Four-seat cross-country single

What it costs to own a Cessna 182 Skylane

A 172 that grew up. The handling is familiar, but 230 horsepower and a constant-speed prop mean you can fill the seats and the tanks at the same time, which the 172 cannot do. It is the usual next airplane for owners who keep running out of payload.

No credit card · Cancel anytime

Cessna 182 Skylane at a glance

Public manufacturer and POH figures, rounded to what owners see in practice. Your airframe will differ.

Engine

Continental O-470 / Lycoming IO-540

230 hp

Fuel burn

13–15 gph

Cruise

135–145 KTAS

Useful load

~1,100 lbs

Seats

4

TBO

2,000 hrs

What it costs to run

Starting numbers for a Cessna 182 Skylane, with the two figures that vary most between owners left editable. Change either one and the totals update.

Use your own numbers

Fuel and hangar vary more between owners than anything else. The rest holds at the Cessna 182 Skylane baseline.

At 14 gph, that is $91.00 an hour in fuel.

$500 a month.

Fixed (annual)

$13,750

Hangar, insurance, annual, reserves

Typical range $12,000–$20,000

Variable / hour

$132

Fuel, oil, maintenance reserve

Typical range $110–$140

All-in / hour

$270

Fixed plus variable, at 100 hrs/year

Typical range $240–$340

Need financing in the number? the cost-of-ownership calculator takes a purchase price, down payment, and loan terms, and lets you change utilization and every reserve line as well.

Common ownership patterns

How Cessna 182 Skylane owners usually split the airplane. Each one changes the cost math, the scheduling problem, and what needs to be written into the agreement.

Owner-flown travel

The mission the airplane was built for: four people, bags, and a few hundred miles.

Three or four partners

Fixed costs are high enough that splitting them starts to make real sense.

High-performance trainer

Schools use them for the HP endorsement and commercial-track training.

Run the split in the partnership calculator, and for the agreement itself see the co-ownership guide.

Maintenance worth knowing about

Items that come up on this type specifically. Worth having in hand at a pre-buy and at every annual.

  • Higher fuel burn makes the engine reserve worth taking seriously. Budget $20–$28 an hour.
  • The constant-speed prop has its own overhaul clock, separate from the engine.
  • Most O-470 airplanes are pre-1980, so airframe age is part of the pre-buy.
  • Avionics retrofits are common on this type and move resale value in both directions.
Keep the due-dates straight: the free inspection due-date calculator covers the annual, 100-hour, ELT, transponder, and pitot-static, and the engine reserve calculator sizes what to set aside per hour for the overhaul. For a fleet, Aloft360 tracks all of it against actual Hobbs time.

Cessna 182 Skylane FAQ

What does it cost to own a Cessna 182 Skylane?
Fixed costs — hangar, insurance, the annual, and reserves — run $12,000–$20,000 a year. Fuel, oil, and maintenance reserve add $110–$140 for every hour you fly. Put those together at 100 hrs/year and you land around $240–$340 an hour. Your own numbers will move with hangar rates, hull value, and how much you fly, so run them in the cost-of-ownership calculator.
What's the fuel burn on a Cessna 182 Skylane?
13–15 gph at typical cruise power. Treat that as a planning figure. Power setting, altitude, how you lean, and what you are carrying all change it.
How long is the engine TBO on a Cessna 182 Skylane?
2,000 hrs per the manufacturer. Divide the expected overhaul cost by hours-to-TBO and set that aside every hour, or the bill arrives all at once.
Who typically owns a Cessna 182 Skylane?
Owners stepping up from a 172, partnerships funding cross-country travel, and schools running high-performance transition training.

Other aircraft

Cessna 150Cessna 172 SkyhawkPiper PA-28-181 ArcherPiper PA-28R ArrowBeechcraft Bonanza A36Cirrus SR20Cirrus SR22Diamond DA40Beechcraft King Air

Track your Cessna 182 Skylane in Aloft360

Inspections, squawks, flight logs, per-owner hours, and expenses in one place. Starts at $9/month for one aircraft, with a 30-day free trial and no credit card.