N536JR

1974 Cessna 172M — N536JR — Air Plains 180HP Conversion

The honest pitch: I trust this airplane enough that when my wife was three months pregnant and we needed to bring it home, I put her in the left seat and let her fly it. That's not marketing copy — that actually happened. If a 172 is going to win that kind of vote of confidence, it has to be a really good one.

This is the 172M you fly off your grass strip or drop straight into a TAA training fleet — it already has the upgrades everyone else is still saving up for. A fresh annual was completed 6/10/26 with every cylinder compression-testing above 72/80. Clean leather seats, modern Garmin glass, and an honest logbook. The airplane wants for nothing — turn-key and ready for its next adventure.

Powerplant — Air Plains O-360-A4M 180HP STC. The Air Plains conversion is the upgrade every 172 owner wishes their airplane had: the 180HP O-360 turns this airframe into a useful-load, climb-rate, and hot-and-high performer that flies more like a small Skylane than a stock 150HP Skyhawk. Engine reads 1,570.3 hours since new with 180.5 since top overhaul — strong, well-documented, and freshly annualed.

Airframe — clean, complete, 2,676.7 TT. Complete and original logbooks. One honest disclosure: the rudder was dinged during ground handling and professionally repaired — no other damage history. Hangared and pre-buy ready at KSFB (Sanford, FL).

Mods that actually matter:

• 2,550 lb gross weight increase STC (more payload, more mission)


• Flint tip tanks — +24 gallons of extra range (the missing piece on a 172 cross-country machine)


• Vortex Generators (lower stall, better short-field, better handling at slow speeds)


• Power Flow tuned exhaust (the well-documented HP and economy gain)


• AirGlas Nose Fork STC — 6.00x6 tire — installed (the Big nosewheel upgrade for rough- and grass-field operation — more prop clearance, easier on unimproved strips)


• Standard nosewheel & fork — included, uninstalled (the parts the Big nosewheel STC replaced — yours if you ever want to revert)

Avionics — done right.

• Garmin G3X Touch primary glass — ADS-B In and Out displayed right on it


• Garmin GFC500 autopilot (the gold-standard digital A/P retrofit)


• Garmin G5 standby attitude


• Aspen EFD1000 Pro Max secondary glass


• Garmin GNS530W (IFR-certified WAAS GPS / nav / comm — the workhorse box)


• Garmin GTX-327 transponder


• Bendix/King KX-155 #2 nav/comm


• Garmin GDL-84 ADS-B In/Out (rule-compliant)


• Garmin GDL-52R remote ADS-B In + SiriusXM weather & music (subscription required)

Disclosures, plain English. The Big nosewheel STC is installed. The standard nosewheel and fork it replaced are included with the sale, uninstalled — not priced as installed. The repaired rudder is disclosed up front. No surprises during pre-buy.

Firm at $199,900. Pre-buy ready at KSFB (Sanford, FL) with your inspector of choice. Escrow through AIC Title, LLC — standard 50/50 split. A financing pre-qualification letter or proof of funds is required before a showing or pre-buy. We move quickly and professionally — and we ask the same of our buyers.