Pretty impressive, and that was my first time feeling it out. I should bring the GoPro next time!

What are your experiences?

I have the Horton on my plane (69 C172K, Tailwheel) and I really find it to be quite a useful addition. I purchased the airplane with it so I can't attest to the increase, but my 150hp 172 goes in and out of some relatively short strips. My approaches with 40 deg of flaps are impressively slow and landings short. my plane has fences , droop tips and the leading edge. I think it also includes gab seals (these might have been done separately). The Horton kit is a worthy addition. I know some folks have to have the biggest tires and the newest and best of all things aviation. I am just happy my plane has a STOL kit.

EZFlap wrote:

bigrenna wrote:I too removed a Horton (really an Owl) and installed a Sportsman.

Thank you for remembering George Owl, a good engineer and innovator. I never had the chance to meet him, but a few of the people I raced with flew his designs and told me how clever of a guy he was.

Was he the same guy behind the Owl formula one racer?
Main reason I always remember the Owl STOL kit is that I like the owl decal that came with it.
There's a 182 that comes into my airport pretty regularly with one on.

obxbushpilot wrote:

Pretty impressive, and that was my first time feeling it out. I should bring the GoPro next time!

What are your experiences?

I have the Horton on my plane (69 C172K, Tailwheel) and I really find it to be quite a useful addition. I purchased the airplane with it so I can't attest to the increase, but my 150hp 172 goes in and out of some relatively short strips. My approaches with 40 deg of flaps are impressively slow and landings short. my plane has fences , droop tips and the leading edge. I think it also includes gab seals (these might have been done separately). The Horton kit is a worthy addition. I know some folks have to have the biggest tires and the newest and best of all things aviation. I am just happy my plane has a STOL kit.

Oxbushpilot,

Thanks for your post. Your words really bring it all back to reality.... Fact is, that the stock wing is pretty damn good as it is, and any of the cuff iterations just make it better.

For some, the thought of trashing a perfectly good mod for a 5% perf upgrade is beyond foolish. I think some of us get caught up in the latest and greatest whiz bang bullshit and can, at times, loose sight of just WTF we all love... Flying.

You are totally right. Horton is a "worthy addition," and if you have the cuff already installed, it will serve you well!

Hope to fly with you sometime!

Yes Sportsman and VGs.

obxbushpilot wrote: I am just happy my plane has a STOL kit.

I'm pretty much in this camp. Feels good to know there's a little extra safety margin there. Didn't mean to start a Sportsman vs Horton debate, heck it would pry perform better with a Pponk too, right!

One more thing to note, clean stall occurred at the bottom of the white arc.

It has the stall fences, and I found the logbook entry from back in 1983. Reading through the logbooks was like going back in time! Pretty neat. Something I didn't notice before, plane was mothballed from 62-72, makes you wonder why.....or what happened to the Owner, or???

hotrod180 wrote:
Was he the same guy behind the Owl formula one racer?

Yes, he was the guy who designed the Owl Racers, OR-65 and OR-71. I got to fly against Kathy Gray in her OR-65 "Pogo" #87 a couple of times, and then flew against that same airplane once when Ray Cote had borrowed it from her.

motoadve wrote:Yes Sportsman and VGs.

Is it an approved configuration to have both installed at the same time?

Most people say you can have EITHER one on legally, but perhaps not both. I always imagined the VG's would make the Sportsman work even better than it does already, but I have no personal experience with either of those upgrades on a C-100 series.

Can anyone comment on whether a Sportsman equipped airplane will or will not make further gains with VG's installed ?

EZFlap wrote:

motoadve wrote:Yes Sportsman and VGs.

Is it an approved configuration to have both installed at the same time?

Most people say you can have EITHER one on legally, but perhaps not both. I always imagined the VG's would make the Sportsman work even better than it does already, but I have no personal experience with either of those upgrades on a C-100 series.

Can anyone comment on whether a Sportsman equipped airplane will or will not make further gains with VG's installed ?

Yes, it is approved. Willie Stene himself has Sportsman STOL and VGs on his 185, as well as Wing X extensions. Many people run that combo for the ultimate upgrade on a Cessna wing.

Hey hoeschen. That sounds pretty dam good to me man!
I was feeling for you as the thread seemed to veer towards a pro sportsman topic instead of your Horton pirep.
Undoubtedly no one here intended to take away from or wanna seem to put your down your Horton.
I always try and keep a "sitting around the fire w a beer shootin the breeze" mentality when reading or writing in here.

It's just that everyone that's flown a sports is pretty enthused. It is a great bang for buck mod. If not the best. IMHO!!
Those numbers your putting up tho are awesome man! Good flying bud! When it comes down to it it's the meat in the seat that matters. I got a buddy w an ole bone stock 180 that would make people swear he's got jato bottles and a parachute to go where he'd go. Some of us need all the help we can get tho. A sportsman is awesome. But if you gotta Horton, sorry.
Just messin. Fly. Have fun. Fly some more. And thanks for the pirep. Those r great numbers.

I bought a 1957 C-182A recently with the Horton STOL Kit. There was a small Horton brochure discussing suggested speeds for a variety of Cessna models but it never explained any techniques or configurations to be able to safely use the speeds. It also showed models that did not match mine, particularly in gross weights. The first time I tried full flaps, it got my attention immediately. Now it's 20 degrees of flaps, 55-60 mph, 12" manifold pressure, at 2400 lbs weight. Looking at other posts, my numbers are comparable. No-flap takeoff : rotate at 45mph and off at 50mph. 20 degrees: rotate at 40mph and it comes off easily at 45 mph. Stalls: No-flap horn at 50mph, breaks around 42-45 mph. 10 and 20 degrees stalls around 40mph. 30 and 40 degrees stalls below 40 and just develops a 1000' sink rate. Does anyone have any specific operating guidance from Horton that may have come with the STC paperwork?

I didn't perform and scientific experiments but my experience with the Horton kit with VGs on the vertical is that it made a big difference on my Cardinal.