COMMON
C177
Cessna 177 Cardinal
The Cardinal
“The prettiest high-wing Cessna ever built.”
Cessna (Textron) · private
NO PHOTO
Length
27 ft 3 in
Wingspan
35 ft 6 in
Max speed
130 kts
Range
600 nmi
Ceiling
14,600 ft
Engines
1x Lycoming O-360 (180 hp)
Crew
1
Max passengers
3
Typical config
1 pilot + 3 passengers
Built
4,295 (incl. Cardinal RG)
The Cardinal was designed to replace the 172 and arrived twenty years ahead of its time: a sleek cantilever wing with no struts, huge doors, and visibility like a helicopter. Pilots didn't switch, but the ones who chose it never looked back.
Fun fact
It was meant to replace the Cessna 172 — instead the 172 outlived it by half a century and counting.
How to spot one
High-wing Cessna with NO wing struts — that's the giveaway. Low stance, wide doors, and the pilot sits ahead of the wing's leading edge for a fighter-like view.
Crews call it
The Cardinal
Sounds like
Standard Lycoming four-cylinder, but sleeker through the air than its trainer cousins
Related
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the The Cardinal from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook. Coming to iOS and Android.
Get Bogey