Hmmmm...where to park?

[Cary]

The "Dash 10" (Operators manual) describes it as a R172R. Further describes it as a REIMS ROCKET. Six cyl TCM & CS prop. 4th tiedown point aft of the nose wheel. Not really a Skyhawk.

I believe that was the T-41B. The T-41A had an O-300 and a fixed-pitch prop.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_T-41_Mescalero

I got a few hours on a T-41A, back as a CAP cadet in the '70s. Don't remember the engine, but it did have a fixed pitch prop.

Ron Wanttaja

My first flights were in a T-41A in Casa Grande, AZ in 1968. I still have my checklist. Engine was a Continental O-300-D, 145 horsepower. Yes, a 76-inch fixed-pitch prop. My very first airplane was a 57 C-172 with the same powerplant.

As Ron notes, the R172 (actually R-172E) was the T-41B. Lots of differences besides the constant speed, 210 HP IO-360D engine. It is really a different airplane -- and was a lot of fun to fly. The T-41A was the same airframe as the C-172 F, G, and H. The only difference was some military instruments and, or course, the paint scheme. T-41Cs were also R-172E's, but with a fixed pitch prop.

From my research, the T-41 versions were all on the same type certificate as the C175, P172D (which I own), R172 (Reims Rocket), 172RG (Cutlass RG), and 172XP--which is not the type certificate of the 172. There are some functional differences between the two type certificates, not just the engines and CS vs. fixed pitch props (or the geared engines on the 175). Incidentally, although none of the T-41s have spinners, they are required equipment on the civilian equivalents.

The higher powered versions don't go much faster than the others, but they climb better and higher. My P172D has a 180hp Lycoming instead of the original 175hp Continental, both with a CS prop. It will go neck and neck with an XP at cruise, although the XP will slightly out climb it. I've had mine to 15,000', the alleged service ceiling, but it's a real strain; 14,000' is more consistently doable except in the hottest weather. An XP's service ceiling is 17,000'.

But in the end, they're all 172s of one sort or another, and they all fly very similarly. None of them are particularly quick; even the quickest (the Cutlass RG) is no speed demon at allegedly 140 knots cruise but from my experience more likely to cruise at under 135 knots. The draggy airframes just don't allow for speed. But they're all pretty pleasant to fly, without any bad habits or "gotchas".

Cary