As much as I loved my old 180, the power, speed and useful load of a 185 had been on my wish list for some time. 180's are great, and I'll miss it, but the 185 is better suited for my needs now. The search was narrowed to include only low time airframes/engines, no significant damage history, no saltwater ops, and it needed long range tanks and EDO 3430 floats, along with Canadian registration. Found just the one I had to have. Made one phone call and the 180 was sold, 8 hours later I was on a one way flight with a bank draft in hand.

2600 TT, 500 on factory reman IO-520D, 50 hrs on 90" Mac. No damage history. Long range. Brand new paint/interior. 3430's with hatches plus wheel gear. Never used commercially. The airplane was better then advertised. The next day it made the 800 mile flight home without a flaw. Very happy with it so far.

It's C-FBIG and beautiful, very nice

Mapleflt

As a previous multiple 185 owner I must say, VERY NICE! Congratulations!
90 inch prop? Wow, I thought 86 was max for a 185. I bet she really snorts with that prop!

Kurt

Shazaam! Beautiful bird! You're going to love that 796!

Jim

Congrats and awesome find! The 66 185 is a great bird. Once they get newer, they just get way to heavy. You are gonna love it!

Saw your post over on FB. Great looking 185 Kyle. Congrats!

Congratulations on a sweet 185! I know you'll love it.

Thanks fellas. It works good so far. Definitely lucky to find a good clean one with the times and options I wanted.

G44 wrote:As a previous multiple 185 owner I must say, VERY NICE! Congratulations! 90 inch prop? Wow, I thought 86 was max for a 185. I bet she really snorts with that prop!

Ditto on the very nice.
I'm surprised also by the 90" prop.
The IO-520 turns up to 2850,seems like tip speed would be way high--
way over mach, let alone the .88-.92 mach "sweet spot".
Are there any special rpm limitations?

Heard you got a new bird Kyle, sounds and looks like a dandy. Stop by a DFC meeting sometime and show it off.

Steve

Thank you Steve, I’ll try to make the June meeting.

Even got the Harley Davidson edition. Those were super rare.
I like the paint scheme.
I didn’t know EDO made flat top floats. They looks huge

Haha rest assured the HD sticker will be removed.

The EDO 3430’s are popular 185 float around here, and the bouyancy allows the upgross to 3525 with WingX. The flat tops are a welcome addition.

Congrats on your new 185. Have you sold your 180 yet?

EDO 3430 floats were some of the best straight floats ever built for 185/206. Lots of buoyancy, great performance off the water, and big lockers an option.

Nice looking airplane.

MTV

Yes it sold right away, never did have to list it. Made one phone call to a buddy who was looking and it was gone. I'll miss it.

hotrod180 wrote:

G44 wrote:As a previous multiple 185 owner I must say, VERY NICE! Congratulations! 90 inch prop? Wow, I thought 86 was max for a 185. I bet she really snorts with that prop!

Ditto on the very nice.
I'm surprised also by the 90" prop.
The IO-520 turns up to 2850,seems like tip speed would be way high--
way over mach, let alone the .88-.92 mach "sweet spot".
Are there any special rpm limitations?

Red Line is still 2850. the 90" prop is popular for float ops. It works well and pulls hard. The neighbors may disagree with my fondness of it. It screams.