Speed, endurance, easy handling, reasonable ûuseful load — who could possibly ask for more ûthan the Cessna 172RG Cutlass offers?

Sort of an intermediate hybrid between the venerable 172 and the inestimable 182RG Skylane, the Cutlass rode a fine line for the five years it was in production. Its ill-defined market niche, coupled with the advent of the general aviation recession, kept the production numbers fairly low. Indeed, only 1,191 were rolled out of the factory doors.

History

The timing of the Cutlass’ introduction was unfortunate; it hit the market in 1980, generally seen as the year when the GA slump began. Essentially, the Cutlass was a retractable 172 fitted with a carbureted Lycoming O-360 and constant-speed prop (the same basic power package found on the fixed-gear Cardinal, though with a different…