Who has the most C172 hours?

Gary Ward

Gary Ward

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I imagine most new pilots move on to other aircraft after learning to fly in a 172. So that is what made me think to ask this question.
How many hours do you have in a 172 as PIC?
 
232.9 hours in the mighty 172! Only about 10 of those as a CFI. Was too broke to rent anything cooler in college, and more recently was a member of a club with a pair of them.
 
I’ve got about 3 hours in a 172. Also about 650 in a PA-28-181, Archer.
 
Looking at my 1998-2021 database of Cessna 172 accidents, the highest time in type is 26,000 hours. Total time for the individual was 40,000 hours. The accident occurred during a fish-spotting flight. IAD02LA003

Second place was a hand-prop accident involving a pilot with 12,500 hours in type. We don't know the intended flight operation, but the NTSB report refers to it as aerial observation, and the plane was owned by "Omega Protein Inc." This pilot had about 16,000 hours total time.

Ron Wanttaja
 
Gary Ward said:
I imagine most new pilots move on to other aircraft after learning to fly in a 172. So that is what made me think to ask this question.
How many hours do you have in a 172 as PIC?
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When I was a new pilot I moved on to a 172 after learning to fly in another aircraft :D

Not that much, only 810 in non-retract/non HP 172 models. Most of that was (a) I was a CFI where 172s were the trainer of choice and (b) I was never more than a part time CFI.
 
About 5. As a student or recurrent training in prep for a Flight Review after a long hiatus from flying. Never really as PIC, always with a CFI. I used rent the baby brother, a C-150, along with a Citabria and a Champ. These days, however, it’s all about my Ercoupe (with 130 hours and counting).
 
I have about 1600 hours in various models of the 172, mostly the 1980 N that I own.
 
MRC01 said:
I have about 1600 hours
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1bqre6.jpg
 
RyanShort1 said:
Prob’ly one of the old-timer pipeline patrol career guys.
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Or a fish spotter. Some of the pilots in my area that have been spotting menhaden schools for the seiners have 20,000+ hrs in 172/182’s. Masters of the quick turn!
 
wanttaja said:
Looking at my 1998-2021 database of Cessna 172 accidents, the highest time in type is 26,000 hours. Total time for the individual was 40,000 hours. The accident occurred during a fish-spotting flight. IAD02LA003

Second place was a hand-prop accident involving a pilot with 12,500 hours in type. We don't know the intended flight operation, but the NTSB report refers to it as aerial observation, and the plane was owned by "Omega Protein Inc." This pilot had about 16,000 hours total time.

Ron Wanttaja
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Ron, Omega Protein is involved with the menhaden fishing industry, and they fly 172s for fish spotting. Schools of menhaden can be enormous!

-Skip
 
MRC01 said:
I have about 1600 hours in various models of the 172, mostly the 1980 N that I own.
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Same here, mostly in my own 1980 N.
Not sure if I will ever move up. Would love to try a 182 for while if I could keep my 172 until I was sure the 182 would be for me?
I do have about 15 hours in 2 different 182s in the past.
 
Gary Ward said:
I imagine most new pilots move on to other aircraft after learning to fly in a 172. So that is what made me think to ask this question.
How many hours do you have in a 172 as PIC?
Click to expand...
To answer this question, 320.6

But more to your point, I did all my training in the 172 and it continued to fit my mission as a newly minted pilot. Passengers appreciated not climbing up on the wing, having their own door and being able to look down at the ground. It was also the most populous type in the rental fleet. Sure, high demand went along with the large supply, but that also meant there were more margins for me to work in a slot for a last minute flight. It was only after I had finished exploring all of the airports within a few hundred mile radius that transitioning to a faster more capable airplane made more sense. And of course, the 182 sat at the top of the list.

Looking at my logbook, it's quite rare that I actually fly a 172 these days.
 
Gary Ward said:
Same here, mostly in my own 1980 N.
Not sure if I will ever move up. Would love to try a 182 for while if I could keep my 172 until I was sure the 182 would be for me?
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With the O-360 engine and an empty weight of 1470#, the max GW of 2550# gives similar payload to a 182 - though the 182 does give a bit more room and faster cruise speed.

asicer said:
But more to your point, I did all my training in the 172 and it continued to fit my mission as a newly minted pilot. Passengers appreciated not climbing up on the wing, having their own door and being able to look down at the ground. ...
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The high wing also makes it more capable on gravel or turf runways (full flaps don't get close to grass or rocks), gives better crosswind landing capability (more bank angle while preserving wingtip clearance), and shelter from the rain when you're camping. And no fuel pump needed, since gravity does that job, which means simpler fuel management (leave it in BOTH instead of having to switch back and forth) and lower pilot workload (no fuel pumps to turn on and off, or to fail when you need them).
 
When I reported my hours for the company insurance company last November, I listed 1,682 hours in a Cessna 172. Probably another 50-75 hours since then. A big percentage of those hours would be right seat time as a CFI, although I did own one for a few years long ago.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
1.0
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I wonder who has the least PIC time, but more than zero.
My logbook says 7.3 PIC, but 4.2 of that was dual for a club checkout, and the rest was "sole manipulator" time. I know I had one flight with a passenger, probably less than an hour, that isn't logged. So I'll claim <1 real PIC.
 
wanttaja said:
Looking at my 1998-2021 database of Cessna 172 accidents, the highest time in type is 26,000 hours. Total time for the individual was 40,000 hours. The accident occurred during a fish-spotting flight. IAD02LA003

Second place was a hand-prop accident involving a pilot with 12,500 hours in type. We don't know the intended flight operation, but the NTSB report refers to it as aerial observation, and the plane was owned by "Omega Protein Inc." This pilot had about 16,000 hours total time.

Ron Wanttaja
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The Omega fish spotters rack up a lot of hours. They have probably 8-10 182s based at KIYA -Abbeville LA.
 
360 hrs for me - it's still in my top spot even though I try to fly just about anything else.
 
I've got 49.8.

And that was just the one trip to rough river :biggrin:
 
I have probably 1200 in a 172 and 300 in a 170. Paper logs, sorting out the 159, 162, 182, PA28 time would be tedious LOL
 
C-172C 1.0
C-172H 1034.8
1.8 dual in a C-R172K Hawk XP. Going from being shoehorned into a clapped out 152 to that "hotrod" was an experience.
 
I’ve got over 4000 hours of dual given, so it was no surprise that I’ve got 2700 hours in 172’s. Another 85 in the RG. Standing by for some @eman1200 snark. :)
 
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