Skylane 2469R "Romeo"
Flying's not practical - it's Magic -Chris Rogers
Never fly anything that doesn't have the paint worn off the rudder pedals -Harry Bill
Never fly anything that doesn't have the paint worn off the rudder pedals -Harry Bill
N2469R is a 1964 Cessna 182 Skylane, purchased from Ron Harmon of Kent, Washington. Ron is moving up to a twin Baron. As with many planes of this vintage, 69 Romeo has been updated over the years with new avionics, new interior, new paint, new glass, new propeller, and a factory remanufactured engine.
It you're not familiar with the Cessna 182, it looks like most Cessna singles, with a high wing and wing braces. From a distance you can't tell it apart from other high wing Cessnas with struts. These planes are solidly built birds that almost never fall apart in the air. The price paid for this conservative design is a lower cruise speed.
You find the strangest things in a prepurchase inspection.
The blanket seen resting on top of the registration numbers was
found aft of the baggage compartment.
It was rubbing on the control cables,
damaging some of the flight controls.
This picture was taken during a prepurchase inspection at Northwest Aviation Maintenance, Dirk Wittig, IA. Dirk found $12000 in "gigs" during his prepurchase inspection. Ron was not pleased with this news; his mechanic had not noticed most of the problems.. (Never, ever, buy a used plane without a prepurchase inspection by YOUR mechanic.)
During a compression check, Dirk discovered exhaust valve leaks in two cylinders. There were removed for repair. In this picture, a shop rag has been stuffed in the engine block where one should see the middle cylinder. Later the engine was completely removed to replace a corroded engine mount. Ron and I agreed to drop the purchase price to account for the repairs.
Aside from these "gigs" Romeo is in great shape. Cessna 182s are notorious for "wheelbarrow landings" that damage the firewall, but Romeo's firewall is in near mint condition. This is rare for 182s of Romeo's vintage. Only after the engine and mount were completely removed was I or anyone else able to spot a very slight dimpling of the firewall immediately above the nose strut attachment.
At various power settings I've tried, Romeo's true airspeed is fairly close to book speeds, but fuel consumption seems to be high. This situation is often the result of tachometers that read low. Old tachs often read low, but Romeo's was checked at the last annual and was relatively accurate. If Skylanes weren't thirsty fewer pilots would put up with the weight penalty of long range fuel tanks.
Shop rags have been inserted in place of the rear cylinder
and oil cooler.
Those items were sent out for repairs.
Panel view during the prepurchase inspection/annual. Starting at the bottom, the standby vacuum and alternate static source controls are seen mounted on an aluminum flange. To the right of the parking brake (which works!) is a Pulsar landing light flasher. The radio stack includes a KMA24 audio panel, twin KX155 nav/comms, Apollo 2001 GPS, Rnav Loran, King KR87 Silver Crown Digital ADF, and mode C altitude encoding transponder. The autopilot, radios and ADF are recent or current models. As a antique radio buff and DX'er I particularly enjoy the ADF, which locks onto stations other ADFs can't even hear.
The clock at the lower left is INOP. It is powered by a $1.00 watch battery which has long since died. As Ron discovered, getting to that battery requires several hours' labor. Ron decided it was more cost effective to use a West Bend clock attached to the yoke. I've ordered a carb temp gauge which will replace the clock when the panel is opened up to replace a defective taxi light switch. As for the timer, there's a nice one on the ADF.
Hidden by the left yoke is an S-Tec 50 two axis autopilot with altitude hold. The switch located between the artificial horizon and the VOR/GS indicator couples the autopilot to GPS, Loran, or either NAV receiver. Since this picture was taken, the defective switch was replaced with one from my radio junkbox. The labor for that came to $250. The "new" switch has six positions, so I had the first two positions select NAV1 (for ILS) and the last two select GPS. This way the two most commonly used couplings can be selected with a quick flip of the switch.
This is a very nice set of "toys".
Most small planes do not include a two axis autopilot,
which would cost $6000 or more to install.
Romeo's old style instrument grouping
makes it harder for the instructor to check my altitude.
Some people have a problem with the old style arrangement.
Others, including my IFR ground school instructor, do not.
It didn't take long for me to get used to Romeo's layout,
so the old arrangement doesn't bother me.
Newer picture of Romeo's panel showing radio transceiver control head
and digital OAT attached to glare shield with Velcro.
The files below are
specific to a single a/c, N2469R, and may be subject to
errors or omissions.
Use at your own risk; verify suitability and correctness before use.
The first two pages contain emergency checklists,
and should be printed on yellow paper.
The rest can be printed on white.
Trim the pages to 4-5 inches width.
Laminate them back to back at your local print shop
to get a rugged checklist that fits
into a side pocket.
When stowed in the pilot's side pocket, the
READY FOR TAKEOFF
group is right where the pilot can glance at it.
This group should be checked immediately before
taking the runway, even if doing a stop-and-go.
The on-the-ground leaning instructions call for "brutal leaning", leaning nearly enough to kill the engine. Brutal leaning minimizes fouling of the spark plugs. Butal leaning is a safe procedure. On the ground the engine develops too little power to risk damage, and a brutally leaned engine won't let you advance the throttle, so there is no risk of taking off if you forget to reset the mixture.
Before let down, I flip the card so the
LET DOWN, APPROACH, and LANDING checklists
peek out from the pocket.
The white arc on the airspeed indicator means different things depending on the vintage of the airplane. Airspeed indicators read Indicated Air Speed (IAS). During slow flight, indicated airspeed is considerably less than Calibrated AirSpeed (CAS). CAS predicts when a plane will stall from flying too slowly. In older planes, the bottom of the white arc is the minimum controllable airspeed at full flaps in CAS, nevermind that the airspeed indicator reads IAS. In 2469R the bottom of the white arc is painted at 60 mph, but the plane doesn't stall until the needle points to 40 mph. In newer planes the bottom of the white arc is painted according to IAS. If a pilot sets his airspeed according to the bottom of the white arc on one vintage of airplane, he will be too fast or too slow for a proper landing when he flies a different vintage of plane.
To summarize, there are several distinct items to consider:
I have not seen a textbook that explains this little gotcha. I was clued in to the question when studying the Oral Exam Guide. Good luck finding somebody who understands this, or even knows about it! I ended up calling a guru at the Cessna Pilots' Association who in turn consulted a Cessna test pilot. This resulted in an article in the April 1998 issue of the Cessna Pilots' Association Magazine. If your plane's airspeed indicator isn't exactly what you're used to, take the plane up to 3000' AGL and wring it out. If you're flying a Traumahawk (Tomahawk) or Firefly, make sure your will is up to date.
Left: Skylane 2469R in factory colors
S/N 18255569 GW 2800 EW 1796.4
3470 TT 520 SFRM (1994 s/n 288191R) 1200 SPOH (as of Jan 98)
NO DAMAGE HISTORY
(well not much)
Original paperwork from time of delivery
Exterior: White with Aquamarine and Green trim
Interior: Green leather and fabric, 1992
Sporty's A300 s/n 11008
Dual King KX155 TSO COMM/NAV flip-flop 1 VOR/ILS, 1 VOR/LOC
s/n 53686 53975
Antenna connection for handheld
Apollo GPS 2001 NMS TSO C115b TSO C129 A1 C1 DO-1788 s/n 93884 with CDI
Arnav R30A Loran
King KR87 TSO flip-flop ADF with timers s/n 39609
S-Tec 50 Two Axis Autopilot with altitude hold
Autopilot coupled to GPS, NAV1, NAV2, Loran, DG
Avion control wheels with PTT, A/P altitude toggle, A/P disconnect
King KMA24 TSO Audio Panel with Marker Beacon Receiver s/n 22141
Sigtronics SPA-400 4 place Intercom, headphone jacks for all seats
King KT 76A TSO Mode C Transponder with altitude encoder s/n 49619
SHARC-7 Emergency Locator Transmitter
New style artificial horizon
DG, Turn & Bank replaced in 1991 (p/o autopilot)
McCauley DCA-8 CS prop STC, Cessna spinner, 1989
Peterson autogas STC
Schroers panel deck and glare shield w/lights STC
Wheel Pants
Droop Tips
Horizontal Stabilizer Abrasion Boots
Cowl Plugs
McKinnon Sun Shields all windows
Avionics master switch, Cooling fan
InterAv 60 amp alternator conversion STC
Bogart Aviation #1 gauge copper battery cables STC
Precise Flight standby vacuum STC
Reliable WET vacuum pump (not prone to sudden failure)
Alternate static source
Great Lakes one piece windshield, 1/8 inch 1997 STC
Monarch Fuel Caps and Inlets STC
Long Range fuel tanks,
left bladder 10/84, right bladder 7/91
Rosen Sun Visors STC
BAS Inc shoulder harnesses with inertial reels STC
Brackett air filter STC
Cessna spin-on oil filter STC
Alcor EGT
Outside Air Temp Indicator
Carb temp meter TSO
Courtesy Lights cabin/underwing
Rear Seat Ventilators
Tail and Belly Strobes STC
Nav Light Detectors
Avtech Landing Light Pulser
Ground Service Plug
Heated Pitot tube
Static Wicks
Heavy duty Seat Rails
Pilot Seat articulate/recline/vertical adjust
Copilot Seat recline/vertical adjust
Carbon Monoxide Detector with Peak Memory
Fire Extinguisher
Camera Port