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The "Fastback" or "Straight-tail" 172 is something FS had been missing for quite some time, and it doesn't matter which of those nicknames you use, we finally have ourselves a nice little rendition of it. The airplane proved so successful that it was in solid production from 1956 to 1986, then it halted for 10 years and was re-introduced as the 172R Skyhawk in So, for a plane that has been produced, used and was proven for such a great length of time, it is interesting and great to see the very beginning of a small but legendary aircraft. This was the era in aviation when the attitude of, "If you can drive a car, you can fly an airplane" became the selling point. Developed in 1955 from the highly successful Cessna 170 airframe, the 172 was to introduce the common American to the seemingly more complex aviation world. When I saw the older version of the 172, the 1958 "Fastback", I really wanted the chance to fly the grandparent of the modern, highly successful trainer. Then again, with time I grew to like these seemingly simple planes. The man I got the aviation influence from, my father, never really liked them, either. However, as I said I'm a warbird fan I was never into Cessna high wings. It's an incredibly stable and forgiving training aircraft, with just the right amount of kick to make decent GA pilots. To a warbird fan like myself, it might seem a bit hard to see at first but ask anyone who owns one or has trained in one with great success and they'll tell you why this aircraft is so popular. More than 40,000 airframes have been built to date. 2 The Cessna 172 is one of the most widely produced airframes, and one of the most popular training aircraft on Earth.