Have owned a 1956 C-172, two 1959 C-172's, Have flown almost every year of the 172's and have maybe between 1700-2300 hrs of C-172 time. Never kept very good track of hours in my log books. 1959 is my favorite year, last year of the straight tail, better instrument panel but still not center stack radios. Love the manual flaps. Like the C-0-300 engine but wish it was 180 HP. How about a 6 cyl Lyc-360 of 180-190 hp with the weight of the 0-320. My daughter learned to fly in their 1963 with a Lyc-360 engine. IF the 1963 didn't have the rear window and had the 1964 instrument panel it would be hard to beat.
So if I got extremely wealthy and wanted to throw some money into a dying industry, a matched hole kit of a 1959 Cessna 172 with the extra width of the cabin as in the later models, and a Lyc- 360 fixed pitch prop and the long range fuel tanks of the C-175. Also a cheaper lighter model with no paint and light weight interior and a Lyc-320-360 . Simple center stack radios, manual flaps. Flip out door window on both doors. CF cowl, wing tips, stab and rudder tips. CF doors and cargo door on the left side. Main LG legs gun drilled for the brake lines. Simple cowl flaps for higher cruise speed at altitude with a light weight CS prop ? Every thing as simple , low parts count and light weigh as possible.
EW of 1190 lbs. and GW of 2500 lbs
What say you ?
So if I got extremely wealthy and wanted to throw some money into a dying industry, a matched hole kit of a 1959 Cessna 172 with the extra width of the cabin as in the later models, and a Lyc- 360 fixed pitch prop and the long range fuel tanks of the C-175. Also a cheaper lighter model with no paint and light weight interior and a Lyc-320-360 . Simple center stack radios, manual flaps. Flip out door window on both doors. CF cowl, wing tips, stab and rudder tips. CF doors and cargo door on the left side. Main LG legs gun drilled for the brake lines. Simple cowl flaps for higher cruise speed at altitude with a light weight CS prop ? Every thing as simple , low parts count and light weigh as possible.
EW of 1190 lbs. and GW of 2500 lbs
What say you ?
