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Tag Archives: Cessna

What about wheel pants?

Posted on June 3, 2023 by skysmith

Interesting question about wheel pants.

wheel pants

The question came up about buying an aircraft that doesn’t have wheel pants (fairings). Is it really worth the money just to make it look better? Or is there more value to fairings than just looks.

My thoughts, of course, it also depends on the aircraft.

Wheel fairings or wheel pants do more than just look good. But some aircraft are designed with a landing gear that doesn’t support wheel fairing (trailing link gear like the Beechcraft  Sundowner).

Fairings can also increase the cruise and flight performance of an aircraft.  Although it is usually only one or two knots.  While that is not much of a speed increase, any boost in cruise speed is better than nothing.

Wheel fairings can also protect the aircraft from being damaged from inadvertent rocks being thrown against the wings, cabin or tail surfaces.  If you are flying from dry smooth or  paved runways its probably a good thing to have fairings.  If you are flying from dirt mud snow or worse, leave the fairings in the hanger.   Same goes for unimproved strips.  Rough terrain will just break the fairings into pieces.

Even though, if you think about it,  this is probably where you need them the most. Because they also have a few drawbacks like they can be clogged with rocks, snow and mud.  And they can be damaged by rocks and debris picked up on the runways.

Oh, and fairings get in the way when airing up those low tires and fixing a flat.

And those Cessna nose wheel shimmies, that can destroy a wheel fairing.

I guess it really comes down to the aircraft, how you are using it and where you are going.

But personally, I like the looks of most aircraft when they have wheel fairings.

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Posted in aircraft, aircraft insurance, aircraft ownership, Aviation | Tags: aircraft, Aircraft insurance, airplanes, aviation, aviation insurance, Beechcraft, Cessna, Piper, Textron |

Cessna 182, good for low time pilot?

Posted on May 12, 2023 by skysmith

Cessna 182, good for low time pilot?

cessna 182

Recently I had a call asking “should a low time pilot buy a Cessna 182”?  The caller was concerned because they only had 75 hours total time and all of that was in a Cessna 172. On top of that, they had a chance to buy a Cessna 182 that has very low time and is a clean airplane, should they be concerned about their low total time when moving up to a 182?

My quick thoughts. The Cessna 182 is a great aircraft. It offers an excellent platform for instrument (IFR) training, is a respectable cross country aircraft and is reasonably cost effective to operate. As a private pilot, your first year will be a little more expensive to insure because of your low hours, but that’s about it.  Yes, it does cost slightly more to maintain than a Cessna 172, but the difference is slight, mainly in the fuel burn and engine costs.  The Continental six-cylinder, 470 engine (or the Lycoming 540 in the new models) are very reliable engines.  Parts are in supply, aftermarket items and service is available almost anywhere you can fly to.

About the only thing that seems to bother the 182 are the fuel bladders in the pre-1979 aircraft and the nose gear impacts that low time pilots inflict during training. The 182 gets quite a few hard landings on the nose, typically when they are full of fuel and lightly loaded with passengers and baggage.  A pilot tends to run out of elevator in the flare a little higher than they should and drop them on the nose.  Nothing that cannot be corrected with a good dose of training at different loads.

As with any other aircraft, a good pre-buy inspection for damage history, corrosion and maintenance should be done before the purchase.  Also line up an instructor that has a fair amount of time in the Cessna 182 and they can show you how well the aircraft can really perform. Oh, and if you are used to the Cessna 172, the 182 will just require more arm muscles in the flare.  The heavy control pressure will be notable for the first few hours, after that, it’s a typical Cessna!

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Posted in aircraft, aircraft insurance, aircraft ownership, airshow, airshows, Airventure, Aviation, aviation insurance, aviation market, buying aircraft, buying an aircraft, certified aircraft, Cessna, Cessna 182 | Tags: aircraft, Aircraft insurance, airplanes, Airventure, aviation, aviation insurance, Cessna, sunnfun |

The Cessna 337 Skymaster

Posted on April 4, 2023 by skysmith

The @Cessna 337 #Skymaster. One of the coolest twin engine aircraft every built! Get all all the specs for all the #Skymasters. Get your copy @amazon @AmazonKDP @TradeAPlane @GlobalAerospace @SunnFunFlyIn @EAA @FlyingMusicians

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Posted in aircraft, aircraft insurance, aircraft maintenance, Aviation, aviation market, Uncategorized | Tags: aircraft, Aircraft insurance, airplanes, airshows, Airventure, aviation insurance, Cessna, skymaster, Sun N Fun |
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