AOPA's online tribute to the Cessna 172 is very nicely done, but there is one glaring omission.
Few remember that a 1958 Cessna 172 (
this one) with a stock Continental O-300 engine, set
and still holds the world record for flight endurance by a heavier-than-air aircraft. With two men aboard it took off from Las Vegas on December 4, 1958. They landed on February 7, 1959 --
64 days, 22 hours, 19 minutes and five seconds later! That's 1,558.3 hours of continuous flight -- one logbook entry!
This achievement boggles the mind, yet so few people are even aware of it.
Here's a
link to a newspaper article about the airplane, its crew and its amazing flight.
smigaldi said:
How many 172's have rolled off of the assembly line in those 50 years?
AOPA's special section says there have been 3,400 built since production resumed in 1996, and alludes to a total of 39,400 built overall. I'm not sure if that includes related models like the 175, R172, 172RG, and European-produced versions.
-- Pilawt
