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
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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 |
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