Carenado has just teased their next aircraft release, hinting at a classic, steam-gauge Cessna 172.

The screenshot shows a polished, early-production airframe, at golden hour, captioned “Carenado 172 Oneseventytwo”, which strongly suggests a recreation of an early 172 model, rather than a later, Skyhawk-branded airframe. Carenado added that they hope we can “enjoy it in a couple of days”, though there is no firm date or feature list yet.

From the cues on show, this looks like the original 172 that debuted in the 1950s. That aircraft evolved from the Cessna 170B, with tricycle landing gear. If confirmed, it will sit apart from the default 172S, found in MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024. 

The modern Skyhawk uses a 180-horsepower, fuel-injected Lycoming IO-360, carries the aerodynamic refinements of later production, and typically tops out at 30 degrees of flap. The early 172 ran a carburetted Continental O-300 six-cylinder engine, offered up to 40 degrees of flap for short-field work, and is often noted for friendly, low-speed handling.

Carenado has not shared pricing or platform details yet, but their aircraft usually arrive via the in-sim Marketplace.

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