Engines · piston (reciprocating) · data as of October 8, 2026

Continental O-300 series

6,623 aircraft on the U.S. register carry a Continental O-300 series engine, rated at about 145 horsepower. The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is the model most often fitted with it (6,073 aircraft). The aircraft carrying it were built between 1949 and 2021.

The FAA records engines by code, usually at the level of a series ("O-320 series") rather than the exact variant; this page gathers every FAA code that reads as Continental O-300 series. FAA spelling: 0-300 SER.

Fitted to model families

Model families, as a table

	aircraft
Cessna 172 Skyhawk	6,073
Cessna 170	372
Maule M-4	47
Cessna 175 Skylark	41
Globe GC-1 Swift	28
Aeronca 15	8
Temco GC-1	8
Cessna 150	7
Maule BEE DEE M-4	3
Piper PA-18 Super Cub	2
Piper PA-24 Comanche	2
American Champion Aircraft 7 Citabria and Champ	1

Cessna 172 Skyhawk · Cessna 170 · Maule M-4 · Cessna 175 Skylark · Globe GC-1 Swift · Aeronca 15 · Temco GC-1 · Cessna 150 · Maule BEE DEE M-4 · Piper PA-18 Super Cub

Where they are owner's state

Texas622California469Florida340Washington306Alaska267Michigan223Ohio219Georgia202Oregon194North Carolina191

By state, as a table

	aircraft
Texas	622
California	469
Florida	340
Washington	306
Alaska	267
Michigan	223
Ohio	219
Georgia	202
Oregon	194
North Carolina	191

Kind of aircraft

Piston singles6,621 (100%)Piston twins1 (0.0%)Helicopters1 (0.0%)

By kind, as a table

	aircraft	share
Piston singles	6,621	100%
Piston twins	1	0.0%
Helicopters	1	0.0%

When the aircraft were built by decade

By decade built, as a table

	aircraft
1940	62
1950	1,889
1960	3,524
1970	14
1980	3
1990	2
2000	3
2020	1

What the FAA has certified, ordered and been told about the Continental O-300 series the component layer

The design is held under 1 type certificate (E-253, held by Continental Aerospace Technologies, INC.). The FAA has issued 7 airworthiness directives (orders that owners must comply with) that name this engine series. Operators and repair shops have filed 38 failure reports with the FAA since 1995, 5 of them in the last ten years.

FAA orders 7 airworthiness directives · newest first

2023-10-262023-17-04 · Reciprocating Engine Oil System · engine

2022-03-292022-04-04 · Reciprocating Engine Oil System · engine

2012-01-242011-26-07 · Engine · engine

2002-07-122002-13-04 · Magneto impulse coupling stop pin · engine

1996-02-1394-05-05 R1 · Cylinder Rocker · engine

1993-08-1293-10-02 · Missing Cylinder Valve Retainer Key · engine

All orders naming the Continental O-300 series

Failure reports 38 since · what operators and shops told the FAA

Failure reports by year, as a table

	reports
96	1
01	3
02	4
03	10
04	3
05	2
06	2
07	5
08	2
09	1
11	1
12	1
13	1
19	2

Parts most often reported as the reports name them

Baffle4Cylinder3Bulkhead2Connecting Rod2Stringer2Wheel2Adapter1Axle1Battery1Bearing Cage1

Parts most reported, as a table

	reports
Baffle	4
Cylinder	3
Bulkhead	2
Connecting Rod	2
Stringer	2
Wheel	2
Adapter	1
Axle	1
Battery	1
Bearing Cage	1

Latest reports

2019-11-19Line: broken

2019-05-10Cylinder: cracked

2013-02-22Counterweight: loose

2012-07-10Cylinder: cracked

2011-08-08Cylinder: broken

Certificates and bulletins

E-253Type certificate held by Continental Aerospace Technologies, INC. · 8 models listed · revised September 19, 2022

Safety bulletins 3 · advice, not orders

2018-09-10NE-18-27 · POWERPLANT Rocker Shaft Boss Inspection

2016-03-08NE-16-13 · Powerplant - Prohibited use of sealant

2012-10-31NE-13-04 · Continental Motors, Inc. (CMI) Connecting Rod Piston Pin Bushing Inspection

Sources: the FAA's type certificate data sheets, airworthiness directives, supplemental type certificates, special conditions and special airworthiness information bulletins (Dynamic Regulatory System), and the FAA's service difficulty reports. A failure report is what an operator or repair station chose to file; the counts show reporting as much as reliability, and larger and commercial fleets report more. How the systems are grouped.

Connections how this engine series links to the rest of the register

Fitted to

Cessna 172 Skyhawk 6,073 with this engine series
Cessna 170 372 with this engine series
Maule M-4 47 with this engine series
Cessna 175 Skylark 41 with this engine series
Globe GC-1 Swift 28 with this engine series
Aeronca 15 8 with this engine series
Temco GC-1 8 with this engine series
Cessna 150 7 with this engine series

Where they are

Texas 622 of these aircraft
California 469 of these aircraft
Florida 340 of these aircraft
Washington 306 of these aircraft
Alaska 267 of these aircraft

Biggest operators

United States Air Force Owner 10 of these aircraft
Bas Part Sales LLC 9 of these aircraft
Sutton Aircraft Salvage LLC 8 of these aircraft
Dmac Aircraft LLC 8 of these aircraft
United States Air Force 7 of these aircraft

Airworthiness

FAA orders naming the Continental O-300 series 7 airworthiness directives
Failure reports on the Continental O-300 series 38 reports since 1995

Analytics

The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/engine/continental-o-300-series.json.

Aircraft newest certificates first · 6,623

Tail no.	Maker and model	Group	Owner and base	Certificate	Registered	Status
N2444Y	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Missouri	Standard	2023-01-12	Valid
N2496U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Oklahoma	Standard	2023-01-12	Valid
N6673A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Carolina	Standard	2023-01-12	Valid
N7514X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2023-01-12	Valid
N1337Y	Cessna 172C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Gaipa Aircraft INC Saint Joseph, Michigan	Standard	2023-01-11	Valid
N3439D	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alaska	Standard	2023-01-11	Valid
N3758L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	N3758L LLC Titusville, Florida	Standard	2023-01-11	Valid
N4405B	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alaska	Standard	2023-01-11	Valid
N5712R	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Global Learning Solutions INC Montrose, Colorado	Standard	2023-01-11	Valid
N7649T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2023-01-11	Valid
N8750B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Ohio	Standard	2023-01-11	Valid
N1765F	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Oregon	Standard	2023-01-06	Valid
N7647T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New Mexico	Standard	2023-01-06	Valid
N16KN	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Igwt Holding LLC Richardson, Texas	Standard	2023-01-05	Valid
N2688L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Maine	Standard	2023-01-05	Valid
N2970D	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Kentucky	Standard	2023-01-05	Valid
N5450R	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Mayer AG Service Chamberlain, South Dakota	Standard	2023-01-05	Valid
N6999A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Ohio	Standard	2023-01-05	Valid
N5654R	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New York	Standard	2023-01-04	Valid
N8369U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Camden Aviation LLC Lewes, Delaware	Standard	2023-01-03	Valid
N2427L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	T&T Aviators LLC Buford, Georgia	Standard	2023-01-02	Valid
N3443C	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New York	Standard	2023-01-02	Valid
N3675L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Montana	Standard	2023-01-02	Valid
N8216X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	River Town Aviation LLC Williamstown, West Virginia	Standard	2023-01-02	Valid
N8200X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Klad-Air LLC Catlett, Virginia	Standard	2023-01-01	Valid
N5961A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Alaska	Standard	2022-12-31	Valid
N6174E	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Cano Michael J Vallecito, California	Standard	2022-12-29	Valid
N6253E	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Nebraska	Standard	2022-12-28	Valid
N2936D	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Krish Air LLC Louisville, Kentucky	Standard	2022-12-27	Valid
N3524S	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner New Jersey	Standard	2022-12-27	Valid
N5695T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Missouri	Standard	2022-12-27	Valid
N8179B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Tennessee	Standard	2022-12-27	Valid
N8462X	Cessna 172C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Carolina	Standard	2022-12-27	Valid
N5419T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Carolina	Standard	2022-12-26	Valid
N8131U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Texas	Standard	2022-12-26	Valid
N3219L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Iowa	Standard	2022-12-24	Valid
N3944	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Avra Valley Flyers LLC Gilbert, Arizona	Standard	2022-12-24	Valid
N7160A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2022-12-24	Valid
N7726X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner California	Standard	2022-12-24	Valid
N7909X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Nebraska	Standard	2022-12-22	Valid
N8253L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Arizona	Standard	2022-12-22	Valid
N3252L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Elizabethton Aerobatic Club INC Elizabethton, Tennessee	Standard	2022-12-20	Valid
N3902R	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Virginia	Standard	2022-12-20	Valid
N8917B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Washington	Standard	2022-12-19	Valid
N3870L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New York	Standard	2022-12-17	Valid
N8668B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2022-12-17	Valid
N5564T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Minnesota	Standard	2022-12-16	Valid
N1740F	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Texas	Standard	2022-12-15	Valid
N2697U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Washington	Standard	2022-12-15	Valid
N487MT	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Arkansas	Standard	2022-12-15	Valid
N5467T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Withheld at owner's request	Standard	2022-12-14	Valid
N5748A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Missouri	Standard	2022-12-14	Valid
N7517X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2022-12-14	Valid
N8265L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Virginia	Standard	2022-12-13	Valid
N3444D	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Michigan	Standard	2022-12-12	Valid
N3640L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Florida	Standard	2022-12-12	Valid
N4369B	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Oregon	Standard	2022-12-12	Valid
N8221L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Minnesota	Standard	2022-12-12	Valid
N1125H	Aeronca 15AC	Fixed-wing, single engine	Clark David D Nenana, Alaska	Standard	2022-12-10	Valid
N7244T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Montana	Standard	2022-12-10	Valid
N8510U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Tds Property Holdings LLC Gilmer, Texas	Standard	2022-12-09	Valid
N7296A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oklahoma	Standard	2022-12-08	Valid
N5449R	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New York	Standard	2022-12-07	Valid
N5669T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Minnesota	Standard	2022-12-07	Valid
N7394A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Washington	Standard	2022-12-07	Valid
N8108X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Iowa	Standard	2022-12-06	Valid
N7668X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Kansas	Standard	2022-12-05	Valid
N5186A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Dakota	Standard	2022-12-02	Valid
N2459L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Media Stew LLC Carson City, Nevada	Standard	2022-12-01	Valid
N8545B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Nevada	Standard	2022-12-01	Valid
N8964B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New York	Standard	2022-12-01	Valid
N3757S	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Georgia	Standard	2022-11-30	Valid
N6719A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2022-11-30	Valid
N7086A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Tugmon Danny Lee Locust Grove, Oklahoma	Standard	2022-11-30	Valid
N172TT	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oregon	Standard	2022-11-29	Valid
N170ET	Cessna 170A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Pennsylvania	Standard	2022-11-28	Valid
N3697S	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner California	Standard	2022-11-28	Valid
N6011A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Aero Valkaria LLC Palm Bay, Florida	Standard	2022-11-28	Valid
N6964A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Jackalope Aviation LLC Bellingham, Washington	Restricted	2022-11-28	Valid
N7184T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Carolina	Standard	2022-11-28	Valid
N3020U	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Kelly Ho-Montoya Insurance Group LLC Wichita Falls, Texas	Standard	2022-11-26	Valid
N96167	Cessna 175	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Iowa	Standard	2022-11-26	Valid
N513S	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Carolina	Standard	2022-11-24	Valid
N7328A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Toribio LLC San Antonio, Texas	Standard	2022-11-22	Valid
N5551T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2022-11-19	Valid
N2704L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2022-11-17	Valid
N1300Y	Cessna 172C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Pennsylvania	Standard	2022-11-14	Valid
N8334U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Carolina	Standard	2022-11-12	Valid
N4152F	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Wisconsin	Standard	2022-11-11	Valid
N8831Z	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Dakota	Standard	2022-11-09	Valid
N3226L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner North Dakota	Standard	2022-11-08	Valid
N5177A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Washington	Standard	2022-11-08	Valid
N7314M	Cessna 175	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Nebraska	Standard	2022-11-08	Valid
N8950B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alabama	Standard	2022-11-08	Valid
N8684U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Florida	Standard	2022-11-07	Valid
N2581Y	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Overman Aviation LLC Saint Louis, Missouri	Standard	2022-11-05	Valid
N7411X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Washington	Standard	2022-11-05	Valid
N8362U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Utah	Standard	2022-11-05	Valid
N1170F	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner California	Standard	2022-11-04	Valid
N6498B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Tennessee	Standard	2022-11-03	Valid

Source: FAA Civil Aviation Registry, Releasable Aircraft Database (the engine reference table and each aircraft's engine code), October 8, 2026. Horsepower and thrust are the FAA's figures for the series, not for a particular aircraft.