How Far Would You Fly a Cessna 172?

A ferry pilot recently garnered attention for flying a Skyhawk 2,521 miles to Hawaii.

Friday, August 26, 2022 at 11:16 AM ET

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Pilot Tom Lopes waited months for favorable winds before making the flight to Hawaii. [Courtesy: George Hanzawa/Facebook]

Key Takeaways:

Ferry pilot Tom Lopes successfully completed an 18-hour, 2,521-mile nonstop flight in a new Cessna 172 from Merced, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii.
The ambitious journey required extensive preparation, including a 210-gallon ferry tank for extra fuel and waiting months for favorable tailwinds.
While such flights are routine for experienced ferry pilots, this particular delivery garnered unexpected viral attention on social media due to public disbelief that a Cessna 172 could fly so far nonstop.
Lopes, an experienced pilot in trans-oceanic deliveries, landed the aircraft with 25 gallons of fuel to spare and is already preparing for his next long-haul flight across the Pacific.

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Anyone who has spent years flying a Cessna 172—or just about any other basic small piston-powered aircraft has probably spent time thinking about what it would be like to travel thousands of miles in such an airplane—nonstop.

A ferry pilot named Tom Lopes recently flew 2,521 miles in a new Cessna 172 from Merced Regional Airport/Macready Field (KMCE) in Merced, California, to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (PHNL) in Honolulu, Hawaii. The flight took just over 18 hours and required a ferry tank with extra fuel and other special equipment and preparation.