1959 C182B

Alchemy

Well-Known Member
Recently went in on this with a few partners. I only have a 1/3rd share. We looked for something all summer, really wanted a C-170 or PA-12 (actually I really wanted a Maule but I wasn't the only one buying) but the ones for sale in our price range were.....rough. The 182 is a lot more bang for the buck in AK it seems, probably because tricycle gear are less useful and therefore less valuable. The C-170's we were seeing priced less than 75k were.....scary. I just tell people it's a training wheel for unskilled pilots like myself (last flew a tailwheel 10 years ago in a Decathlon). Believe me, you do get grief for flying a trike in Alaska, unless maybe it's a C-206 or 208.

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Anyway, it's a 1959 C-182B with a 350 SMOH Continental O-470. It has a laundry list of STC's, main ones being Sportsman STOL (leading edge extension), vortex generators, 8.50 tires all around, 18 gallon baggage compartment fuel tank, extended baggage, battery moved forward of firewall, digital tachometer, digital CHT/EGT.

2650 lb MGTOW, 1750 lbs empty . Cruises at about 130 knots true at 8,000 or so.

I've put about 10 hours on it so far and did a sightseeing flight to Denali. Pretty fun. First takeoff after purchase was from a 1400 ft gravel strip next to a grocery store in Palmer, and that was the first time I'd ever operated off a paved surface in an airplane. It seems to have no problem getting in the air in 600-700 feet at max gross and can land in about the same.

We're just dipping a toe back into general aviation. Hangars are very expensive up here so it lives on a tie down; probably good that we didn't spend too much! We'll be introduced to the world of wing covers and engine pre-heaters for the next few months.
 
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I bet you can get that in and out of 90% of the strips people take their cubs, just not fully loaded.
The only thing I don't like about the 182 is there's no economical way to put one on floats.
 
Son of a gun.... I’m looking to getting a plane to run a club with, with some dudes. I found a 182 with an over TBO engine.
might be worth it. Crunching numbers, so far what i see, I might add another to the fleet.
 
I bet you can get that in and out of 90% of the strips people take their cubs, just not fully loaded.
The only thing I don't like about the 182 is there's no economical way to put one on floats.
Funny...the only time I've flown a floatplane, it was a 182 on floats.
 
Looks nice, and welcome to the club! In Alaska 182s seem to be the only value plane left. 170s are way over priced, PA-12s run as much as PA-18s, even my beloved Pacers seem to be advertised for $10-15k more than I think they are worth. I could have done a lot of the flying I did in the Pacer this year with a properly set up 182. Except for maybe one beach spot, a short-ish gravel bar, and a tundra “strip” (not really a strip, just a spot I saw someone else had land). However, your fist plane is like a gateway drug. Soon you’ll be wanting one on floats or one on bushwheels. Have fun!
 
Any other 182 peeps mind sharing what their Empty CG is? Our is listed as 33.13! This makes staying inside forward CG limits....challenging. It is forward of CG limits (33.5) just sitting on the ramp with no payload or fuel!

It could be because they moved the battery from the aft cabin to the firewall, have the sportsman STOL, cuff, 8.50 x 6 nosegear, and airglas nose fork. Are there any legal ways to put ballast in the tail cone or something?
 
Any other 182 peeps mind sharing what their Empty CG is? Our is listed as 33.13! This makes staying inside forward CG limits....challenging. It is forward of CG limits (33.5) just sitting on the ramp with no payload or fuel!

It could be because they moved the battery from the aft cabin to the firewall, have the sportsman STOL, cuff, 8.50 x 6 nosegear, and airglas nose fork. Are there any legal ways to put ballast in the tail cone or something?
That sounds pretty normal for old 182s. Best legal thing I can think of is make yourself a heavy survival kit and tie it down in the rear baggage. Doesn’t someone have an extended baggage area STC for the 182?
 

There's a link to the W&B with our plane's numbers.

It has the O&N (Now griggs) auxiliary baggage tank which allows 50 lbs to loaded in the extended baggage a la skelkirk according to the O&N STC....already been putting 50 pounds of survival gear/kitty litter back there along with usually cruising with 18 gallons in the aux tank as ballast.

From what I read the 33.13 empty CG is about 2" forward what most people are at in a 182.
 
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There's a link to the W&B with our plane's numbers.

It has the O&N (Now griggs) auxiliary baggage tank which allows 50 lbs to loaded in the aft baggage a la skelkirk according to the O&N STC....already been putting 50 pounds of survival gear/kitty litter back there along with usually cruising with 18 gallons in the aux tank as ballast.

From what I read the 33.13 empty CG is about 2" forward what most people are at in a 182.
Maybe time to do a re-weigh or check the math on the previous then.
 

There's a link to the W&B with our plane's numbers.

It has the O&N (Now griggs) auxiliary baggage tank which allows 50 lbs to loaded in the extended baggage a la skelkirk according to the O&N STC....already been putting 50 pounds of survival gear/kitty litter back there along with usually cruising with 18 gallons in the aux tank as ballast.

From what I read the 33.13 empty CG is about 2" forward what most people are at in a 182.
Maybe time to do a re-weigh or check the math on the previous then.
Speaking of that, I've got a set of scales for another couple weeks if you want to come do it.

What is the datum on the 182?
 
Speaking of that, I've got a set of scales for another couple weeks if you want to come do it.

What is the datum on the 182?

Might have to take you up on that! It was last weighed in Y2K. Datum is the firewall afaik.
 
Any other 182 peeps mind sharing what their Empty CG is? Our is listed as 33.13! This makes staying inside forward CG limits....challenging. It is forward of CG limits (33.5) just sitting on the ramp with no payload or fuel!

It could be because they moved the battery from the aft cabin to the firewall, have the sportsman STOL, cuff, 8.50 x 6 nosegear, and airglas nose fork. Are there any legal ways to put ballast in the tail cone or something?
Ours (1963 182F, standard tires, horton Stol) is 36.04. We lost almost 50 lb of useful load when we had it weighed a few years ago! That hurt
 
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