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
N34270	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2018-08-06	Valid
N681RL	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner California	Standard	2018-08-01	Valid
N4230F	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2018-07-31	Valid
N1458F	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Michigan	Standard	2018-07-30	Valid
N3635L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Georgia	Standard	2018-07-30	Valid
N5384T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Virginia	Standard	2018-07-30	Valid
N8615U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Empire Air of North Florida LLC Waldo, Florida	Standard	2018-07-30	Valid
N2557L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Missouri	Standard	2018-07-27	Valid
N5649A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oregon	Standard	2018-07-25	Valid
N5791T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2018-07-25	Valid
N4389L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2018-07-24	Valid
N7895X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2018-07-24	Valid
N2385U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Washington	Standard	2018-07-23	Valid
N3210K	Globe GC-1B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner South Carolina	Standard	2018-07-23	Valid
N2345U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Nevada	Standard	2018-07-20	Valid
N4126L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2018-07-18	Valid
N1501Y	Cessna 172C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oklahoma	Standard	2018-07-16	Valid
N3922R	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Florida	Standard	2018-07-16	Valid
N4329L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Minnesota	Standard	2018-07-16	Valid
N7067A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Tennessee	Standard	2018-07-16	Valid
N9166B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Florida	Standard	2018-07-13	Valid
N119DH	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner California	Standard	2018-07-11	Valid
N2750U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2018-07-11	Valid
N2449U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Washington	Standard	2018-07-10	Valid
N8553B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Arizona	Standard	2018-07-10	Valid
N123AC	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Aerocareers Nfp Columbia, Illinois	Standard	2018-07-09	Valid
N8411X	Cessna 172C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Nebraska	Standard	2018-07-09	Valid
N5602T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner South Dakota	Standard	2018-07-06	Valid
N3770R	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Virginia	Standard	2018-07-02	Valid
N4161L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Texas	Standard	2018-07-02	Valid
N8580U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Wisconsin	Standard	2018-07-02	Valid
N2524Y	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Georgia	Standard	2018-06-29	Valid
N30RJ	Cessna 175C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Colorado	Standard	2018-06-25	Valid
N8596U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Atlanta Air Academy LLC Kennesaw, Georgia	Standard	2018-06-25	Valid
N2353U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2018-06-20	Valid
N1475Y	Cessna 172C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Abe Lincoln Flyers INC Lincoln, Illinois	Standard	2018-06-19	Valid
N3430D	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New York	Standard	2018-06-18	Valid
N6244E	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Minnesota	Standard	2018-06-18	Valid
N4078F	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Kentucky	Standard	2018-06-15	Valid
N6643A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Utah	Standard	2018-06-15	Valid
N7155A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oklahoma	Standard	2018-06-15	Valid
N9802T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Missouri	Standard	2018-06-15	Valid
N5755T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	D2 Government Solutions LLC New Bern, North Carolina	Standard	2018-06-14	Valid
N4701T	Maule M-4	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2018-06-12	Valid
N6040A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Olaf LLC Bellbrook, Ohio	Standard	2018-06-11	Valid
N8742B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Texas Wings LLC San Antonio, Texas	Standard	2018-06-11	Valid
N9912A	Cessna 170A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oklahoma	Standard	2018-06-07	Valid
N3611S	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Arizona	Standard	2018-06-06	Valid
N5855R	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Illinois	Standard	2018-06-04	Valid
N8214X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Aerial Advertising Agency LLC Eatontown, New Jersey	Standard	2018-06-01	Valid
N3995L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Alabama	Standard	2018-05-29	Valid
N5436T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Tennessee	Standard	2018-05-23	Valid
N2876U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Kansas	Standard	2018-05-21	Valid
N3869R	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Wisconsin	Standard	2018-05-21	Valid
N7790T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Aviation Trade INC Castroville, Texas	Standard	2018-05-21	Valid
N2112Y	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Colorado Flight Center INC Grand Junction, Colorado	Standard	2018-05-17	Valid
N6109E	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Massachusetts	Standard	2018-05-17	Valid
N8880	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New Mexico	Standard	2018-05-16	Valid
N2438Y	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New York	Standard	2018-05-15	Valid
N8680B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Colorado	Standard	2018-05-15	Valid
N8861U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Louisiana	Standard	2018-05-15	Valid
N3808L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Greensburg Jeanette Airport Administration Jeannette, Pennsylvania	Standard	2018-05-14	Valid
N170KB	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New Mexico	Standard	2018-05-09	Valid
N5581R	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Cousins Aviation INC Birmingham, Michigan	Standard	2018-05-08	Valid
N3682S	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Wisconsin	Standard	2018-05-04	Valid
N4684L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner California	Standard	2018-05-02	Valid
N917ZX	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	D & S Flyers LLC Portage, Michigan	Standard	2018-05-02	Valid
N8412X	Cessna 172C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alabama	Standard	2018-04-30	Valid
N2653U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oregon	Standard	2018-04-27	Valid
N3796R	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2018-04-26	Valid
N2314U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Cms Crawford Maintenance Services LLC Largo, Florida	Standard	2018-04-25	Valid
N7217T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Colorado	Standard	2018-04-25	Valid
N9277D	Piper PA-28-181	Fixed-wing, single engine	Bird Acquisition LLC Phoenix, Arizona	Standard	2018-04-24	Valid
N2821U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Maine	Standard	2018-04-23	Valid
N3964L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Airhorse Aviation LLC Youngstown, Ohio	Standard	2018-04-23	Valid
N7725U	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Cvz-Vivace LLC Fort Worth, Texas	Standard	2018-04-20	Valid
N8625U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Missouri	Standard	2018-04-20	Valid
N8916B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oregon	Standard	2018-04-20	Valid
N39LB	Miller STARDUSTER-TOO-300	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Experimental	2018-04-19	Valid
N5127F	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Maine	Standard	2018-04-19	Valid
N5613T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Carolina	Standard	2018-04-17	Valid
N7181A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2018-04-13	Valid
N7825U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Iowa	Standard	2018-04-13	Valid
N4283F	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Wyoming	None on file	2018-04-12	Valid
N5833A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Carolina	Standard	2018-04-11	Valid
N7365T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Massachusetts	Standard	2018-04-03	Valid
N2906D	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2018-04-02	Valid
N7548X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Nevada	Standard	2018-04-02	Valid
N4299F	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New Jersey	Standard	2018-03-28	Valid
N3518S	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Alaska	Standard	2018-03-26	Valid
N7380T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Arizona	Standard	2018-03-23	Valid
N3462C	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner South Carolina	Standard	2018-03-22	Valid
N6413E	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2018-03-22	Valid
N8332U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner California	Standard	2018-03-22	Valid
N52WJ	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Indiana	Standard	2018-03-21	Valid
N6271E	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Nate Abel Flying Club Fort Worth, Texas	Standard	2018-03-21	Valid
N8174U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Illinois	Standard	2018-03-21	Valid
N600JF	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Aerial Scouting Solutions LLC Sioux Center, Iowa	Standard	2018-03-15	Valid
N6487B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Arkansas	Standard	2018-03-14	Valid
N7568X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2018-03-14	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.