fletchersteel
Well-Known Member
Curiosity is killing me! Anybody know what the significane is of the different cessna models, ie... C172, C152, etc...?
You mean in the naming? Like why a 152 is smaller than a 172 is smaller than a 182 etc.? Or why Skyhawk, skylark, skywagon, stationair etc?Curiosity is killing me! Anybody know what the significane is of the different cessna models, ie... C172, C152, etc...?
I read the book "Cessna, Wings for the World", written by their former head of engineering. He discusses the development of pretty much every airplane that Cessna built and he never hinted there was any other reason behind the naming, other than positioning the aircraft models within the product line.Curiosity is killing me! Anybody know what the significane is of the different cessna models, ie... C172, C152, etc...?
Numbers are in the vague ballpark.I had always heard that it was the square footage of the wing. I could be wrong though, stranger things have occurred.
Which has a Lycoming! a Continental???Numbers are in the vague ballpark.
C152 = 159.5 sq feet
C172 = 174 sq feet
C182 = 174 sq feet
For the C120/140, don't know the square footage, but the book says it's the same airplane, one without flaps, so the wing area would be the same.
Perhaps the original naming trend had its origin as the square footage, but it since became just a marketing thing, since they haven't followed the pattern very closely.
600 series - large jetIt's nothing mysterious and nothing like the "meaning" in Piper aircraft numbers. Cessna merely broke them out as "series." Alphabet lettering increases with each new (updated) version. "A" is not the first version. For example: the C170....There are 170/170A/170B variants.
100 series - basic 2/4 seats
200 series - more complex/more seats
300 series - twin engines
400 series - "wide" cabin twin engine
500 series - jet