If becoming a pilot is your dream, take a look at these 5 easiest airplanes to learn to fly in.
Flying a plane is one of the most common childhood dreams around the world. Ever since the Wright brothers proved that it is possible to fly in a machine that was heavier than air, imagination of both boys and girls (and plenty of adults as well) has been captured by airplanes. Aviation pioneers like Charles Lindberg and Amelia Earhart became national heroes.
After WW2 airplanes became cheap enough that they weren’t regarded as just rich people’s privilege. With plenty of pilots leaving the air forces around the world, there wasn’t a shortage of instructors. And with mass produced trainers like Piper J-3 Cub and Cessna models 120 and 140, there were plenty of airplanes to go around. Even today, Cessna and Piper are almost synonymous for trainer airplanes.
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Defining easiest airplanes to learn to fly in isn’t a straightforward task. As with all other forms of learning, “easy” is a subjective category for the most part. There are few characteristics like easy handling, stability and forgiveness for errors that every airplane on our list have. But then again, every training airplane worth its salt has them as well. So, how does one determine which of them is the most beginner friendly? First of all, we concentrated on basic flight trainers. With no concrete parameters to go by, we decided to abide by the popular opinion. We have surveyed 25 piloting schools and tallied their fleets. Ten of them are from the United States, 4 from Germany, 3 from the United Kingdom, 3 from Italy and 2 from France and Australia each.
In order to better extrapolate the data we gathered from pilot schools, we awarded additional points for production numbers.
Although there are plenty of easy jobs in the Air Force that don’t require a pilot’s license, having one can open interesting career options. According to Boeing and their market research, the world will need 192,300 new pilots by the year 2032. It would seem that enrolling in pilot school is a smart career choice right about now. Just make sure that school’s fleet includes one of these 5 easiest airplanes to learn to fly in.
5. American Champion Citabria
Citabria was designed in the 1960s by Champion Aircraft Corporation. The company started production in 1964. Since then, the design changed hands frequently as companies who owned it went out of business. Finally, in 1989, American Champion Aircraft Corporation bought the blueprints and have been producing Citabria ever since. In total, over 5200 were built since 1964. Apart from serving as a basic flight trainer, Citabria was also designed as an acrobatic trainer. When read backward Citabria becomes airbatic, since the plane can withstand +5g to -2g forces, far more than it is required for a basic trainer.
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4. Diamond DV20/DA20 Katana
We continue with the newest design on our list. DA20 is the first model that managed to create a significant impact on pilot school fleets, dominated by the other 4 models listed below. The production started in 1994 and the company opened a factory in Canada in order to gain a foothold in the North-American market. Katana featured a low-wing design and was looked very different from traditional flight trainers. It was also made of composite materials, a major obstacle in model’s sales at the time. However, after a test flight, instructors would easily fall in love with the airplane and more than 300 of them were sold to piloting schools and individuals in the United States. Another plus was that Katana was easily modified to incorporate a glass cockpit, which greatly reduced operating costs for schools.
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3. Cessna 150/152
Designed as a replacement for 140 model, Cessna 150 proved to be one of the most successful airplane design in history. Together with its modernized version dubbed Cessna 152, more than 31,500 units were produced. 152 model featured more powerful engine and cheaper maintenance. The production ended in 1985, but thousands of them are still flying in pilot schools and private hands. The successor model, Cessna 162 Skycatcher, failed to repeat the success of its predecessor. Only 272 were built before the company ceased production in 2013.
2. Piper Pa-28
Over the years, Piper designed and produced more than twenty variants of the Pa-28 model. The main difference between the models were cabin configuration (two or four seats) and engines, ranging from 140 to 300 horse powers. In total, more than 32,000 Pa-28 variants were produced since 1961, making it number four on the list of most produced airplanes in history. The model is still in production, so this number will go up in the future.
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1. Cessna 172
Since 1956, when the production started, more than 43,000 Cessna 172 planes were made. This puts it firmly on the throne as the most produced airplane in the world, surpassing even the mass-produced warplanes of the World War 2 like Ilyushin Il-2 and Messerschmitt Bf 109, even though the production was halted in 1986, only to be resumed in 1998. It is hard to imagine an airfield or a pilot school anywhere in the world without at least one Cessna 172. With four seats, it is far roomier than Cessna 150 and despite being designed as a personal airplane, it quickly seized the role of a basic trainer. If numbers of them in service with flying schools around the world are to be trusted, Cessna 172 is the easiest airplane to learn to fly in.
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