Aircraft model
CESSNA R182
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Skylane RG, built 1978-1986: a 182 with retractable landing gear and 235 hp, giving about 13 knots more cruise and a useful load that is the best in the family. It is the aeroplane for someone who wants to carry four adults and bags 700 miles at 156 knots without moving up to a twin or a turbocharged aircraft, and it does that job unusually well.
The catch is the landing gear. The hydraulic retraction system is the type's defining maintenance burden — the power pack, actuators and seals leak and fail with age, the gear saddles and pivots wear, and there is a history of gear-collapse incidents when the system is neglected. A pre-purchase inspection must include a full gear swing and an examination of the system's service history, and an owner should budget for it. Insurance costs more than a fixed-gear 182 and most insurers want a complex endorsement plus retractable time. If you fly often and far, the speed and load are worth it; if you fly a hundred hours a year locally, a fixed-gear 182 is the cheaper and less troublesome aeroplane.
Compare with…
Put CESSNA R182 side by side with up to two other models.
- CESSNA R182
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-540-J3C5D |
| Horsepower | 235 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1978 |
| Production end | 1986 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 156 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 840 nm |
| Service ceiling | 18,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,140 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 49 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,570 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,320 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,350 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 822 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,100 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,750 lb |
| Usable fuel | 88 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 13.2 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $109,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $298,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 2,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $45,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $64,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 1,189 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 706 |
| Median year built | 1978.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 35 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 5 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 49.581 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 39.662 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 138 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 19.553 |
| Airworthiness directives | 9 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 706 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 706 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 706 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 3.3 of 101 |
| Severity | 4.2 of 102 |
| Access | 5.1 of 103 |
| Support | 8.5 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 5 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 26.1 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 28.36 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 11.65.
- Access: class median 767.75.
- Support: class median 141.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.57.
- 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.