FOR AIRCRAFT DEVELOPERS
Research aircraft and systems
Find aircraft background, systems descriptions and manuals for the aircraft you are researching. Each note keeps its source and version context close by.
Simulator manuals describe the developer’s implementation. Aircraft background is research-based; pilot accounts describe an individual’s experience. Coverage here is limited to the selected notes and linked resources, not the full contents of every manual.
Cessna 152 / Aerobat
The 152 developed from Cessna's earlier 150, retaining the compact side-by-side cabin and simple high-wing layout. It became a familiar aircraft at flying schools and clubs. The Aerobat branch added equipment and structural provisions for aerobatic use.
Its smaller cabin distinguishes it from the four-seat 172 even when the family styling looks similar. The simulator products identify the standard 152 and Aerobat separately, with their panel layouts and configurations.
Aircraft / family
Cessna Aerobat: CFI’s Perspective
Tamara Griffith · 30 July 2020
Video: Hooking the next generation on flying
Jamie Beckett · 2 June 2016
Fly off: 150 versus 152
Dave Hirschman · 5 December 2015 · comparison with Mark Evans
Cessna 162 Skycatcher
The Skycatcher combines a two-seat high-wing airframe with under-panel control sticks. Cessna’s handbook explains that these move like floor-mounted sticks while leaving the cabin easier to enter. Cables and mechanical linkages operate the ailerons, elevator and rudder, with spring loading in the rudder system.
Electric pitch trim acts through a tab on the right elevator. A switch on the stick commands an elevator-mounted servo, and the Garmin G300 displays the trim position. The same handbook identifies optional automatic-flight equipment separately from the standard flight and engine displays.
Model 162 handbook configuration.
Cessna 170
The Cessna 170B is a tailwheel light aircraft used for touring, training and backcountry flying.
1956 Cessna 170B in AOPA aircraft reference. · AOPA Cessna 170 fact sheet; 1956 170B specification and November 1985 account
172 Skyhawk (G1000) · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
Microsoft Flight Simulator aircraft manuals
172 Skyhawk · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024
Microsoft Flight Simulator aircraft manuals
Cessna 172 Skyhawk (G1000) · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020
Microsoft Flight Simulator aircraft manuals
Cessna 172 Skyhawk · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020
Microsoft Flight Simulator aircraft manuals
Cessna 172 SP · Laminar Research · X-Plane 12
The bundled X-Plane Skyhawk has its own cockpit reference
Laminar's manual documents the C172's primary controls, trim console, instruments and autopilot. Its illustrated cockpit guide and configuration checks describe the bundled aircraft. Independent C172 developers document their own maintenance systems and avionics.
Archived simulator manual; installed package revision not observed · PDF pp.7-8,45; center console and preflight
Cessna 172 SP · Laminar Research · X-Plane 11
The bundled X-Plane Skyhawk has its own cockpit reference
Laminar's manual documents the C172's primary controls, trim console, instruments and autopilot. Its illustrated cockpit guide and configuration checks describe the bundled aircraft. Independent C172 developers document their own maintenance systems and avionics.
Archived simulator manual; installed package revision not observed · PDF pp.7-8,45; center console and preflight
