In the history of aviation, there are aircraft that do not shine with high speed, altitude and flight range, carrying capacity or a large number of passengers carried. There is nothing special about these winged aircraft in terms of any advanced technical solutions or breakthrough aviation technologies. But, nevertheless, due to the successful combination of design features, simplicity, reliability, good flight performance, efficiency and price, such aircraft occupy a certain niche in the market for a long time, becoming the "gold standard" in their class. Of course, such an aircraft is the light single-engine Cessna 172 Skyhawk.
The design of this aircraft began in the early 50s. There was nothing outstanding in the design of the light air cab. It was not developed from scratch, but in many respects repeated the light-engine Cessna 170, which took off in 1948. Like the Cessna 170, the new 172, which took off in November 1955, was an all-metal, four-seater, single-engine high-wing aircraft equipped with a tricycle landing gear. The Cessna 172 was powered by a more powerful Continental O-300 six-cylinder piston engine with 145 hp.
Continental O-300 aircraft engine
The new aircraft inherited special V-shaped wing struts from the Cessna-170. Although they had increased aerodynamic resistance, given the rather large load on the wing, the struts provided the required rigidity. The plane, in fact, was designed as a flying "passenger car". In addition to the pilot, it accommodated 3 passengers and carry-on baggage in the rear luggage compartment of the fuselage. Payload weight - 375 kg. The plane turned out to be light enough. Empty weight - 736 kg, maximum takeoff weight - 1160 kg.
With a full refueling of 211 liters, the aircraft at a cruising speed of 188 km / h and at an altitude of 3000 meters, using 60% of the engine power, could fly more than 1200 km. What was optimal for air tourism, short business flights, delivery of small urgent cargo and correspondence. The base model, which began sales in mid-1956, was priced at $ 8,995. In just 5 years, 4195 aircraft were sold. In addition to companies engaged in courier delivery of goods, transportation of passengers and aircraft leasing, and the provision of air taxi services, a lot of Cessnes were bought by private individuals for personal use. This was facilitated by the large number of small runways in the United States and parking lots at large airfields allocated to "small" aircraft. For take-off the aircraft "Cessna-172" required about 200 meters, and for landing twice as much. The plane could take off and land on unpaved strips without any problems.
In 1960, the next modification appeared - Cessna -170A. It was distinguished by a tail unit and a reverse-swept rudder. In addition, it became possible to take off and land from the surface of reservoirs using a float landing gear. At the same time, the price for the plane went up by about $ 500. The manufacturer managed to sell 1,015 aircraft of this modification.
In 1961, the sale of the 172B began. It differed from the earlier modifications by a 75 mm longer motor, which improved the ease of maintenance and made it possible in the future to install more powerful engines, a shortened chassis base, a modified propeller fairing and hood, as well as an increased take-off weight. It was for the Cessna -170В in the "luxury" design that the name "Skyhawk" was originally adopted, which later extended to other modifications of the Cessna 172.
On the modification of the Cessna 172C, released in 1962, the mechanical starter was replaced with an electric one. An autopilot was offered as an additional option. Taking into account the wishes of customers, the aircraft began to be equipped with adjustable pilot and passenger seats. In the luggage compartment, in special chairs with holders, it became possible to carry two children. At a cost of $ 9895, 889 model 172C aircraft were sold.
The 172D Powermatic, introduced in 1963, redesigned the rear fuselage and introduced new cockpit glazing with a one-piece windshield and circular rear window. The most significant change is the new, more powerful Continental GO-300E 175 hp engine. However, this engine enjoyed a reputation for being capricious and unreliable, as a result, parts of the cars returned to the proven Continental Continental O-300 with 145 hp. A total of 1,015 model 170D aircraft were built.
In 1964, on the 172E model, in order to improve reliability, changes were made to the electrical equipment, and the take-off weight was further increased, which in turn required a hardening of the chassis. The dashboard has also been updated. The company managed to sell 1401 cars.
Since 1965, the production of the light-engine Cessna 172F aircraft began. It was this modification that was the basis for the initial training military aircraft T-41A Mescalero. The main innovation on the 172F was electric flaps, which greatly simplified the control of the aircraft. The 172F was popular, with nearly 1,500 aircraft built in the United States alone. They were also collected under license in France.
On the aircraft of modification 172H, taking into account the wishes of customers, the soundproofing of the cabin was improved. In addition, the chassis base became shorter, which reduced aerodynamic drag during flight and somewhat reduced fuel consumption.
In 1968, two new modifications, 172I and 172J, appeared at once. The Cessna 172I received a new Lycoming O-320 engine with 150 hp. The Cessna 172J model with a new fairing never became mass (only 7 aircraft were built) due to the growth in the cost of the car.
The Cessna 172K aircraft, thanks to its increased fuel capacity, can cover 1,500 km without landing. In addition, maneuverability has been increased due to the changes made to the tail unit. To provide a better view, the side glazing area was increased.
On the 172L, in addition to all the previous improvements, the chassis has been redesigned once again. Instead of a spring, it became tubular. In turn, this reduced the mass of the empty aircraft, and thanks to the increased clearance width, it became easier for pilots to land. In order to reduce aerodynamic drag, the wheels of the landing gear received fairings.
The Cessna 172M received new electronics (lighting, radio, transponder, etc.), which in turn increased the price. However, despite this, the plane still attracted buyers, but not in such a large number as before.
The 172N model was equipped with a new Lycoming O-320-H2AD aircraft engine with a capacity of 160 hp. Thanks to the increased volume of fuel tanks, the fuel supply on board the aircraft increased to 250 liters, which made it possible to cover a distance of 1570 km. However, the new engine did not live up to expectations, it turned out to be unreliable and had many maintenance problems. Therefore, on the basis of the 172N, the Cessna 172P was created. The engine was replaced with a Lycoming O-320-D2J of the same power.
Cessna 172RG
From 1980 to 1985, the Cessna 172RG Cutlass was produced with retractable landing gear and a 180 hp Lycoming O-360-F1A6 engine. Thanks to this, the cruising speed increased to 260 km / h. In general, this aircraft was similar to the Cessna-172P. In total, about 1200 machines of this modification were built. The Cessna 172RG Cutlass was a success among athletes, due to the increased rate of climb, the aircraft climbed faster. Often this modification was used to tow gliders.
In 1985, due to a decrease in demand, the construction of new aircraft of the Cessna-172 family was stopped. However, the final production of the aircraft was not completed. The natural decline in the fleet of light aircraft and steady demand led to the fact that in 1998 the production of the 172nd model was resumed. Modifications to the 172R brought back the 160 hp engine, but the engine was changed to a different model, the Lycoming IO-360-L2A, which is more efficient and easier to operate. The maximum take-off weight of the aircraft is 1111 kg.
In the same 1998, potential buyers were presented with the 172S model, which has a powerful 180 hp engine, improved handling, increased maximum take-off weight and modern avionics. Also, the base model Cessna 172 had two special versions: the Cessna FR172J Reims Rocket with a 210 hp engine, developing a cruising speed of 243 km / h, as well as the Cessna 172 Turbo Skyhawk JT-A with an economical aviation diesel engine, with a power at 155 hp These models were built exclusively to order by agreement with the future owner.
The success of the aircraft of the Cessna 172 family is due to their simplicity of design, high maintainability, low cost of maintenance and durability. Airplanes built in the 60s are still flying and offered for sale on the secondary market. Economical and reliable Lycoming and Continental motors provide good dynamic performance and long range. The use of the aerodynamic scheme, which has proven itself on previous models, made it possible to create an aircraft that is easy to fly and does not require high qualifications from the pilot. Thanks to the optimal combination of cost, reliability and minimum operating costs, the availability of 3 passenger seats - the Cessna 172 has been a success for 60 years and is used in a wide variety of fields.
Cessna 172s
The aircraft is still competitive and in demand in the private short-haul passenger sector and as a light cargo aircraft. In Russia, a 2005 Cessna 172S with 800 hours of flight time can be bought for $ 230,000.
The military, border guards and environmental services of a number of countries use patrol modifications. In the air forces of a number of countries, a training modification of the T-41 is used for initial flight training. In the United States alone, taking into account the military model of the T-41, more than 43,000 aircraft were built. Several thousand more cars were assembled abroad under license.
The US Air Force was a pioneer in the use of the T-41 as a trainer. As already mentioned, the base for the T-41A was the Cessna 172F with electric flaps. The use of an easy-to-fly and forgiving even gross mistakes piston aircraft with the location of the instructor and the trainee "shoulder to shoulder" made it possible to significantly speed up the process of obtaining primary flight skills. The first 170 T-41A were received by the US Air Force in 1964. Then, in 1967, an additional order for 34 more vehicles followed. After the course, consisting of 14 flight hours, the cadets switched to the T-33 jet trainer. In total, the American military department received more than 750 T-41 aircraft.
Already in the second half of 1965, the number of hours of primary flight training on the T-41A was increased to 30. The T-41C was equipped with a 210 hp engine. The last training modification of the US Air Force in 1996 was the T-41D, equipped with modern avionics, including GPS navigation equipment. Officially, the T-41 was used in the armed forces of more than 30 countries. Until now, the military modification of the 172nd model of the "Cessna" company is operated in more than 20 countries, including the US Air Force.
In 2015, the US Congress approved the allocation of funds for the purchase of 21 Cessna 172 aircraft for the Civil Air Patrol (CAP). This federal structure of the United States is engaged in training a personnel reserve of pilots and provides air transportation, patrolling and surveillance in case of emergencies.
In the mid-60s, the aircraft, which enjoyed success on the world market, began to be used unofficially in armed conflicts around the world. Due to its excellent takeoff and landing characteristics, the Cessna could take off from poorly prepared unpaved areas in the jungle and highlands. The flight range of about 1,500 km made it possible to deliver reports, transport especially valuable cargo, passengers, remove the wounded from the conflict zone, conduct aerial reconnaissance and patrolling. Very soon, purely peaceful vehicles took part in the battles as spotters of artillery fire, aircraft controllers for other faster combat aircraft and even light attack aircraft.
The T-41 was used by the US military and South Vietnam during the war in Southeast Asia. In addition to reconnaissance tasks, he was involved in the evacuation of the wounded, delivering reports and relaying military VHF radio stations. Initially, light aircraft were used as reconnaissance and unarmed, but, given the frequent shelling from the ground, they began to hang NAR blocks on them. The crew usually included a second crew member responsible for surveillance and radio communications. To designate targets on the ground, the observer used phosphorus incendiary grenades, which emit a well-visible white smoke when bursting. However, the low-speed, completely unprotected aircraft were very vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire. Moreover, in the Viet Cong units in the second half of the 60s, not only 12.7-mm DShK and 14.5-mm ZGU appeared, but also the Strela-2 MANPADS. However, the defeat of piston aircraft by Strel launches was a rather rare event. But from the fire of small arms and large-caliber machine guns, they suffered heavy losses. In this regard, in the late 60s, light aircraft were replaced in American reconnaissance squadrons with more advanced aircraft.
During the emergency evacuation of the Saigon authorities and military in April 1975, an incident occurred that subsequently received widespread publicity. On April 29, 1975, Major of the South Vietnamese Air Force Buang Lan, loading his wife and five children into a light-engine O-1 Bird Dog, flew out of besieged Saigon and headed for an American aircraft carrier grouping off the coast of Vietnam. The O-1 Bird Dog was in many ways similar to the Cessna 172.
Upon finding the aircraft carrier Midway at sea, the pilot dropped a note asking them to clear the landing site. For this it was necessary to push several Iroquois helicopters from the deck into the sea. Major Buang Lang's plane is currently on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida.
After the end of the Vietnam War, the use of the 172nd model did not stop. The machine has actively fought in conflicts of "low intensity" in Asia, Africa and Latin America. At the same time, there were frequent cases of the use of the Cessna 172 not only by regular armed formations, but also by all sorts of insurgents and insurgents. Unpretentiousness to runways, reliability, simple and inexpensive maintenance, made this aircraft ideal for basing in Spartan conditions at poorly prepared airfields in the jungle. Despite the lack of any protection for the pilots, fuel tanks and engine, even from small arms fire, in a number of cases, "Cessna" successfully operated as a light attack aircraft. The problem of crew security was partially solved by hanging elements of Kevlar body armor on the cockpit door. As shock weapons, they used 7, 62-mm machine guns and NAR, placed on the wings, outside the zone swept by the propeller. Of the machine guns, the Belgian L 20A1 and L 44A1 were most often used - variants for aviation and the Navy. They were originally intended for use as stationary weapons in suspended external containers. But sometimes American 7, 62-mm M60 and other infantry models were used in makeshift installations.
American-style 70-mm rocket projectiles were launched from seven-shot launchers of the M158 or M-260 helicopter type, less often 52-mm or 68-mm French missiles were used. The second crew member could fire at ground targets from light hand automatic weapons through the side door, as well as drop hand fragmentation or incendiary grenades. The plane could very successfully act as a night bomber, but this required pilots with experience in flying in the dark.
The flip side of good flight qualities, relative cheapness and mass scale was that "Cessna-172" began to be very actively used by various offenders. The first cases of the use of the 172nd model for the transportation of contraband were recorded in the early 60s. As the number of aircraft built and sold grew, such cases became more and more. The use of the Cessna 172 for drug trafficking in the United States peaked in the late 1980s and mid-1990s. Just at this time, many private owners of light-engine "Cessna", built in the 60s, hastened to get rid of them. And the market for used light aircraft was flooded with numerous inexpensive aircraft still in pretty good condition. There were frequent cases when a light aircraft loaded with drugs landed on a deserted section of the highway near the US-Mexican border. After that, the drugs were loaded into cars, and the plane was thrown. The revenues generated by the sale of 400 kilograms of refined Colombian cocaine in the United States were more than enough to cover the cost of the thirty-year-old Cessna. To detect low-speed low-flying targets, the Americans used AWACS aircraft, directing fighters to planes illegally crossing the border. But constantly monitoring the border with the help of "flying radars" proved too expensive even for the United States. In this regard, several radar posts using tethered balloons have been deployed on the US-Mexican border and in Florida to curb the illegal transportation of drugs by air.
Very actively light-engine "Cessna" were used to carry out illegal activities in the Amazon. This vast, inaccessible territory was practically not controlled by the Brazilian government and was used by criminal syndicates as a transshipment base for drug trafficking, here they illegally logged valuable timber, mined minerals, caught rare species of animals and even trafficked in people. Year after year, the criminals, accustomed to impunity, behaved more and more arrogantly, continuously expanding the scope of their activities. In 2011, the patience of the Brazilian authorities and the military ran out. From the beginning of August to the beginning of November in the tropical jungle, in the border regions with Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, three large special operations under the general name "Agata" took place. During the operations, using AWACS aircraft, several dozen light-engine aircraft with illegal cargo were detected and intercepted. There were also many "Cessna-172" among them. Machines of this type, due to their ability to fly at minimum speed at extremely low altitude, hiding in the folds of the terrain and along riverbeds at the level of tree crowns, turned out to be very difficult targets for the F-5 Tiger II fighters of the Brazilian Air Force. In the interception of light aircraft, the Brazilian EMB-314 Super Tucano turboprop combat trainers have proven themselves very well.
But most of all, the light-engine aircraft was glorified not by Latin American drug lords, ruthless to competitors, but by a nineteen-year-old German boy who landed his Cessna 172B in the center of Moscow on the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky bridge on May 28, 1987. This incident had a huge resonance and gave Mikhail Gorbachev a reason to dismiss the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, which did not share the ideas of "perestroika".
Apparently, this flight was well planned. At 13:21 Moscow time, Rust took off from Helsinki in an airplane he rented in his flying club. His "Cessna" was modified to increase the duration of the flight, instead of the second row of seats, additional fuel tanks were installed on it. After the plane left the area of responsibility of the airport dispatchers, the pilot turned off all communications and the transponder, descended, and flew at an altitude of about 200 meters along the Helsinki-Moscow air route. After Rust's plane disappeared from Finnish radar screens, a search and rescue operation was launched. Controllers suggested that the plane fell into the Gulf of Finland. An indirect confirmation of this was an oil slick discovered 40 km from the coast.
At this time, "Cessna" at a low altitude crossed the Soviet border near the town of Kohtla-Järve. The weather favored the violator of the state border, the lower edge of the cloud in this area dropped to 400-600 meters. The air defense forces of the USSR on duty discovered the intruder aircraft in a timely manner. Three anti-aircraft missile divisions were put on alert, but there was no command to destroy the unidentified target. Interceptors took off from several airfields, but due to dense cloud cover it was not possible to immediately establish visual contact with the Cessna.
At 14:29, in the vicinity of the city of Gdov in the Pskov region, the interceptor pilots were able to visually detect the intruder. The pilots reported that in the break in the clouds they were observing "a sports aircraft of the Yak-12 type of white color with a dark stripe along the fuselage." Due to the fact that Rust flew at low speed at low altitude, it was impossible to accompany him on a jet fighter. Fighter-interceptors circled over the "Cessna" but, having not received commands for further actions to stop the flight of the intruder, returned to their airfield.
Guided by the indications of a magnetic compass, and guided by landmarks in the form of large bodies of water and railway lines, Rust, after meeting with the interceptors, continued his flight. On the approach to Pskov, Rust's plane was lost to the Soviet air defense, since at 15:00 Moscow time, the keys were changed in the state recognition system. Since there were intensive flights in this area at that time, the air defense command officer on duty mistakenly identified all the aircraft in the air as “our own”.
An hour later, "Cessna-172" got into the area of the search and rescue operation in the area of the city of Torzhok, where an Air Force plane crashed the day before. The next time Rust was found approaching the air defense zone of Moscow. However, this time it was mistaken for a Soviet light-engine aircraft flying without a corresponding request. At that time, this was not uncommon, and the officers on duty at the Central Air Defense Command were already accustomed to aircraft that violated the flight regime. Major General S. I. Melnikov, who was at that time the operational duty officer of the Central Command Center for Air Defense, and acting. Chief of the General Staff of Air Defense, Lieutenant General E. L. Timokhin did not pay due attention to the unidentified aircraft and did not report it to the Commander-in-Chief of Air Defense Marshal A. I. Koldunov.
In the evening at 18:30 local time "Cessna" entered the airspace over Moscow. As Rust later admitted, initially he wanted to sit on the territory of the Kremlin or on Red Square, but this turned out to be impracticable. Having made several circles, he noticed the cycle of traffic lights on Bolshaya Ordynka Street and, almost touching the roofs of cars, sat on the bridge, after which he drove along the ground to St. Basil's Cathedral, where he got into the lenses of photos and film cameras.
For about an hour, Matthias Rust signed autographs and answered questions, after which he was detained. Three months later, Rust was sentenced to 4 years in prison for hooliganism, violation of aviation legislation and illegal crossing of the Soviet border. At the trial, Rust said that his flight was a "call for peace." After serving a little over a year, he was pardoned and returned to his native Hamburg. In 2007, 20 years later, Rust himself explained his motives as follows:
Then I was full of hope. I believed that anything is possible. My flight was supposed to create an imaginary bridge between East and West
After the landing of Rust's plane in the center of Moscow, the entire top leadership of the Armed Forces of the USSR was replaced, up to and including the commanders of military districts. The first to lose their posts on May 30 were Defense Minister Sergei Sokolov and Air Defense Commander Alexander Koldunov, both of which are ideological opponents of Mikhail Gorbachev, who do not support his political course of concessions to the United States.
There is every reason to believe that Rust's flight was a joint operation of the Western special services and the KGB leadership in order to replace the leadership of the USSR Ministry of Defense. In the event that the Cessna were shot down at some stage of the flight over Soviet territory, the same military would be accused of destroying a peaceful "lost" aircraft under the control of a young inexperienced pilot.
Since the plane was not the property of Matthias Rust, it was returned to its rightful owner, who, in turn, after some time sold it at an auction to a wealthy Japanese businessman. Until 2008, the aircraft was stored in a hangar in Japan, after which it was acquired by the Berlin Deutsches Technikmuseum.
However, this is not the only such incident involving the Cessna 172. In September 1994, a follower of Rust tried to land a plane near the White House in Washington. But he collided with a tree and died.
On January 5, 2002, an unstable young man, impressed by the September 11, 2001 attacks, hijacked a Cessna 172R plane and sent it to a 42-story office building in Tampa. As a result of the collision, the hijacker was killed, the premises of the Bank of America Plaza on the 28th floor burned out, but no one else was injured.
In 2015, two young people, one of whom was journalist Alexei Yegorov, the host of the Military Acceptance program, decided to check whether they would be able to deceive the air defense system in the Kaliningrad region. But almost immediately the light aircraft was intercepted and forced to land by a Mi-24 helicopter.
However, the plane cannot be responsible for the follies of those who fly it. The unseemly actions of the pilots in no way beg for the merits of the 172nd family. The history of the development of this model is not over yet. In the summer of 2010, the Cessna 172 Electric-powered with an electric motor was introduced to the general public.
The "electric aircraft" is currently being tested and prepared for mass production, and is expected to begin production in 2017. The Cessna with an electric motor and quick-detachable electric batteries is planned to be equipped with solar panels on the upper part of the wing, which can significantly increase the flight duration on a sunny day. Fully charged, replaceable lithium-ion batteries should last 2 hours of flight on a single charge from the sun. Battery replacement time - no more than 15 minutes.
The main purpose of the electric version is short air walks in the vicinity of the airfield and initial training in piloting. According to statistics, training and education flights on aircraft of the Cessna 172 class take less than one hour. That is, the battery charge should be more than enough to use an electric plane as a "flying desk". The main idea behind the development of this modification of the "Cessna" is to reduce the cost of a flight hour when training pilots. It is unlikely that the engineers of the Cessna company, creating the Model 172 in the 50s, could have assumed that their aircraft would eventually receive an electric engine and solar batteries, and instead of aviation gasoline, they would use batteries.
