So then I found a 1957 online. I went and visited it on a business trip, made an offer pending inspection, but the owner and I were too far away on price. Looked at 4 more 180's in person, nothing I wanted. Called owner again a few weeks later and made the same offer again("Are you sure you don't want to get rid of it, I know you just bought a 210"). We agreed, set up an annual by a local shop, etc. Everything looked good.
This past Thursday night, Matt (mountainmatt) and I flew Southwest out to DC and drove to West Virginia to meet the seller. Everything looked good so we got in my new plane and took off west towards Boulder, taking a round-about course to visit friends, my family in Kentucky, and some airstrips Matt wanted to visit over two days.
Before the good stuff, I'd like to thank:
- Matt (mountainmatt) for instruction/advice/everything
- Evan (Crzyivan13) for having us at his strip and buying lunch
- Greg D (soyanarchisto) for being the first BCP member to reach out to me in real life and show me the perks of owning a 180
- Greg H (bigrenna) for advice, knowledge, and all that jazz
- Alex (Felix) for taking me flying in his 180 and helping me navigate purchasing/taxes/etc
- Tony (AEROPOD) for technical/mechanical consulting/advice
- Everyone else on BCP who has ever contributed anything, I've scoured this place for knowledge over the past year
The plane:
1957 C180A, never modded out as a bush plane, but lots of small useful mods. 4800TT, 250 SMOH, new-ish panel/interior, good engine instruments. Nothing state of the art or fancy, but's corrosion-free (as far as we could tell), flys straight and fast, and seems well taken care of over the years. "No damage history". Weight savings was never a thought of previous owners, so it's a little heavy.
The Trip:
Departing KMRB with it's C17's
We stopped at Cedar Meadows Airpark (9 miles from KMRB, nice long grass strip) to talk to a guy who knew the last couple owners and had given some instruction/ferrying to them. Matt and Jim talking about the plane:
West Virginia wind farm:
We had found a public (or at least no labeled private) strip on the sectional, 6M0 in WV so we decided to stop. Was a very interesting place and Adam (the resident farmer/pilot) was a very nice guy and super friendly. Still not sure if it's public or not...
Next stop was Checkpoint Charlie, Evan's 1000ft strip:
Two 1957 cousins.
Evan joined us to fly as a flight of two to get fuel, getting a couple great shots
Crossing the Ohio River:
150mph over my home state of Kentucky:
We stayed at my family's farm that night after a little bit of instruction at the local airport, and left early the next morning since 2/3's of the trip was still ahead of us.
Nostalgia flying over KBWG, where I got my private certificate:
About an hour of low visibility and light ran (but calm air) in Western Kentucky eventually gave way to perfectly calm clear air after we crossed the Mississippi River.
We did some more instruction at KBPK before stopping at Gaston's (3M0) in Arkansas for lunch. It was truly a beautiful place, and I'm very glad Matt knew about it. would highly recomend stopping in.
(The frustration of having a difficult time sticking the landings was glossed over by the joys of ownership in that picture)
Right after Gaston's we stopped by Trigger Gap, one of RAF's newest strips and a real gem. I hope to return when I can actually land the plane well...
After a few hours of XC buzzing across Arkansas and Kansas, we chose Great Bend, Ks (KGBD) to get fuel and do some more instruction. This is where I felt like I really learned the plane doing the exercises Matt had me do over and over. Was an amazing learning experience and a definite morale booster. It was nearing sunset on a beautiful day, with a big calm airport at our disposal.
Once we left KGB, we pointed towards Boulder and took advantage of a great tailwind to make good time on our last leg flying into the sunset in calm air. These long smooth legs allowed Matt to teach me how to read/interpret/use the engine instrumentation which was new to me.
We ended up arriving in Boulder about an hour after dark to some busy airspace and a burnt out landing light to cap off a good 10 hour flying day. The total trip ended up being 15.7 hours, satisfying my insurance requirements for dual, and Matt signed off on the checkout. What adventure. I can't even bring to words how much I learned about purchasing my first airplane, flying a high performance taildragger, grass landings, engine performance, etc.
(missing a couple non-idented landing spots)
I was able to take the plane up this morning for my first flight solo and man, what a machine. I'm obviously still in the honeymoon phase of ownership, but it's great to be able to enjoy something that I spent (all of) my hard earned money on. I'm very thankful I'm lucky enough to be able to fly a skywagon, much less own one.
-asa
These planes are just smile factories.
