet supported by specialists and type clubs rather than a factory. It is a widely used and well-regarded glider tug.
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Put CESSNA 305A (O-1A) side by side with up to two other models.
- CESSNA 305A (O-1A)
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental O-470-11 |
| Horsepower | 213 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | military-surplus |
| Production start | 1950 |
| Production end | 1959 |
| Endorsements required | high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 90 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 450 nm |
| Service ceiling | 18,500 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,150 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 42 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 600 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 600 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 786 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 540 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,400 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,614 lb |
| Usable fuel | 41 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 11.9 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $120,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $200,000 |
| 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 | 4 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 2 |
| Median year built | — |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 0 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Transfers per 100 active | — |
| Airworthiness directives | 4 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | none |
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 0.2 of 101 |
| Severity | 6.2 of 102 |
| Access | 3.8 of 103 |
| Support | 7.7 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 4.3 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 22.2 out of 506 |
These record scores treat CESSNA 305A (O-1A) as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes 166 aircraft registered as CESSNA 305A; includes 20 aircraft registered under CESSNA ECTOR; includes 4 aircraft registered as CESSNA 305; includes 1 aircraft registered under CESSNA ALLARDICE; includes 1 aircraft registered under CESSNA-MACONE; includes 1 aircraft registered under CESSNA-MORSE; includes 1 aircraft registered under CESSNA-VANSANT INTERPRISES-INC; includes 1 aircraft registered under CESSNA/WHITEHOUSE; includes the record of aircraft once registered under CESSNA/ALLARDICE. Prices are not combined.
- Accident record: class median 29.1 · 174 models in class.
- Severity: class median 9.09.
- Access: class median 974.
- Support: class median 81.
- Liquidity: class median 20.47.
- 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.