You really need to scratch this itch
@WilliamF I believe you can get checked out and hire solo an early Cessna 180 near San Diego – I think that will be the rational approach for this itch scratching:)
RobertL18C wrote:
I believe you can get checked out and hire solo an early Cessna 180 near San Diego – I think that will be the rational approach for this itch scratching:)
If you can buy a C180 you probably won’t lose money on it regardless.
I would have thought the 235hp Maule M7-235 and 300hp Helio Courier would have been a fairer real-world comparison for the 180/185.
http://www.flyskyhoppers.com/index.php
This is a San Francisco outfit, although somewhere in California there is also a club with an early C-180. Hopefully GIYF helps track it down.
Randy Hanna (Pacific Seaplanes) has a 1954 model 180 on floats for hire near Nanaimo. There are also a couple of H models on floats available from Fort Langley Air at Pitt Meadows.
https://www.plusoneflyers.org/fleet/gillespie-fleet
Cessna 180 and Great Lakes – Richard Bach would be proud :)
Posted just pre lockdown by a stalwart of the 195ers
A few weeks ago I managed to get a ride in a nice 180A (ex Arizona) and was very impressed by the handling. The owner had put the Sportsman STOL leading edge cuff, which made slow flight very predictable. The handling was much sweeter than I expected, having a lot of hours in the derivative descendant of the 180, the 182, which I regard as quite ponderous, especially in roll. The roll rate was very crisp, and the controls nicely harmonised. Empty weight around 1700 lbs, so around 300 lbs lighter than a new 182T.
The STOL ability, while not quite Super Cub league, was very impressive. I expect 300m farm strips are very doable in this ‘heavy’ taildragger.
This example had larger tyres and the Alaska Bushwheel tailwheel, but not full on tundra style main tyres. Accordingly cruise speed took a beating, and I estimate it is a 120KTAS tourer. With pizza cutting smaller tyres, probably closer to 130 KTAS.
Since this thread was first posted the early 180 scene, which used to be around 50-75k, has increased in value to 150k. The later 180 models, perhaps not as nice handling, are in the 200-250k range.
skyhoppers will give you all the training you want for the 180 – at a price of course. I was thinking of doing it before I moved but never had time. I did my tailwheel refresh with Andrew and I can confirm that he is an excellent instructor.
I’ve never flown a 195 but I know someone who has done a bunch of instruction in them, including someone who did his primary training in one. I’m told it is a serious challenge to land, even worse than a Pitts, because you have no forward visibility at all and only marginal sideways visibility to the right.
Personally I would stick to admiring the 195 on the ramp.
@johnh I found the 180A very docile on landing, with no vices, but am told the Sportsman cuff makes the approach and landing much nicer.
The 190/195 is still good value if you want a tourer with presence. A decent 190 sold in the pandemic in Germany for around EUR65k. A lot have torn off their landing gear in ground loops, but some owners claim their reputation for being hard to land is exaggerated.
There is a shrinking pool of people who have extensive experience in blind tailwheel aircraft, and I think few of them want an uncomfortable 5 seat Jacobs engined Cessna, no matter how cool it looks. That’s what has established the market value. An owner I knew who had some but not extensive experience, but who took his C195 landing characteristics pretty seriously totaled his plane in a botched landing after I’d say a year of ownership and lots of transition training. It was sad because he really loved the thing. Of course it wasn’t really totaled forever but his insurance company bought it, then I understand it ended up with one of the companies with jigs to rebuild the gear/fuselage. This was a decade ago, so I’m sure it’s flying again.
