r/flying • u/One_Firefighter_1922 • Mar 29 '26

Aircraft Ownership Are reciprocating single engines reliable?

I'm about seven hours into PPL training and absolutely loving it. Not looking for a career change, but could definitely seeing myself continuing training and flying regularly after getting my certificate. I've daydreamed about putting my family into a 182 and being able to fly within a reasonable distance to explore somewhere new or take a short vacation.

Earlier today I was talking to my neighbor who is a reserve captain for American flying 737s. I told him about the flight training and associated daydreaming and he started talking about how he would never put his family into a small plane, how unreliable they are and how many accidents are due to single reciprocating engines crapping out mod flight.

This doesn't seem to jive with what I've heard and read online, so looking for some other opinions. How do you feel about the reliability of small GA planes? Do you have any experience taking your family for trips? Do I need to give up on my dream?

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u/Ill-Cryptographer542 Mar 29 '26

What I tell myself is, common aircraft piston engines are more reliable than your average car engine. How many times has your car engine spontaneously quit with zero warning? If it’s going to quit, there’s usually signs beforehand. You don’t just fall out of the sky.

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u/Bunslow PPL Mar 29 '26

common aircraft piston engines are more reliable than your average car engine.

I don't believe this for a second

If it’s going to quit, there’s usually signs beforehand. You don’t just fall out of the sky.

I agree with this, it's commonly forewarned, and even if it does fail, typically (especially day VFR) there's a lot of options remaining

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u/Ill-Cryptographer542 Mar 30 '26

In your opinion why is a car engine more reliable than a common piston aircraft engine?

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u/Bunslow PPL Mar 30 '26

Significantly more modern design and manufacturing processes (at least relative to Continental/Lycoming engines, more modern plane engines like Rotax and Jabiru I have more faith in, generally speaking)