Bringing Cardinal Owners Together
for safety, savings and fun
Welcome Guest ()
Join or Log In
  Home |  Prepurchase |  Ops |  Community |  Members |  Mods |  Tech |  Data
Prepurchase Info

General Info
Cardinal Overview
One owner's story
Flying the Cardinal

A shopping trip
Prepurchase Story

Cardinal Info
Evolution: FG
Evolution: RG
Serial #'s by year
FAA Reg (quick)
International Reg
FAA Reg (full)

Common Questions
Cost of ownership
'68 Comments
Initial Training?
FG or RG?

Member's Info
Members Only

Birth of the Cardinal
Keep costs down
N/Serial relationships
  

Model, Year and Serials Cross Reference



Many Cardinal owners bump into a problem with the FAA database. They can get confused about what year Cardinal they have, and wonder who's right about the year: the date on the federal documents or the service manual?

The problem stems from the fact that aircraft manufacturers are just like the car manufacturers.. they start building the next model year some time before the calender changes.

But the Feds are unconcerned about details like model years. The manuals and federal tracking all operate by serial numbers. But Cessna did make changes related to the model years, which are easier for us to track than the serial numbers.

What the feds do seem to care about is when they started tracking this aircraft, so the date on the federal documents relates to the date of manufacture of the airplane, not its model year.

Which date do they use? The day the airworthiness document is applied for? When the registration number is attached to the airplane? When the 'keel was laid' for the vessel? It is hard to say. But we do know that the date on the federal registration listing is only a clue to the model year and not the answer.

When I was researching colors I found perhaps 20-25% of the airplanes fit in that gap between model and manufacture year.

So here is a table that will accurately tell the model year of a Cardinal from it's serial number.

Thanks to these Cardinal owners for each contributing a serial number cross reference for their type of Cardinal:


RG numbers
FG numbers
Reims RG numbers (assembled in France)

Retractable Gear

From: Vincent Endter

Model
Year

Model

Popular
Name

Beginning
Serial

Ending
Serial

1971

177RG

Cardinal RG

177RG0001

177RG0212

1972

177RG

Cardinal RG

177RG0213

177RG0282

1973

177RG

Cardinal RG

177RG0283

177RG0432

1974

177RG

Cardinal RG

177RG0433

177RG0592

1975

177RG

Cardinal RG

177RG0593

177RG0787

1976

177RG

Cardinal RG

177RG0788

177RG1051

1977

177RG

Cardinal RG

177RG1052

177RG1266

1978

177RG

Cardinal RG

177RG1267

177RG1366



Fixed Gear


From: Duane Allen

Model Year
Model
Popular Name
Beginning Serial
Ending Serial
1968

177

177 or Cardinal

17700001

17701164

1969

177A

177A or Cardinal

17701165

17701370

1970

177B

177B or Cardinal

17701371

17701530

1971

177B

177B or Cardinal

17701531

17701633

1972

177B

177B or Cardinal

17701634

17701773

1973

177B

177B or Cardinal

17701774

17701973

1974

177B

177B or Cardinal

17701974

17702123

1975

177B

177B, Cardinal, and Cardinal II

17702124

17702313

1976

177B

Cardinal or Cardinal II

17702314

17702522

1977

177B

Cardinal or Cardinal II

17702523

17702672

1978

177B

Cardinal Classic

17702673

17702752

Reims (France) Retractable Gear


Year Starting # Ending #
1971 F177RG0001 F177RG0042
1972 F177RG0043 F177RG0062
1973 F177RG0063 F177RG0092
1974 F177RG0093 F177RG0122
1975 F177RG0123 F177RG0138
1976 F177RG0139 F177RG0160
1977 F177RG0161 F177RG0177