The First Production Cessna 172 Flies On 69 Years After Rollout

The first flight of the Cessna 172, by Project Test Pilot EB "Fritz" Feutz in prototype N41768 (msn 612), took place at Wichita on Sunday, 12 June 1955. CAA Type Certificate 3A12 was issued on 4 November. N41768 was scrapped in the 1950s but the first of 44,000+ production 172s survives in perfect condition.

N5000A (msn 28001) has been accurately restored by Dennis Ozment to original condition. When acquired for restoration it had 4,400 hours TTSN, the original engine and surprisingly the skin was in remarkably good condition. The corrugated control surfaces had not aged so well and were replaced. With the paint stripped the lines of the original colour scheme were visible and served as a guide for restoting the factory Cardinal Red colours. These photographs taken at the 2018 AirVenture illustrate Ozment's restoration.

Between 1956-59 another 3,756 straight tails followed N5000A before introduction of the swept fin 172A and then half-a-century of evolution and refinement. Changes in the airframe can be followed in the Type Certificate (available online) or Ron Smith's handy Cessna 172 A Pocket History (2010)
A readable first person account of 172 design and development can be found in Cessna Engineering Test Pilot William D Thompson's Cessna Wings For The World, The Single Engine Development Story (1991).

Behold, the 2024 Textron 172S Skyhawk - (the name changed to Textron with msn 172S11615 in 2015) displaying feathers in its plumage, or are they stylized corrugated control surfaces?                               (Textron Aviation Incorporated)

Ian M Macdonald
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