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
N3771R	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Virginia	Standard	2022-01-22	Valid
N2403U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Georgia	Standard	2022-01-21	Valid
N5778T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Green Hornet Aviation LLC Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania	Standard	2022-01-21	Valid
N8222X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alaska	Standard	2022-01-21	Valid
N9147B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Idaho	Standard	2022-01-21	Valid
N8350B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2022-01-20	Valid
N8796B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Minnesota	Standard	2022-01-20	Valid
N1122F	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2022-01-18	Valid
N4441L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2022-01-15	Valid
N7811T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oregon	Standard	2022-01-15	Valid
N2645L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Texas	Standard	2022-01-14	Valid
N6632A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	3 Fly-N LLC Carlisle, Kentucky	Standard	2022-01-13	Valid
N7876X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2022-01-13	Valid
N8791B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner New York	Standard	2022-01-13	Valid
N100YS	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Carolina	Standard	2022-01-12	Valid
N7762X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Florida	Standard	2022-01-12	Valid
N2983D	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Ingalsbe David L Flowery Branch, Georgia	Standard	2022-01-11	Valid
N2632L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Arkansas	Standard	2022-01-10	Valid
N5100F	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Air & Space Education Instittute INC Pine Knot, Kentucky	Standard	2022-01-08	Valid
N3997S	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Jazc LLC Doniphan, Nebraska	Standard	2022-01-07	Valid
N4436L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Michigan	Standard	2022-01-07	Valid
N4277F	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Military and Civilian Aviation Heritage Foundation Benton, Pennsylvania	Standard	2022-01-06	Valid
N7577X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Blusky Aviation LLC Palmyra, Indiana	Standard	2022-01-06	Valid
N5425R	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2022-01-04	Valid
N5525T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oklahoma	Standard	2022-01-04	Valid
N7963X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Hairetown LLC Johnson City, Tennessee	Standard	2022-01-03	Valid
N8815B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Washington	Standard	2022-01-03	Valid
N7660X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Illinois	Standard	2021-12-30	Valid
N2754U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Arkansas	Standard	2021-12-29	Valid
N3283K	Globe GC-1B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oregon	Standard	2021-12-29	Valid
N8840U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Hathor Aviation LLC Johnstown, Colorado	Standard	2021-12-29	Valid
N3746L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Wisconsin	Standard	2021-12-28	Valid
N7432X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New York	Standard	2021-12-28	Valid
N7582T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Texas	Multiple	2021-12-27	Valid
N4324L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Mesa Aviation LLC Alpine, Texas	Standard	2021-12-23	Valid
N2775L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Pennsylvania	Standard	2021-12-21	Valid
N5641T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Washington	Standard	2021-12-21	Valid
N7784T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Justonemore LLC Fayetteville, Arkansas	Standard	2021-12-21	Valid
N8592U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Jls Construction & Mining INC Flagstaff, Arizona	Standard	2021-12-21	Valid
N7920U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Texas	Standard	2021-12-20	Valid
N8355B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Carolina	Standard	2021-12-20	Valid
N3576D	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Maine	Standard	2021-12-18	Valid
N78244	Globe GC-1B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Arizona	Standard	2021-12-18	Valid
N2946U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Pearson Eugene L Burns, Kansas	Standard	2021-12-17	Valid
N8708U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Oregon	Standard	2021-12-17	Valid
N4990R	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alaska	Standard	2021-12-16	Valid
N8569B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Carolina	Standard	2021-12-16	Valid
N1400F	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Georgia	Standard	2021-12-15	Valid
N7556T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Florida	Standard	2021-12-15	Valid
N5416C	Cessna 170A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Louisiana	Standard	2021-12-14	Valid
N8194A	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Unable Direct LLC Kalispell, Montana	Standard	2021-12-13	Valid
N8453U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Maryland	Standard	2021-12-13	Valid
N1630Y	Cessna 172C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Oregon	Standard	2021-12-11	Valid
N3940L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Florida	Standard	2021-12-11	Valid
N6852A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Washington	Standard	2021-12-11	Valid
N8061L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Tennessee	Standard	2021-12-11	Valid
N5905R	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Georgia	Standard	2021-12-10	Valid
N1718F	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Idaho	Standard	2021-12-08	Valid
N7294T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2021-12-08	Valid
N539MT	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Flyboys LLC Fall City, Washington	Standard	2021-12-04	Valid
N8003L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Louisiana	Standard	2021-12-02	Valid
N8112X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Wisconsin	Standard	2021-12-02	Valid
N8281U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Washington	Standard	2021-12-02	Valid
N8847B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Ohio	Standard	2021-12-02	Valid
N4361B	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alaska	Standard	2021-12-01	Valid
N1493F	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Adventist World Wilson, North Carolina	Standard	2021-11-30	Valid
N4659L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Texas	Standard	2021-11-30	Valid
N7622T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Tennessee	Standard	2021-11-23	Valid
N629PJ	American Champion Aircraft 7GCAA	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Florida	Standard	2021-11-20	Valid
N6612A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Wisconsin	Standard	2021-11-20	Valid
N1288D	Cessna 170A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Oregon	Standard	2021-11-19	Valid
N2647L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Commonwealth Aviation Services LLC Herndon, Virginia	Standard	2021-11-19	Valid
N4235L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner North Dakota	Standard	2021-11-19	Valid
N4612L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2021-11-19	Valid
N8037B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Executive 21 LLC Noblesville, Indiana	Standard	2021-11-19	Valid
N5332R	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Dakota	Standard	2021-11-17	Valid
N2440L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alabama	Standard	2021-11-16	Valid
N3829S	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2021-11-16	Valid
N6218E	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Zephyrhills Flying Club INC Tampa, Florida	Standard	2021-11-16	Valid
N7072A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Big R of Greeley Greeley, Colorado	Standard	2021-11-16	Valid
N7629T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oregon	Standard	2021-11-16	Valid
N8277U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Edgewood Farms LLC Groveland, New York	Standard	2021-11-16	Valid
N2429Y	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Ohio	Standard	2021-11-15	Valid
N2897L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oregon	Standard	2021-11-15	Valid
N4089C	Maule M-4	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oregon	Standard	2021-11-15	Valid
N7832T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	N7832T LLC Wilmington, Delaware	Standard	2021-11-15	Valid
N8169U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Washington	Standard	2021-11-13	Valid
N8665U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Florida	Standard	2021-11-13	Valid
N1852Y	Cessna 172C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Minot Light Aviaiton LLC Rockland, Massachusetts	Standard	2021-11-12	Valid
N6216E	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alaska	Standard	2021-11-12	Valid
N7075A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Arizona	Standard	2021-11-12	Valid
N9702T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alaska	Standard	2021-11-12	Valid
N621W	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Michigan	Standard	2021-11-10	Valid
N6130E	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2021-11-09	Valid
N6213E	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Missouri	Standard	2021-11-09	Valid
N5162A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Sizer Timothy J Arthur, Nebraska	Standard	2021-11-08	Valid
N8111X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Ohio	Standard	2021-11-08	Valid
N3884L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Florida	Standard	2021-11-05	Valid
N12018	Maule M-4	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Louisiana	Standard	2021-11-04	Valid
N145WM	Williams MONOCOUPE 90C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Carolina	Experimental	2021-11-04	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.