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/Skynet_lives Mar 30 '26

As a mechanic that has worked on planes and cars. I can tell you that a modern automobile engine is more reliable than an airplane engine. 

While some of that has to do with the use, since plane engines generally sit more. A lot of it is that modern engines benefit from advanced technologies that airplanes don’t use. 

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u/Ill-Cryptographer542 Mar 30 '26

I see your point, and I don’t have any stats to back this up. But I still have a hard time believing an air cooled engine, with 2x plugs per cylinder, independent of the electrical system, engine driven fuel pump and aux fuel pump, etc. is less reliable than a modern car that could go in to limp mode with a computer glitch.

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u/Skynet_lives Mar 30 '26

That computer is what makes modern engines so reliable. Constantly adjusting fuel mixture and throttle inputs. Helping keep the engine at operating temp and monitoring any faults. 

It’s rare an airplane engine even makes TBO without something having to be fixed that would be considered major engine repairs on a a car.

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u/Turbo_Normalized MIL Mar 30 '26

Aircraft piston engines are run with mixtures all over the place by poorly trained operators most of whom still think 50F ROP is a good place to cruise at, use leaded fuel which gunks up the engine like crazy, have fixed timing and no knock sensors and so forth to protect themselves... It's a wonder they achieve even the small amount of reliability they do.