I know it's been discussed but I'm having trouble finding exactly what I need. I am curious what to expect for weight in a pre 60's 180 with a 520. I know there can be a lot of factors. Could I realistically find a "early model" that weighs 1600 something with a 520 on it? Long story short.......what does your 180 weigh?

My 1955 180 weighs 1572. Stock 470j though. I've got a friend in ANC with a 55 his weighs 1560. Both are weights without the rear seat.

JW

I talked to a fella today that is claiming 1575 lbs with the pponk 2 blade. Pretty impressive!

I doubt that 1600 is gonna be an easy number to get to, unless the plane is stripped.

What is the weight difference between a 470 and a 520? Is there any?

I was in a buddies hangar this week. He looked up the 520 and found it was claimed to be only 8 pounds more than the 470. Three blade prop on this particular one made it more forward CG too.
The most interesting thing of the day was the nasty call from the FSDO guy... claiming it was not legal under AC43-13b to weigh the plane with full fuel. Said it MUST be drained out. Then threatened to have his IA pulled if he didn't do it the "right" way.

Between my 470K and my Pponk was listed at 4#'s dif. Put on a light wt. starter, and the dif. was gone. My wt. on paper is around 1650 w/bushwheels and 29" airhawks. Never have put it on scales, but my plane is fairly basic. Gave up quite a bit of wt. putting the battery on the firewall also.
Gary

flightlogic wrote:The most interesting thing of the day was the nasty call from the FSDO guy... claiming it was not legal under AC43-13b to weigh the plane with full fuel. Said it MUST be drained out. Then threatened to have his IA pulled if he didn't do it the "right" way.

"We're here to help"

The one that weighs 1575 is pretty much bone stock with the pponk so I guess this makes sense. Put a MT two blade, fire wall battery, titanium gear, atlee dodge rare seats, and should be able to stay below 1600 with bush wheels. Can youn still get the titanium gear?

flightlogic wrote:........The most interesting thing of the day was the nasty call from the FSDO guy... claiming it was not legal under AC43-13b to weigh the plane with full fuel. Said it MUST be drained out. Then threatened to have his IA pulled if he didn't do it the "right" way.

I did my own W&B weigh-in on my last 2 airplanes. I like to drain ALL the fuel out, weigh the airplane, and note "zero fuel, 8 qts oil" (or whatever) on the W&B sheet. I know guys who fill them all the way up, weigh them, then show a deduct for the fuel to arrive at the empty weight. If it works for them, great, but I don't like it unless you know EXACTLY how much gas the airplane holds. I think the accepted procedure is to weigh the airplane including unusable fuel but without oil, then add the weight & arm of the oil back in.
I lke my way (or is that weigh? ) best, but that FSDO guy of yours would probably take me to task for it.

Almost forgot the sportsman and the VG's!

Two years ago at annual my mechanic drained the fuel and put my 1953 180 on the scales. To my surprise it now weights 1750 lbs empty. It has a few non-stock items such as 800 x 6.0 tires, a snyder speed kit, and after market wing tips with flashing lights, Bass harness and pull handles, baggage door, and the back seat in. I couldn't believe it had gained that much weight. Since all the changes were made by the previous owner, I don't know what contributed the most weight.

Bottom line...if you don't want to know how much it weights, don't put it on the scales. I was happier using the calculated W&B. I had more useful load before I knew the truth.

DEGJR

My 1959 was 1529-1589-lbs orig.

Nowdays: With the sportsman stol, 2 new instruments and some swaps over the years plus NOW the BBW and 8.5 x 10 x 11 tires and adapters, Cleveland brakes and the heavier Concorde battery it's up to 1780-lbs.

Seems like they all get heavier over the years not lighter. Ha!.

Rick

Cambo wrote:I know it's been discussed but I'm having trouble finding exactly what I need. I am curious what to expect for weight in a pre 60's 180 with a 520. I know there can be a lot of factors. Could I realistically find a "early model" that weighs 1600 something with a 520 on it? Long story short.......what does your 180 weigh?

Cameron>
If you make it to Boulder We'll weigh Tom's 180 .I believe it's pretty light >will check and confirm with W&B>I have the digital scales and computer program.

Cambo wrote:Can youn still get the titanium gear?

Can't speak for Tailwheel Tom, but I believe the Ti gears are not available at present. The Ti gear saves a lot of weight, but there are other factors that would need to be considered. There are stress/strain/fatigue issues which mitigate some of the initial advantages of Ti . I'm not an engineer (nor do I play one on TV), but the concept I just mentioned did indeed come from a very highly qualified structures man.

The "sci-fi future" lies with the carbon fiber pulltrusion rods, not Ti. A landing gear made using this material would save a lot of weight too, it will be a lot less cost than Ti, much better fatigue, and carbon may prove out to have other valuable qualities. The balance is that a CF gear will be an inch and a half thick instead of three quarters like the steel gears. This means a new outboard gear bracket design with a wider slot and different shims. Also, the extreme cold temperature brittleness of various epoxy resins will need to be proven out before this could be certified. But the CF pulltrusion is what V-22 Osprey rotor blades are made of, and they must have done some cold soak tests on those.

My 55 weighs 1693 lbs., that is with a Pponk O520, & the 86" 3 blade McCauley, long range tanks, & a bunch of other mods. The interior is kinda fancy with leather, full IFR panel, carpet, rear seat in, etc. I would recommend weighing the older 180's. After years of removing & adding equipment, items added/removed but not logged, the math is so inaccurate after 50 years u might be surprised! I actually gained 18lbs useful load after weighing mine a few years ago. Nice surprise! I think Wagonwrench is one of a few people who has a bone stock early 180 that weighs the same from when it was manufactured. It still has the original plastic on the seats!! I think it weighs slightly more than a 172

Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express

Hi, wondering if 1840 is unusually heavy for a 59? This includes the 10gal un-useable for this model.
Has some typical mods like 850s on 185 legs, 10" tw, STOL, 88" prop, fairly basic panel with 2 VFR GPS.
Full rear seat, no ext baggage, hat shelf, rear battery are there. Has full float kit.

I know I can get some weight off - but over 100 lbs?

My converted 1959 C-182B weighs 1700lbs with 10 qts of oil, zero fuel, stock o-470L motor w/ 82" w blade prop, light weight starter, stock (boat anchor) generator, stock battery in tail, extended baggage, rear seat, entire interior wrapped in leather, 29" bushwheels with baby bushwheel tailwheel, 185 gear legs double puck brakes, VFR radios w/ vacuum system etc.

Flight:
My 56 182 (180 with a nose wheel and not tail wheel) weights empty weight at 1508 lbs without back seat, has extended baggage,Sportsman STOL, firewall mounted battery ,radio(s) etc. 192 sq,ft of wing area =7.85 lbs of wing loading per square ft. at empty weight. I have certified Digital weight and balance scales/computer -services. Useful (legal) for me is 1042 lbs. with 1/2 tanks (60 gallons total) I still have useful of 862 lbs . 1/2 tanks is good enough for 2 1/2 + hours ,at around 155 mph true .

My converted 182 comes in at 1613lbs on paper.....I will do my best to keep it off the scales

Terry wrote:My converted 182 comes in at 1613lbs on paper.....I will do my best to keep it off the scales

A standard 180/182/185 will gain 20-40 lbs over the years of use. Wiring is a big culprit ,old radio wiring left in place when units changed out. Lots of DIRT in belly and tail. Only way to clean out belly/ tail-cone /tail is spraying with solvent . Open up belly inspection panels ,remove seats and floor coverings and get to spraying thru floor inspection panels -rock the fuselage back on tail. I've taken out as much as a 5 gallon bucket of mud and junk out. After you clean it up you have to re lube the pulleys and cables .