The Airplane That Still Sets the Standard Is a Trainer

Flying has opened its Hangar Files on the Cessna 172 Skyhawk and asks why the most familiar trainer in aviation keeps winning over pilots. That question matters to an owner of any aircraft, at any price. The Skyhawk is the airplane most pilots know before they know any other, so it remains a fair yardstick for an airframe that does its job without asking to be noticed. Any owner who has watched one taxi past a ramp in Naples, Aspen, or Palm Beach knows that steadiness has value.

With reporting from Flying.