Ownership doesn’t come much easier than in the form of a proven Cessna 172. With so many examples manufactured over the years, both parts and qualified service are easily sourced. Additionally, the flying qualities are fantastic, whether training, pleasure flying, cross-countries, or a combination of it all is the task at hand.

Built in 1965, this F-model sports the earliest engine fitted to the 172, the Continental O-300. With six cylinders and 145 horsepower, this engine has two more cylinders and fifteen fewer horsepower than later 172s. In exchange for the lower power rating, the six-cylinder is well-respected among owners for its surprisingly smooth operation and robust durability. It’s also known for powering the airplane that to this day holds the endurance record, staying aloft for a staggering 64 days.

While staying aloft for months at a time and refueling in flight from automobiles below might not be in your plans, enjoying safety and reliability between burger stops might. An assortment of intelligent modifications helps to achieve this. The vacuum system has been removed entirely, for example. In its place are two AV-30 flight instruments. 

The brakes, tires, magnetos, battery, and starter have also been replaced. Landing and taxi lights have been upgraded to LEDs. Best of all, the airframe has only 2,500 hours since new, making it markedly fresher than the vast majority of legacy 172s available on the market today.

If you’re looking for an airplane that’s unlikely to require major maintenance anytime soon, this pairing of a low-time airframe and freshly overhauled engine and propeller provides a compelling option that will likely provide decades of flying fun.

You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance and quickly calculate your monthly payment using the airplane finance calculator. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com. 

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Pilots interested in a classic cross-country machine with vintage style should consider this 1969 Cessna 172K Skyhawk, which is available for $72,900 on AircraftForSale.

The ubiquitous 172 offers a number of ownership advantages. Parts are among the most readily available of any aircraft type, and qualified maintenance technicians intimately familiar with the type are easily located. These factors, combined with a relatively low 3,957 airframe hours and only 157 hours on the engine since major overhaul, position the new owner for many years of trouble-free flying.

As a 1969 K-model 172, this particular aircraft is equipped with a four-cylinder Lycoming O-320 as opposed to the six-cylinder Continental O-300 of previous Skyhawks. A Power Flow exhaust increases horsepower a bit over the standard 150, adding some pep. The propeller was overhauled at the time of the engine overhaul and likewise has only been flown for 157 hours since. 

Perhaps one of the most noteworthy modifications on this Skyhawk is the Horton STOL kit. Incorporating an extension of the leading edge and stall fences on top of the wing, this kit provides a reduced stall speed and better low-speed handling than an unmodified 172. Owners report improved short-field performance – not just during landing but also during takeoff.

Inside, much of the panel is original but is arranged in a logical manner. The radios are neatly stacked in the center of the panel, which should make future upgrades relatively simple and straightforward without the need to cut a new panel and change the layout. A uAvionix tailBeacon provides ADS-B out duties, and the interior is described as in good condition overall.  

You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com.

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Introduced in 1958 as a more powerful 172, the Skylark was originally equipped with a 180 hp geared version of Continental’s O-300. While owners generally enjoy the engine and report good reliability, it came with a relatively short overhaul interval/TBO of 1,200 hours and challenging parts and service availability. This unique Skylark eliminates these concerns entirely with a 230 hp Continental O-470R.

Pilots interested in a uniquely capable Cessna that bridges the gap between the 172 and 182 should consider this 1962 Cessna 175 Skylark, which is available for $75,000 on AircraftForSale.

With a 50-gallon fuel capacity, reliable manual flaps, and a constant-speed propeller, this Skylark provides many of the 182’s most desirable features at a price that’s tens of thousands less. The airplane’s new owner can expect many years of reliable service, with only 480 hours since major overhaul on the engine and 1,800 total hours on the airframe.

Inside, the panel is basic but complete and in good condition. Radios are placed up high for ease of access, and the “six-pack” configuration of primary flight instruments is far more orderly than many other aircraft of the era. A JPI fuel flow computer adds a modern touch, while ADS-B Out ensures you’ll have access to Class B and C airspace. 

The airplane includes logs and has no corrosion or hail damage. As the seller points out, the addition of a STOL kit and big tires will make this a fantastic bushplane for off-airport adventures.

You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com.

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But as planes got faster, it became clear that aircraft needed some kind of enclosure to protect the pilot from the airstream. So, planes were given enclosures, and those enclosures were by necessity given doors. There are a few unspoken rules about doors. One, they don’t work very well in general, and two, airplane makers are all for putting as few of them on their planes as possible. It seems crazy, but the practice of shortchanging owners on the number of doors is rooted in a few commonsense concerns. Doors are heavy, hard to get to work well, and for low-wing planes, they require additional structure on the part of the wing that gets walked on, for obvious reasons.

Finally, doors aren’t as structurally integral to the fuselage as having no door is, so planes are automatically at least a bit stronger the fewer doors they have. So, putting just one door in a plane, as you see on many Piper, Beechcraft and Mooney single-engine models, is done to save weight, cost and complexity and to maximize the structural integrity. And while doors have gotten better, thanks to better manufacturing methods that yield closer tolerances and a better fit, the struggle is real, both for manufacturers, which need to figure out how to make a good-fitting, light and durable door, and for pilots and their passengers, who get to fight to make do with the few doors they’ve got.

• First airplane doors: Perhaps the Avro Model 12, which was the first plane with an interior
• Doors grow in popularity: Mid-1920s
• Cheat code: On several models, pilots were in the open and passengers inside an enclosure
• Door-making challenge: No suitable materials to make windows
• Window/door breakthrough: The invention of acrylic glass in the early 1930s
• Popular enclosure type: The bubble canopy
• Door on bubble canopies? The canopy itself either hinges open or slides rearward
• Potential safety risk? Canopies can open in flight, sometimes leading to a fatal crash
• Doors become popular: 1930s, popularized on cabin-class biplanes and monoplanes
• Material used for the doors: Usually the same materials as the rest of the plane
• Early cabin biplane: Beechcraft D-17 Staggerwing
• Max occupants: 5
• Number of doors: 1
• 1930s innovation that complicated doors: Pressurization
• 1930s airliner: Douglas DC-3
• Number of passengers: Up to 32
• Number of doors: One
• J-3 Cub of mid-1930s: One Dutch door for both occupants
• Advantage: You can fly with it open
• Ercoupe of 1930s: First popular slide-back canopy
• Advantage: Roll it back in flight
• First modern piston single: 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza
• Number of seats: 4
• Number of doors: 1
• Ultimate Bonanza expression: Current G-36 Bonanza
• Number of seats: 6
• Number of doors: 2 (progress!)
• Most popular plane: Cessna 172
• Doors? 2
• Other popular ’60s planes: Piper PA-28
• Doors? 1
• Position of door: On the passengers’ side
• Reason: Unknown
• 1970s innovation: Beechcraft Model 23 Sundowner
• Doors? 2! One on each side
• Safety concern: Door popping open in flight
• Level of risk: From the door being open, almost none
• Reason for increased risk: Pilot panic over the open door, loss of control
• Airliners number of doors: Often up to three
• Used for boarding and deplaning: Just one
• Reason: Jetways are set up for one-door operations
• Exception: Airbus A380 jumbo jet
• Boarding doors: Three
• Reason: Saves a lot of time when boarding as many as 500 passengers
• Time to board full A380 flight: As little as 20 minutes
• Early Cessna 172 issue, circa 1956: Poor door functionality
• Early Cirrus SR22 issue, circa 2001:Poor door functionality
• Number of doors on six-passenger TBM introduced in 1990: One
• First year pilot-side door offered as an option: 2002
• Cost: Around $50,000
• Added weight: Around 75 pounds

This article was originally published in the May 2023 Issue of Plane & Pilot. Subscribe today so you don’t miss an issue!

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The aircraft were slated to be ferried from Independence, Kansas, to Southern Illinois Airport (KMDH). Several SIU aviation program officials, including director José R. Ruiz, chief flight instructor Steven Goetz, and several flight instructors were to be on hand to welcome the new aircraft.

“I am very excited at the prospect of acquiring seven new flight training aircraft because of the impact the new additions will have on our ability to serve our students,” Ruiz said. “Our students deserve the finest flight training available, and these new aircraft will assist us in meeting that expectation.”

According to Goetz, there were more than 350 students enrolled in the aviation flight program in the Fall of 2022, and he expects that number to increase in 2023. With the new additions, the number of aircraft available to the students climbs to 47.

Goetz noted that the fleet includes airplanes that rolled off the assembly line in the 1970s, and continuous maintenance and upgrades keep the aircraft airworthy.

“We use every bit of life out of them in order to make sure that we are being good stewards of our students’ money,” Goetz explains. “As the aviation industry grows, we have more and more demand for pilots and for flight training. Being able to bring on new airplanes that will allow our students to train on a modern flight deck and prepare for their careers better positions us to support the needs of the aviation industry in the nation.”

SIU Aviation has several aviation majors including aviation flight, aviation management, and aviation technologies.

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Scheduled maintenance comes with a fixed cost but can also have variable cost factors. During my stint in corporate aviation, I supported Southern Company Services and their fleet of King Air 200s. Their maintenance team religiously performed scheduled brush changes on their starter generators. They also pulled them for exchange at the time between overhaul (TBO) recommendations.

Because of this action plan, they never had a starter generator failure in service. Finance knew that at X number of flight hours, they would spend Y number of dollars. If the mechanics find damage during the generator’s removal and replacement (R&R), such repair is unscheduled maintenance with a variable cost based on condition.

The annual inspection is one of the most significant cost drivers for Cessna 172 owners. Because one needs an A&P/IA, the labor cost is a tick higher than standard maintenance. Based on my experience, you can expect to spend around $1,700.00 for the inspection. The amount is just the inspection fee and is a fixed cost. Findings are extra and are a variable cost.

Unscheduled maintenance is just that, something stopped working correctly, and you need to figure it out. Once, a twin Cessna taxied up to my client Savannah Aviation. The pilot required a bulb to be replaced on the instrument panel. A review of the log showed the engines were due for oil changes. That’s odd; this oil filter is full of metal. Have you ever read “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie?”

Engine Overhaul Cost

There comes a time in every airplane owner’s life—a reckoning, if you will—when the TBO sands of life dwindle to the last few grains in the hourglass. I am talking about that pivotal moment in aircraft maintenance; a major engine overhaul.

I called Pinnacle Aircraft Engines and asked how much it costs to overhaul a Cessna 172 engine. The reply (and you should have seen this coming): “It depends.”

Let’s break it down. Corey has a 1966 model 172 equipped with an O-300-D, a six-cylinder Continental powerplant. Pinnacle’s base price estimate is $38,000. I pulled an estimate from 2014 at my engine shop, and this same engine was $28,500. The later 172 models cost $32,000 for the O-320-E2D and $33,500 for the IO-360-L2A.

Included in the overhaul estimate:

• New Champion ignition kit
• New Superior cylinders
• New lightweight starter
• Overhauled carburetor/fuel system
• Other accessories, like a vacuum pump, incur an extra charge

Other factors to consider are the factory cylinder option, engine baffling, new oil/fuel hoses, motor mounts, propeller, air ducting, and a reworked firewall.

Cessna 172 Supply Chain

The economics of aircraft maintenance boils down to three factors: location, labor, and parts.

When it comes to location, please stick to the maintenance plan to avoid getting stuck in a remote airport in the outer rim. This is where they get you. Labor is what it is. Work with someone you can trust, even if they are a bit pricer than Slippery Pete’s Air Service.

Replacement spare parts can affect your total annual aircraft maintenance spend.

Cessna will direct you to their parts portal. Go there if you must, but know you are paying top dollar. No one gets a deal at the factory.

Finding the right part for your type-certificated aircraft is mission-critical. For Corey’s O-300, the IPC is X30014. You can access this manual by visiting Continental Motors.

• READ MORE: The Cessna 172 Is a Great Starter for Learning Maintenance

Aircraft cylinders are a maintenance constant and can be pricey to repair. New PMA options are available, and the price is negotiable if you have a good relationship.

Here are some examples:

• Aircraft Specialties Services Millennium Cylinder — SA10200-A20P MSRP: $1,318.91 FBO PRICE: $1,160.63 — You save $158.28
• Air Power, Inc. Superior Air Parts Aircraft Products Part Number: SA10200-A20P $1,155. Continental Aircraft Engine Parts Part Number: 658319A2 $2,069

Overhauled cylinders run around $1,200, so you are better off buying new ones.

There are other options for airframe parts, consumables, and accessories also.

Aircraft Spruce & Specialty has a section for Cessna 172 parts.

New Surplus parts can save money, but be careful on places like eBay. Things are only sometimes as they seem. Make sure you have a mechanic check them out.

Here are some better options:

• Preferred Airparts, LLC has a great selection at surplus prices.
• KRN Aviation Services carries quite a few 172 parts, and they have a knowledgeable sales team.
• Atlanta Air Exchange started as a salvage company and became a parts dealer. They still do recovery work and have decades of knowledge to help you.

I hope you have a clearer picture not only of the cost but the value of aircraft maintenance.

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It is affordable, easy to maintain, and very forgiving in the air. Parts are plentiful—always a key consideration when selecting an airframe—and with over 44,000 produced, you are bound to find someone to provide guidance.

In September 2022, FLYING named the 172 one of the best personal aircraft, highlighting it as the “most popular training airplane in the world and one of the most popular personal aircraft ever.”

I know a 172 owner/operator, and our chance meeting waiting for coffee at the office sparked a conversation that centered on—you guessed—flying. Corey Sampson works one office over and proudly owns a 1966 Cessna 172 stationed at Falcon Field (KFFC) in Peachtree City. He is making minor upgrades, and while his 172 is a great airplane, that is no reason not to make it better. I thought, wouldn’t it be great if the readers of FLYING could come along on this journey? Well, buckle up propeller heads; we are about to taxi out.

Rules and Regulations

One question I hear a lot: “As an owner/operator, what aircraft maintenance am I approved to perform?”

FAR Part 43 Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, Rebuilding, and Alteration; Appendix A Preventative Maintenance; Subpart C lists preventative maintenance tasks. This is no small feat, as there are 31 of them. If you, as an owner/operator, could accomplish even a portion of this, it would save you a chunk of change at the shop.

Another excellent resource is the FAA Advisory Circular AC 20-106, “Aircraft Inspection for the General Aviation Owner.” It reiterates an owner’s ability to perform preventative maintenance in Section 2. The Feds also remind us here that aircraft used in air carrier service are excluded, and would need the services of a certificated A&P mechanic.

The FAA produces separate supplemental publications to assist in your aeronautical journey. One of the better ones is “Maintenance Aspects of Owning Your Own Aircraft,” a great place to gain valuable insight into the dos and don’ts of owner aircraft maintenance. It carefully reminds everyone that preventive maintenance cannot involve complex assembly operations. Also, don’t forget to document your work in the logbook.

General Aviation Law Firm, P.C., reprinted an article from the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association, dispensing some solid advice under “Owner Maintenance: What Can You Do?” They state, “What is legal is not always safe. Just because you could replace a side window doesn’t mean you should.”

A Day at the Hangar

Corey and I met at the hangar, and he pulled his 172 out on the ramp. After a general walkaround and preflight inspection, it was time to go flying. This is, of course, why we do what we do. There is nothing like hearing, “Let’s take her up!”

Taxing out, we tucked in behind two other aircraft waiting for a slot. We pulled onto the runway and began the takeoff roll. Once the rubber broke free from terra firma, we were in a whole new world. He let me pull back on the yoke, but I was too timid, and he took over, putting us into a steady climb.

Corey offered to let me control the rudder pedals, but quickly realizing that his Skyhawk does not hold an aerobatic rating, he reversed that decision. Remember, guys, my rating is A&P [airframe and powerplant], not ATP [airline transport pilot]. There is a difference.

Once we were back in the hangar, it was time to exercise some owner-facilitated maintenance. Corey is also an A&P, but I asked him to shed that title for the sake of this column.

We popped off the cowling, and Corey attached a hose to the quick drain valve. The warmed-up oil flowed easily, and soon it was time to service. Next came the Phillips 66 X/C aviation oil, and we drained the containers, one by one.

• READ MORE: Airplane Owner-Assisted Maintenance

Corey’s O-300-D Continental engine was not equipped with a spin-on filter—it had a screen. Popping off the safety wire, and a quick visual with a flashlight revealed no metal. We were good to go, and we buttoned her up. It was then time to push her out on the ramp for a bath.

I asked Corey what owning an airplane meant to him. After some thought, he said, “Growing up, I have always been fascinated with aviation, so to own an airplane still amazes me. It gives you a completely new sense of freedom that most people don’t ever get to experience. Now I get to raise my daughter with that same sense of freedom.”

What does owning an aircraft mean to you? Please drop me a line and let me know. I always love to hear others’ perspectives.

I had a great time spending the day with Corey and his Skyhawk. It felt good to be close to the hardware. Anytime spent working on airplanes is not deducted from one’s life.

The post The Cessna 172 Is a Great Starter for Learning Maintenance appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Epic, based at New Smyrna Beach, Florida (KEVB), has been training pilots since 1999. Its list of graduates includes thousands of students from more than 80 countries, the company said. 

The Skyhawk is Epic’s exclusive single-engine airplane, and the school has a total fleet of 43 that it has ordered since 2016. Textron Aviation, the Wichita, Kansas-based unit of Textron Inc (NYSE: TXT), designs and builds the Skyhawk, which has been in production since 1956.

“The Cessna Skyhawk has been one of the world’s top training aircraft for over six decades,” said Chris Crow, vice president of Textron Aviation’s piston sales. “We are thrilled to see these aircraft continue to inspire the next generation of professional pilots through this agreement with Epic Flight Academy.”

The Skyhawk’s stable, forgiving flight characteristics and steady evolution and modernization over the decades have made it a perennial favorite for flight training. The new models have advanced features, including Garmin’s G1000 NXi avionics and a standard angle-of-attack display.

“At Epic, our motto has always been ‘Safety first!’ This is why we train our pilots in the Cessna Skyhawk,” said Danny Perna, Epic’s founder and CEO. “This aircraft proves itself with every flight and prepares our students for a successful career. We can’t wait to take delivery and expand our fleet.”

Since the Skyhawk’s first flight in 1955, Cessna has delivered more than 45,000 of the aircraft around the world, making it the most popular aircraft in the industry.

Previously posted on flyingmag.com.

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The reason for this brand-blind shorthand is easy. The planes that take on the weight of identity for an entire segment are icons—famous and widely produced models that for one reason or another have captured a place in the popular imagination reserved for the most special people, places and things. So, the images of speedy and luxurious Learjets in James Bond movies or olive-drab J-3 Cubs defending freedom in WW II Europe didn’t hurt their cases, nor did the 172’s mantle of most-produced plane ever. 

When it comes to household names, it’s the largely aviation-unaware households that name the tune. Interestingly enough, though, aviation enthusiasts would almost always put the same planes on their most iconic playlists, and for good reason. The planes that have reached such status are ones that have achieved remarkable feats, extraordinary fame or some other kind of cultural significance, most of which were hard-earned and well deserved. As you’ll see. 

Wright Flyer

I remember learning as a kid about the first plane ever, and I was, to be honest, disappointed. It wasn’t that I missed the significance. Its first flight was clearly a monumental achievement, not only in aviation but in world history. The disappointment was because, well, it was just so funky looking, more like a homemade parade float or Rube Goldberg paddle wheel than an airplane. Back then, I was sketching Corsairs and Comets. The Wright Flyer was nothing like them. What could Orville and Wilbur have been thinking! As it turns out, they hadn’t been privy to the 60-plus years of breakneck progress in all things aviation that 7-year-old me was. They were doing the best they could to figure out how they could possibly fly at all while overcoming the technological and materials challenges the creators of Spitfires and Electras had learned as teenagers. 

But the remarkable part of fame is that it sometimes goes hand in hand with an odd appearance. The Wright Flyer, with its solo pilot prone, face-first at the wind on a craft, wings and tails and power sources seemingly placed at random around him, cast an appearance unlike any machine people had laid eyes on before. Indeed, its odd appearance spoke loudly about the achievement of the brothers from Dayton, who against all odds coaxed a heavier-than-air contraption into the shallow sky above them. The very shape of the Flyer made it clear just how hard that was. 

Mysteries Of Flight: Who Was Really First To Fly?

Piper J-3 Cub

Probably the most iconic light plane ever, the Piper J-3 Cub might seem an unlikely candidate for the attention. After all, it wasn’t the first Piper, it’s got a number of really quirky features, and it’s not the most-produced Piper by a long shot. Yet it is the most recognizable Piper, by a lot. 

As I wrote in the introduction, for many years, “Piper Cub” was synonymous with small plane. But how did that happen? As much as I love the Cub, and I do, the model was always kind of an oddball. A pilot getting transition training in it is taught all the ways it’s so unusual. The solo pilot sits in the backseat. There’s very little forward visibility when taxiing the thing, especially if there’s a passenger up front. 

And the name of the plane, Cub, and the Bear logo belie the fact that the series—it was not the first Piper Cub—was named after an engine, the Tiger Kitten. That might seem odd to you—it did to me for years—but Tiger young are really called cubs, not kittens. So Piper got that right, and the engine maker, Brownback, got it wrong. The use of the bear logo does mix things up. 

The other big thing for the Cub is that it was successful, this at a time when the country was mired in the Great Depression. And this might be the biggest factor, though one will never know for sure: That color was a stroke of genius. A shade of yellow that would look awful on just about any other plane somehow is perfect for the Piper J-3 Cub. 

The 9 Most Beautiful GA Airplanes

Cessna 172

The most-produced airplane of all time, the Cessna 172 Skyhawk, has been such a phenomenal sales success because it was pretty good at everything and not particularly bad at anything. In other walks of life, that might have made it mediocre, but the 172 is anything but. It’s a star, albeit one that’s fine shining less brightly than some other heavenly objects. 

Still, it helped create a presence in the world of aviation for Cessna that was so great, the company’s name took over from the Piper Cub as a generic moniker for “airplane.” And let me go on record as saying the 172 isn’t solely responsible. There are a lot of other Cessnas that flew countless hours at countless large- and small-town airports over the years, cementing in the public’s consciousness the image of a Cessna as being what a small plane, any small plane, looked like. 

Cessna 172: Secrets Of The Skyhawk

Learjet

As was the case with the Piper Cub becoming a generic for “small plane,” so too did the Learjet gain fame as the universal brand name for any private jet, especially one carrying the rich and/or famous. It’s even mentioned in a song, You’re So Vain, by Carly Simon, which is one of the most popular pop songs ever. One of the lines describes how the unnamed subject, “!flew your Learjet up to Nova Scotia, to see the total eclipse of the sun,” the idea being that the person she’s singing the song to—Warren Beatty, Mick Jagger, David Bowie and David Cassidy have all been mentioned as possible subjects, though Simon refuses to say—is too rich. The year the song was written and recorded, 1971, is also the year that Learjet introduced its Model 25, later known as the Model 35. But the plane that spawned the legend was the original Lear 23, which we see as the first true personal jet. Fast and sleek—it was, after all, modeled after a Swiss fighter jet—the Lear exuded wealth and privilege. Frank Sinatra was a big supporter of the brand, though sadly, his mother was killed in the crash of a Lear 24 into the side of a mountain near Palm Springs, California, in snowy and icy weather. The safety record of early Learjets was terrible, but it’s likely that that the crashes, and the headlines they generated, were part of the allure. 

Last Learjet Ever

North American P-51D Mustang

While there were other iconic American-made aircraft that saw service during World War II—the Boeings B-29 and B-17, the North American B-25 and the Chance Vought Corsair spring to mind—the undeniable icon of the conflict was the North American P-51D Mustang. Not only is it widely regarded as being one of the most beautiful aircraft of all time, but it also has great historical significance as well, entering the war late in the game. But because of its great speed and range compared to the other fighters of the day, Republic P-47s and P-38s, both of which were largely supplanted by the P-51D, its powers were superior. The subject of range was critical. Because the P-51 could fly all the way to targets in Germany and back to base in England, it was the first fighter capable of providing nonstop protection for the bombers it was escorting. That point would have been moot had the Mustang not been a great air combat fighter, but it was, accounting for an overwhelming percentage of the shootdowns of German attack fighters. Because of its contributions to bringing the fight to Germany, the P-51D took on an elevated, almost mythic status even as it fought in combat, a sure sign of an icon in the making.

North American P-51 Mustang Gallery

Boeing 747

Upon its introduction in 1970, the Boeing 747, the original jumbo jet, was a sensation. In an era where bigger was better, it was the biggest airliner by far. Capable of carrying more than 350 passengers on two decks, the 747, with its distinctive hump, sold well, though the routes it most typically flew were longer, overwater routes. A good part of the credit for the 747’s iconic status was courtesy of Boeing and its customer airlines, which effectively positioned the jumbo jet as a luxury experience and even equipped some with piano bars to drive home the point, in essence turning the type’s brand vulnerabilities into strengths. For operators, the sheer size of the plane might not have been enough on its own, but the 747 was also fast, around Mach .85, substantially faster than its competitors. The result was, the 747 could cut a substantial amount of time from long routes.

Boeing 747: 50 Years, 50 Amazing Facts

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird

If there was an award given for sexiest airplane alive, it pretty much could go to the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird every single year. What does it have going for it? What doesn’t it have? The Blackbird is the fastest air-breathing airplane ever, its sleek and space-age profile exudes the exotic, and its secret development and operations gave it the whole package. And speaking of exotic, Lockheed had to get fancy to make the SR-71 even possible. The innovations included the extensive use of titanium, a stealth-like small radar cross section, and loosely fitted joints between panels to accommodate the expansion of the components as the aircraft heated up while flying very fast. The big jet famously leaked jet fuel on the ramp because of this odd design feature. Although other roles were envisioned for the jet, it quickly became a reconnaissance aircraft, the best in the world. No Blackbird was ever shot down because of the plane’s combination of speed, up to Mach 3.5, and altitude (up to 85,000 feet), allowing it to simply outrun the surface-to-air missiles the Soviets launched at it. The Air Force retired the SR-71 in 1998, but during the intervening quarter of a century, its fame has only grown, and its legendary shape says it all. Icon.

SR-71 Blackbird: An Appreciation

Top 25 Planes Of All Time

Gulfstream G-V

If Simon were to write her mega-hit You’re So Vain today, or really any time in the last 25 years, the plane mentioned would be a Gulfstream, not a Learjet. The large-cabin, purpose-built Gulfstream twinjets are the epitome of luxury, even though they have formidable competitors from Bombardier and Dassault Falcon Jet. So, it doesn’t really matter that the plane country music superstar Dierks Bentley refers to in a big hit song, the Gulfstream “G6,” is a model that doesn’t exist. The name Gulfstream says it all. The company makes sure of that. With its cutting-edge R&D, the next-gen Gulfstreams just keep getting better and faster and rangier. The G700, which features four separate living areas, can cruise up to Mach .90, and at its long-range cruise speed of Mach .85, it can fly 7,500 nm. And make no mistake about it: Gulfstream understands that its customers sit in the back of this plane, and it has spared no expense at finding ways to make the cabin experience as luxurious as the nearly $80 million price tag of the plane implies it would be. With its quiet, comfortable ride, the G700, which features the biggest windows in its class, is everything the richest of the rich could desire!and then some. 

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