Cessna 120

1 × Piston Unpressurized High Wing • Conventional

Range Map

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+ cargo

Payload vs. Range

Occupants:

Fuel on board

Cargo

Range

Cargo is additional payload after occupants and baggage.

Adjust payload

full tanks

Available Range / nm

Mission capable. This load flies with full fuel.

Fuel reduced by . left aboard for nm range.

Over max payload by . At this load it cannot lift a single occupant.

Trip Preview

Mission Profile

MOSAIC Eligible

Used market

KTAS

Cruise Speed

395

Max Range

15,500

Service Ceiling

Occupants

515

lbs

Wet Payload

Endorsements & ratings:

Tailwheel

Cessna 120 (N2490N) at Sun 'n Fun, Lakeland, Florida, April 2024. Photo: ZLEA, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Estimated Ownership Costs

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About the Cessna 120

Type certificated 1946

Overview

The Cessna 120 is a two-seat, all-metal taildragger introduced in 1946 as the simplified, economical sibling of the Cessna 140. The two share an airframe and the same 85 hp Continental C-85, but the 120 left the factory without flaps and, in its earliest form, without an electrical system at all, a deliberately stripped and affordable airplane built for the wave of newly certificated pilots after the war. Cessna produced it through the end of the 1940s, and surviving examples have since become a staple of the vintage tailwheel community.

For a buyer today, the 120 is a simple, economical route into vintage ownership and a favorite first taildragger: fixed-pitch and light, forgiving once the conventional gear is mastered, and cheap to feed at roughly 5 gallons per hour. It is a genuine two-seater with minimal baggage, so the case for buying one is low running cost and the tailwheel time it builds rather than cabin or cross-country capability.

Key Features for GA Buyers

Simplicity: No flaps and fewer systems mean less to maintain and, for many owners, lower insurance premiums than a more complex classic.
Efficiency: The 85 hp Continental C-85 burns roughly 4.5 to 5 gallons per hour, keeping fuel costs low for vintage cross-country flying.
Short ground run: Cessna’s period Operation Manual publishes a landing ground run of about 330 ft at gross weight on a standard sea-level day, which is genuinely short and much of why the type still earns its keep off small strips. Note that Cessna never published a landing distance over a 50 ft obstacle for the flapless 120, so that figure is withheld here rather than estimated: on this airplane the distance from 50 ft to touchdown is a function of how steeply you are willing to slip, not of a number in a table.
Durability: The all-metal fuselage and spring-steel main gear are notably more robust than the wood-and-fabric designs of the same era, and many examples have had their original fabric wings metalized.

Trade-offs

No flaps: Approaches rely on slips rather than flaps, so short-field and high-on-final landings demand genuine slip proficiency.
Payload: Filling all 25 gallons leaves room for little more than two moderate adults; this is a true two-seater with minimal baggage.
Vintage systems: Some examples still lack a starter and require hand-propping unless an aftermarket electrical system has been fitted, and any airframe still on original fabric will eventually face a recover or metalize bill. Strut-braced examples carry the recurring AD 2015-08-04 wing lift strut inspection on a 12-month interval.

Technical Specifications

Dimensions & Weights

Height: 6 ft
Length: 22 ft
Parking area (ft²²): 1,147 ft²

Max Takeoff Weight: 1,450 lbs
Max Landing Weight: 1,450 lbs
Useful Load: 665 lbs
Fuel Capacity: Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 25 gal

Performance

Cruise Speed: 94 KTAS
Never-Exceed (V_NE): Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 122 KIAS
Max Structural Cruise (V_NO): Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 100 KIAS
Approach Speed: 61 KIAS
Stall, Clean (V_S₁): 40 KIAS
Range: 395 NM
Service Ceiling: 15,500 ft
Rate of Climb: 640 fpm
Takeoff over 50 ft obstacle: 1,850 ft

Engine

Sources

Where the figures on this page come from. Cessna 120 specifications are traced to published references; estimated values are flagged inline next to the figure.

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