Cessna 120
Specifications
- Year: 1946
- Make: Cessna
- Model: 120
- Wingspan: 33′ 4″
- Length Overall: 21′ 6″
- Wing Area: 159.3 Sq Ft
- Gross Weight: 1,450 lbs
- Fuel Capacity: 25 gallons
- Cruising Speed: 105mph
- Horsepower: 85
- Restored By: Never restored
- Number Manufactured: 7,664 including C140’s
- Number of Passengers: 2
- Propeller: 2 Blade Maxwell
Words of Recognition
A classic postwar two place training aircraft it was one of the first GA planes of mostly metal construction (though early examples, including mine, have fabric covered wings). Abandoning the round radial engines of the prewar period the C120 features a 4 cylinder horizontally opposed engine. It has no flaps like the more expensive 140 does (but what real pilot needs flaps?) nor does it have a rear quarter window. It was built to be cheap, plentiful, easy to maintain and fly and it still is. It doesn’t climb or cruise fast but it as stable as a maple leaf in the breeze. It’s tremendous fun to fly! Easy to see over the nose but like all tail draggers deserves respect until its tied down.
History of this Cessna
My plane has no unique history of its own that I know of. But the 120’s connection to me begins with my father who learned to fly in one in the late 1940’s. I have his logbook which shows his first “long” cross country flight as a student pilot to Dallas, Texas from Oklahoma City, a distance of about 200 miles. It was two hours down and 5 hours back!
Why this Cessna?
- The reason I bought it was I wanted an enclosed cabin plane to fly for fun around Sonoma and Napa Counties in California and it was inexpensive, recently gone through and had a polished fuselage. I had the fuselage polished to a high sheen by master Jamie Flinn, added a transponder with ADSB so people could see me and fly it every chance I get.
- What I love about it is that its simple yet fun to fly, inexpensive to operate, cheap to buy and surprisingly comfortable.
