awesome plane!

Congrats man! I have had so much fun flying my bird. You are gonna love her!!!

For what its worth (a bit of advice...)

Call your best friend up ASAP. Hand him your wallet and tell him, "Under no certain circumstances allow me to access my credit cards for aircraft purchases." Slippery slope....

On second thought, F-it. Let the upgrades begin!

Nice, they are great airplanes.
A few months back the AOPA magazine featured a 180 with all the upgrades a pilot could ever wish for...good template. The advice on the wallet is so true...

very Nice Hotrod!

Congratulations!

I wanted an early (light) one, as stock as possible. This one's got quite a few mods, but they're pretty much all good stuff:
53 model with a K engine & McCauley prop.
Firewall mounted Odyssey.
185 gear legs, 850's, double-puck Clevelands.
BAS harnesses and jumpseats.
V-brace.
Cavernous extended baggage.
1-1/8" stinger & 10" XP Mods tailwheel.
It's got a stock wing, except for flap gap seals. I've read that they're not necessarily a good thing for low-speed ops, but the seller told me he's flown 180's with and without them and doesn't notice much difference in that regard. I've heard that removal is a PITA, so I'll leave them in place and just learn to fly the airplane as is.
No baggage door added, which isn't a problem with the standard baggage area cuz you can reach that pretty good through the entry doors with the jumpseats folded up. But the only way to access the extended baggage is to crawl.
There's a few squawks, and a few things I plan on changing or adding, but overall it's a damn nice, straight, airplane.

Barnstormer wrote:

hotrod150 wrote:Here's a photo of my new Skywagon. I've wanted one for years, and finally bought this one a week ago....

Congrats! Now you've got to change your handle to hotrod180 or hotrodwagon.

He used his 1 username change years ago... he's Hotrod150 until the end of time now.

Congrats, Eric. That's a sweet looking machine.

Congrats! You've made it to the top;)

Seriously, nice plane... I really like the paint job!

gunny

The cowl flaps wouldn't close all the way so I decided to re-rig them. I didn't even have to get out the trusty Cessna series 100 manual-- the 1953 180 owner's manual had instructions on how to do it. They work perfectly now.

Great upgrade and congrats on the 180. Looks awesome and I bet it's a joy to fly.

MM

Sure looks like you did good! But I have to say...this site is REAL bad for a guys wallet!!! All you guys buying or already 180 owners are a bad influence. Granted I have liked/wanted a 180/182 nearly since I started flying, I have convinced my self the costs of owning one are probably at my self imposed limit. Turning 55 in three weeks and realizing life goes too fast to compromise, I have been trying to convince myself to take the plunge.

I have been looking on and off at 180's for the past several months, only because I need something with better speed than either of the planes I currently fly. Looked at one yesterday that has been advertised for quite awhile. It was recently reduced in price and since it was only an hour flight away I figured, what the heck...go look.

What a mess!! Plane was flipped (into a snow bank) and not really hurt other than rudder tip and a couple other small items which have been fixed. The FBO owner advised me before I came to look at it that it needs some TLC. All I have to say is, sure nice to deal with a very honest FBO owner. This plane looks like it spent most of its life stored out in the Georgia swamp and was never washed or cleaned. Inside of the wings were covered thick with a black moldy looking substance. I can only imagine the corrosion underneath all that crap.
If anyone else out there is looking at 180's and curious about one located in MN for sale, I have pictures I can forward.

Maybe I'll change direction and look at aBellanca Viking and Mooney offerings. Reasonable speed with economy.

WWhunter wrote:.... Granted I have liked/wanted a 180/182 nearly since I started flying, I have convinced my self the costs of owning one are probably at my self imposed limit. Turning 55 in three weeks and realizing life goes too fast to compromise, I have been trying to convince myself to take the plunge.
....

My story in a nutshell. I turned 57 a few months ago. I've wanted a 180 for years, and decided that since I wasn't getting any younger it was time to just go for it. If I have to scrimp a little more than usual somewhere else to be able to buy / fly it, so be it.
Even if that one yoy looked at wasn't for you, WW, don't write off 180's just yet-- the next one you look at just might be a keeper! Matter of fact, a friend of mine here in WA is selling his 54 model. It's the yellow & white one on barnstormers for $82K (right now, about halfway down the first page). Too rich for my blood, but a very very nice airplane. There seems to be plenty of early models listed there between $50K-ish and 80K-ish.

Lots of "Rode hard and put up wet" 180s out there, but there are some sweethearts as well. Just do a good thorough pre buy, and don't be afraid to pass on a dog.

MTV