Backcountry Pilot • 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

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Wed Nov 07, 2018 10:28 pm

1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

Our latest fixed wing project is another Cessna 182 Taildragger conversion. This one is a 1960 182C. We obtained permission from the owner to document the work as we proceed. He has owned a Cessna 180 before, and has some special plans for this aircraft.

I don't have a lot of spare time these days, but if there is interest in the process, I'll try to faithfully make progress reports. We will be using the Rod Rawson STC again.

Here is a picture of the airplane as it showed up on our ramp, 32S Stevensville, Mt.

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Nice taxiing aircraft, very tight and responsive. Put it in the shop a couple of days ago and the journey begins!

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The project has also turned into a paint job!

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Did I mention that the stock O-470L engine will be upgraded to a PPonk?

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Or that the McCauley C29 will be replace with a MT Propeller? (I'm so glad I don't work on these back breakers anymore!)

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The Firewall cleaned up nicely.
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This airplane is already looking like a taildragger!

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richpiney offline
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Wed Nov 07, 2018 11:20 pm

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

Sweet project, look forward to seeing how it’s done!
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Thu Nov 08, 2018 4:21 am

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

Rich,

Please do update as much as you can. I am very interested in this project. It is great to see this as an option as the 180's get more and more scarce.

Thanks,
Joe
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Thu Nov 08, 2018 6:02 am

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

Curious if you are going to put a straight tail on it or leave it with the slant tail. Yes, keep us posted. Thanks!
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Thu Nov 08, 2018 7:40 am

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

Subscribed!!!
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Thu Nov 08, 2018 9:08 am

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

Rich, thx! I am looking forward to following this build.

I have a MSO overnight later in the month, would love to drive down and check out the progress.
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Thu Nov 08, 2018 11:57 am

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

This is going to be an awesome project!

I have a friend with one of those converted 182s. He gives me crap every time I call it a Skylane :mrgreen: It's also one of the nicest flying airplanes I have put my hands on.

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Fri Nov 09, 2018 10:42 am

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

WWhunter wrote:Curious if you are going to put a straight tail on it or leave it with the slant tail. Yes, keep us posted. Thanks!


X2.
Curious what if any paperwork (other than a logbook entry) is required to install earlier-model square tail.
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Sat Nov 10, 2018 4:30 am

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

WWhunter wrote:
Curious if you are going to put a straight tail on it or leave it with the slant tail. Yes, keep us posted. Thanks!

X2.
Curious what if any paperwork (other than a logbook entry) is required to install earlier-model square tail

The STC requires the straight tail as part of the conversion process, so nothing extra other than the standard 337 documenting the work.
Maybe somebody could link this to the pictures I posted on the 1961 Cessna 182D conversion that we did a couple years ago?

Rich, thx! I am looking forward to following this build.

I have a MSO overnight later in the month, would love to drive down and check out the progress.

Come on down, would love to meet you. We start at 6, but I'm usually here by 4:30 a.m. working on my Backcountry Noser. I suppose I should post some pics of it at some point.
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Sat Nov 10, 2018 7:26 am

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

The pictures to your last 182/180 conversion are half way down on the second page of this thread: https://backcountrypilot.org/forum/c-182-c-180-conversion-11502?start=20
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Sat Nov 10, 2018 9:04 am

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

robw56 wrote:The pictures to your last 182/180 conversion are half way down on the second page of this thread: https://backcountrypilot.org/forum/c-182-c-180-conversion-11502?start=20


Another good reason to upload your photos to gallery albums instead of attaching to posts. Good job, Rich.

https://backcountrypilot.org/me/my-phot ... bumid=4802

If you want to make the effort to embed those photos here, use this feature.
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Sat Nov 10, 2018 9:10 am

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

robw56 wrote:The pictures to your last 182/180 conversion are half way down on the second page of this thread: https://backcountrypilot.org/forum/c-182-c-180-conversion-11502?start=20


That one's a beauty!
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Sat Nov 10, 2018 11:50 am

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

Wow, Thanks Rob and Zane! Makes life much easier!
robw56 wrote:
The pictures to your last 182/180 conversion are half way down on the second page of this thread: https://backcountrypilot.org/forum/c-18 ... 2?start=20



Another good reason to upload your photos to gallery albums instead of attaching to posts. Good job, Rich.

https://backcountrypilot.org/me/my-phot ... bumid=4802

If you want to make the effort to embed those photos here, use this feature.


So here are some in process pictures of the 1961 conversion:
Pictured here is the aft gearbox bulkhead primed and ready to start putting together.
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A couple of pictures of the parts added way aft.
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We were actually able to get a model change on this aircraft.
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Sat Nov 10, 2018 11:59 am

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

Very nice, but do those wheels ever look small given what "normal" for most of the pictures on this site !!!!
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Sun Nov 11, 2018 9:28 am

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

richpiney wrote:...We were actually able to get a model change on this aircraft.
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Curious how you were able to do this, and also why.
FAA registry data shows s/n 182xxxxx, but model as a 180D.
To me, that discrepency would be kind of a red flag,
at least until I saw plenty of documenting paperwork.
What's the data plate say now?
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Sun Nov 11, 2018 11:28 am

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

It's amazing what the FAA can accomplish at times. We had a great PMI. A lot of PMI's are afraid of doing even a field approval.

No red flags, no discrepancies and no warning signs. Our PMI was directly involved in the entire project. I think he was as proud of it as we were. The required paperwork and documentation were followed per instructions and it was nice to see the system work.

It's great when the FAA works with the industry, especially in the interest of safety. There are some neat things being accomplished, especially with avionics that years ago who would have dreamed possible.

It was a difficult and expensive road for the owner of the company I work for to develop the Bart Tail Boom Motion Detection System. It was well over S100,000.00 in engineering costs. It may never pay for itself, but it's already saved lives and again, the FAA has been great to work with, installing it on additional models.

We've been fortunate in Montana to have a great working relationship with the FAA, and hope it continues for years to come.

These conversions are a lot of work. I'm a believer in Backcountrypilot.org. I'll try to keep up with posting progress on this project, in hopes that someone wanting to complete this themselves can benefit.
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Tue Nov 13, 2018 6:17 pm

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

richpiney wrote:It's amazing what the FAA can accomplish at times. We had a great PMI. A lot of PMI's are afraid of doing even a field approval.

No red flags, no discrepancies and no warning signs. Our PMI was directly involved in the entire project. I think he was as proud of it as we were. The required paperwork and documentation were followed per instructions and it was nice to see the system work.

It's great when the FAA works with the industry, especially in the interest of safety. There are some neat things being accomplished, especially with avionics that years ago who would have dreamed possible.

It was a difficult and expensive road for the owner of the company I work for to develop the Bart Tail Boom Motion Detection System. It was well over S100,000.00 in engineering costs. It may never pay for itself, but it's already saved lives and again, the FAA has been great to work with, installing it on additional models.

We've been fortunate in Montana to have a great working relationship with the FAA, and hope it continues for years to come.

These conversions are a lot of work. I'm a believer in Backcountrypilot.org. I'll try to keep up with posting progress on this project, in hopes that someone wanting to complete this themselves can benefit.


Rich,

Thanks for posting all this again. I will be watching intently, as this is something on the potential horizon for my little ol 182.

Are you guys still working with the same PMI that you did before? Will you be getting a type change with this new project as well?

Keep us posted!
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Wed Nov 14, 2018 8:11 pm

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

The "Stripping Department" has been busy!
Cowling, elevators, horizontal, flaps, ailerons, and fuselage.

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The very aft skin will be replaced, so no need to remove paint.
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These parts will be going bye bye.
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Another piece of skin that gets replaced
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The red over black and white was a pain, but the fuselage has cleaned up nicely.
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I guess I will be winging it tomorrow...
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Thu Nov 15, 2018 12:23 pm

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

richpiney wrote: Our latest fixed wing project is another Cessna 182 Taildragger conversion. This one is a 1960 182C. ….... We will be using the Rod Rawson STC again......


http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guida ... 3139AT.pdf
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Thu Nov 15, 2018 12:56 pm

Re: 1960 Cessna 182C Taildragger Conversion

What do you guys use for stripping the paint Rich?
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