Engines · piston (reciprocating) · data as of October 9, 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
N8533B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Minnesota	Standard	2012-07-31	Valid
N1447F	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Missouri	Standard	2012-07-25	Valid
N5975A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2012-07-25	Valid
N7273A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2012-07-23	Valid
N2746D	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Alaska	Standard	2012-07-19	Valid
N3978S	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2012-07-19	Valid
N2057Y	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Cable Land CO Upland, California	Standard	2012-07-12	Valid
N7439A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2012-07-12	Valid
N2496L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Missouri	Standard	2012-07-11	Valid
N581CG	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Illinois	Standard	2012-07-09	Valid
N4182F	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2012-07-05	Valid
N3782L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Wyoming	Standard	2012-07-03	Valid
N8103B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Arkansas	Standard	2012-07-03	Valid
N8697B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Hillis Gary D Brookland, Arkansas	Multiple	2012-07-03	Valid
N1139F	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Wisconsin	Standard	2012-06-28	Valid
N5782R	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Schuck Daniel W Newark, California	Standard	2012-06-28	Valid
N2480L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Pennsylvania	Standard	2012-06-27	Valid
N7346T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alaska	Standard	2012-06-26	Valid
N6165E	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Oregon	Standard	2012-06-25	Valid
N361RH	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2012-06-22	Valid
N8093L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oregon	Standard	2012-06-20	Valid
N5957A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Dakota	Standard	2012-06-15	Valid
N7310T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Virginia	Standard	2012-06-13	Valid
N2988D	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Colorado	Standard	2012-06-12	Valid
N8003B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Utah	Standard	2012-06-05	Valid
N4418B	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Wisconsin	Standard	2012-06-04	Valid
N8227X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Iowa	Standard	2012-06-01	Valid
N5431T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Corbett Michael T Lake City, Florida	Standard	2012-05-30	Valid
N6196E	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2012-05-25	Valid
N7429T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Pennsylvania	Standard	2012-05-24	Valid
N8243X	Cessna 172C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New York	Standard	2012-05-22	Valid
N8726B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oklahoma	Standard	2012-05-22	Valid
N527AN	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Daisy Aviation LLC Beavercreek, Ohio	Standard	2012-05-18	Valid
N5635A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Arkansas	Standard	2012-05-18	Valid
N2771U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Ohio	Standard	2012-05-07	Valid
N5841A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2012-04-25	Valid
N5069A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oklahoma	Standard	2012-04-20	Valid
N8602U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Georgia	Standard	2012-04-19	Valid
N7857T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Diamondhead Aero Co-Owners LLC Picayune, Mississippi	Standard	2012-04-18	Valid
N7569T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Michigan	Standard	2012-04-16	Valid
N7929B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Evergreen Recreation Club INC Gainesville, Texas	Standard	2012-04-16	Valid
N8186B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Mid-Atlantic Aircraft Leasing LLC Wilmington, Delaware	Standard	2012-04-14	Valid
N2599Y	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Florida	Standard	2012-04-13	Valid
N2743L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Florida	Standard	2012-04-13	Valid
N6421B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner South Carolina	Standard	2012-04-11	Valid
N6915A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Massachusetts	Standard	2012-04-09	Valid
N4365L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Michigan	Standard	2012-04-06	Valid
N172PJ	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Michigan	Standard	2012-04-05	Valid
N3949R	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Michigan	Standard	2012-04-05	Valid
N5302T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Pennsylvania	Standard	2012-04-04	Valid
N8606U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oklahoma	Standard	2012-04-04	Valid
N3705S	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Gra Flying Club LLC Bay City, Michigan	Standard	2012-04-03	Valid
N5774A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Florida	Standard	2012-03-29	Valid
N8295U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Crawfish CO LLC Starkville, Mississippi	Standard	2012-03-27	Valid
N8082X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Michigan	Restricted	2012-03-21	Valid
N3987F	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Florida	Standard	2012-03-19	Valid
N3788L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner New Jersey	Standard	2012-03-14	Valid
N5947A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Kansas	Standard	2012-03-14	Valid
N5328T	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Wisconsin	Standard	2012-03-06	Valid
N2418L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	F Sharp Aviation LLC New Baltimore, Michigan	Standard	2012-02-28	Valid
N9948A	Cessna 170A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner California	Standard	2012-02-25	Valid
N6948A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner South Carolina	Standard	2012-02-21	Valid
N5951R	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	South Seattle Community College Seattle, Washington	Standard	2012-02-15	Valid
N2570L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Colorado	Standard	2012-02-10	Valid
N9199B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	M & H Investment LLC Montgomery City, Missouri	Standard	2012-02-02	Valid
N2916U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Washington	Standard	2012-02-01	Valid
N4151L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Iowa	Standard	2012-01-26	Valid
N5675A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner California	Standard	2012-01-24	Valid
N1742F	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Pennsylvania	Standard	2012-01-21	Valid
N3799F	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	99Foxtrot LLC Middletown, Delaware	Standard	2012-01-19	Valid
N7476A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Arkansas	Standard	2012-01-19	Valid
N6858A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Corrigan Flying Club Manitowoc, Wisconsin	Standard	2012-01-17	Valid
N1496F	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner North Carolina	Standard	2012-01-11	Valid
N4389B	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Montana	Standard	2012-01-10	Valid
N5774R	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Texas	Standard	2012-01-10	Valid
N7966U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner California	Standard	2012-01-09	Valid
N8175B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2012-01-09	Valid
N7412X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oklahoma	Standard	2012-01-04	Valid
N3533C	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Western North Carolina Air Museum Hendersonville, North Carolina	Standard	2012-01-03	Valid
N8546U	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Shouling & Philip Enterprise Lancaster, California	Standard	2012-01-03	Valid
N8028B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alabama	Standard	2011-12-14	Valid
N2884U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	East Tenn Pilots Club INC Knoxville, Tennessee	Standard	2011-12-13	Valid
N7247T	Cessna 172A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oregon	Standard	2011-12-13	Valid
N3530S	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Makosteako Holding CORP Massapequa, New York	Standard	2011-12-07	Valid
N4315B	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner California	Standard	2011-12-07	Valid
N6158E	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Pennsylvania	Standard	2011-12-06	Valid
N9VU	Cessna 172E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Massachusetts	Standard	2011-12-06	Valid
N1624F	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2011-12-02	Valid
N4318L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner New Mexico	Standard	2011-11-28	Valid
N4509C	Cessna 170B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Florida	Standard	2011-11-23	Valid
N12011	Maule M-4	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner District of Columbia	Standard	2011-11-16	Valid
N8984B	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2011-11-10	Valid
N2695L	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Minnesota	Standard	2011-11-04	Valid
N4394L	Cessna 172G	Fixed-wing, single engine	R A Marsh Flying Club LLC Williamson, Georgia	Standard	2011-11-04	Valid
N3794R	Cessna 172H	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Idaho	Standard	2011-11-01	Valid
N2431U	Cessna 172D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2011-10-20	Valid
N6874A	Cessna 172	Fixed-wing, single engine	Gillum Thomas W III Davenport, Iowa	Standard	2011-10-18	Valid
N7583X	Cessna 172B	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2011-10-17	Valid
N9298A	Cessna 170A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Texas	Standard	2011-10-11	Valid
N5498R	Cessna 172F	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Utah	Standard	2011-10-07	Valid

Source: FAA Civil Aviation Registry, Releasable Aircraft Database (the engine reference table and each aircraft's engine code), October 9, 2026. Horsepower and thrust are the FAA's figures for the series, not for a particular aircraft.