Bose-X
Thank you I did not think that the humble 172 could do such things but as you say it is a very capable aircraft when fitted with a 200HP engine and VP propeler.
But just to add balace to the thread look a look at the numbers for my Robin DR400 (with a true airways nav fit) and I find a usefull load of 1016 Lb, 132 KT TAS at 10,000 ft, 32Lt/Hr fuel burn and 780 Nm range (to dry tanks). With the long range tank add another 1.5 hours endurance.
And all this is done with 180HP and a fixed prop.