Part of the reason EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh is known as "The World’s Greatest Aviation
Celebration" is because it’s a perfect place to celebrate the
landmark anniversaries and events of flight. This year we salute the
50th anniversary of one of the general aviation fleet’s mainstays, the
Cessna 172 Skyhawk.
Since its introduction in
1956, the 172 has become the most successful small airplane in history.
Countless pilots have learned the basics of flight in its cockpit, and
many of them continue to fly the familiar high-wing aircraft throughout
North America and around the world.
Among the invited
aircraft for this commemoration is the very first Cessna 172, a 1956
model still flown regularly by EAA member Joe Nelsen of Gunter, Texas.
Major Cessna 172 activities during EAA AirVenture include:
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Two groups of Cessna
172s were scheduled to arrive Saturday afternoon and park together
in AirVenture’s "North 40" aircraft camping area.
Parking for up to 500 C-172s and 182s has been reserved in what’s
called the Cessna Base Camp.
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A display of notable
Cessna 172s on AirVenture’s showcase AeroShell Square, including
the first and most recent models.
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A schedule of
AirVenture forum speakers and topics specifically on the Cessna 172.
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A special exhibit of
the artwork of Richard Ten Eyck, Cessna’s consulting design
engineer from the 1950s through the 1980s, which encompasses
original sketches and designs for paint schemes, interiors and other
items for many Cessna aircraft, including those never produced.
Since the airplane’s
introduction, more than 42,500 Cessna 172s have been built, making it
the most successful mass-produced aircraft in history. They have become
the most recognized single-engine civilian aircraft in the world, used
around the globe for flight training, business, recreation and
humanitarian efforts.
The Cessna 172 has also flown more than
20 percent of the 1.2 million Young Eagles flown by EAA-member volunteer
pilots since that program began in 1992.
