Congrats on picking up the new plane. BAS belts are an awesome worth while mod for sure. Sounds like you may need to do a bit of rigging but that's pretty straight forward. Then fly it for a while. You may be pleasantly surprised at how it flies and not need mods. I originally planned to put a sportsman kit on my 206 after 50-100hrs of flying. Turns out it stalls around 40 mph at 2600lbs and a touch of power, and I really can't see the sportsman making a dramatic difference, so I'm not sure its worth adding the extra weight. Just fly it and save the mod money for the 185.

Congrats! Looks like a great plane.

My technical recommendations;

1.) Loose the wheel pants.
2.) Fly the hell out of it.
3.) Rinse and repeat.

Enjoy !

This first week of ownership has really shown me what mods need to be done.

Yesterday the winds switch direction and subsequently picked up ferocity as the sun set. I came to the airport this morning to be greeted by a door playing in the wind which really sucked. Apparently the winds peeked at over 40 knots last night. 40 knot winds and an airplane tied tail into the wind make a bad combo. Fortunately it looks like the strut and the door are ok. The original door steward got ripped out of the door but it looks like the damage is limited to the rivets letting go. Should be a simple fix with only a little touch up paint being needed.

I’m not sure if the nice gas door stewards would have prevented this whole ordeal, but it might have kept my strut from getting smacked so hard. I’ll be installing a set of them when I get home, that’s for sure!!

*edit* yeah no. Stewards wouldn’t have done me any good in this situation. Remember the 5Ps everyone, Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. At least the door isn’t as badly banged up as I was originally lead to believe.



I’m also having some horrible radio squelch problems when my phone is plugged in. It was nearly impossible to talk to center because of it the other night. I’m talking all you hear is squelch 24/7 on all frequencies, on the air or on the ground. I might have a grounding issue somewhere. Makes me want to install my Garmin stuff and be done with it.

Not sure a door steward would have helped. That sort of wind would likely have ripped the strut mounts from the door frame or door post.

If in an area with known big wind, best to look at the forecast and park into the wind; even if that means getting creative about how you use the tie down. A standard 3 point tie down at an airport can allow you to point the plane pretty easily in 3 different directions. Always carry you own mooring and never trust sun baked ropes.

Fiddler wrote:Not sure a door steward would have helped. That sort of wind would likely have ripped the strut mounts from the door frame or door post.

If in an area with known big wind, best to look at the forecast and park into the wind; even if that means getting creative about how you use the tie down. A standard 3 point tie down at an airport can allow you to point the plane pretty easily in 3 different directions. Always carry you own mooring and never trust sun baked ropes.

I agree, I think door stewards may have just added to the damage. If I know its going to be windy I will also climb in through the baggage door, latch the pilot door from the inside, and climb back out the baggage door. A bit of a pain, but saves you in the long run.

Hello Ryan. I bought my first airplane 20 years ago. After much research, I bought a 182P, and I still own it and am very happy with that decision 20 years ago. It was a semi-project airplane, and I added many mods to equip it for both cross country and back country ops. I hope you enjoy your new bird as much as I have mine. If you have an questions, please reach out to me. I don't do much bc flying since moving to San Diego 2 years ago, and the cross country gear has been on the plane ever since. But I found the 182 to be a very versatile aircraft doing all things reasonably well .. not the fastest x-country machine nor the best STOL, but does both fairly well. Congrats, and Enjoy!

A1Skinner wrote:

Fiddler wrote:Not sure a door steward would have helped. That sort of wind would likely have ripped the strut mounts from the door frame or door post.

If in an area with known big wind, best to look at the forecast and park into the wind; even if that means getting creative about how you use the tie down. A standard 3 point tie down at an airport can allow you to point the plane pretty easily in 3 different directions. Always carry you own mooring and never trust sun baked ropes.

I agree, I think door stewards may have just added to the damage. If I know its going to be windy I will also climb in through the baggage door, latch the pilot door from the inside, and climb back out the baggage door. A bit of a pain, but saves you in the long run.

^^^^^^ this

If you had 40 mile winds blowing into an open door for some time over night - door stewards would have likely been destroy - you probably dodged a bullet that they were not installed yet. The earlier Cessna doors don’t fully engage the latch from the outside - you either have to reach in through the window or as mentioned crawl through the baggage door and close the interior handle that fully engages the latch.

Sorry to hear - that is a real bummer on your new plane.

mtv wrote:Ryan,

I'm not in the mode of offering advice on creating an Uber panel.....BUT,

The first thing I'd do, especially with winter coming, is get rid of those wheel pants. Those wheels and tires are fine, but wheel pants in colder weather, especially warm/cold transitions is they can build up ice, etc.

MTV

I agree. The fun really starts after the pants come off!

Pierre_R wrote:

mtv wrote:Ryan,

...Get rid of those wheel pants...

MTV

I agree. The fun really starts after the pants come off!

I think the real fun comes from float flying, and that’s the most fun I’ve had with my pants on!

Pierre, that 182 you have is a real nice airplane! When I started thinking about getting a 182 a few months back, I spent some time looking at the pictures you’ve posted on here of it. You have an IO550 on that thing, right?

pilotryan wrote:This first week of ownership has really shown me what mods need to be done.

Yesterday the winds switch direction and subsequently picked up ferocity as the sun set. I came to the airport this morning to be greeted by a door playing in the wind. Apparently the winds peeked at over 40 knots last night. 40 knot winds and an airplane tied tail into the wind make a bad combo. In my case, my perfectly fitting door is now bent and my strut has been gashed. I should have listened to my friends back home when they said to drive to Owatanna, it would have saved me some disappointment.

I’m not sure if door stewards would have prevented this whole ordeal, but it would have kept my strut from getting smacked so hard. I’ll be installing a set of them when I get home, that’s for sure!!



I’m also having some horrible radio squelch problems. It was nearly impossible to talk to center because of it the other night. I’m talking all you hear is squelch 24/7 on all frequencies, on the air or on the ground. I might have a grounding issue somewhere. Makes me want to install my Garmin stuff and be done with it.

Ryan,

You’re not going to want to hear this, but.....it’s YOUR airplane, thus your responsibility. If you park it outside you MUST look at forecasts, talk to locals and whatever you can to determine if a big wind event is imminent. Period. No excuses. I kept my work airplanes outdoors in some really windy places for many years, and my personal airplanes longer.

I’ve sat in my truck all night more than a few times, keeping an eye on that expensive piece of aluminum, and periodically tightening lines, turning the plane, and doing the same for others airplanes.

From personal observation, Door Stewards won’t hold a door in a big wind from behind. So, I have no sympathy for you. You bought it, you parked it and abandoned it. It’s yours.

But what really troubles me is that, based on your first comment after this event it’s apparent that you’re still using everything you can find as an excuse to modify this airplane. If you start down that rabbit hole, you’ll wind up pretty fast with TWO essentially useless but ver expensive airplanes.

Opinion only.

MTV

mtv wrote:

pilotryan wrote:This first week of ownership has really shown me what mods need to be done.

Yesterday the winds switch direction and subsequently picked up ferocity as the sun set. I came to the airport this morning to be greeted by a door playing in the wind. Apparently the winds peeked at over 40 knots last night. 40 knot winds and an airplane tied tail into the wind make a bad combo. In my case, my perfectly fitting door is now bent and my strut has been gashed. I should have listened to my friends back home when they said to drive to Owatanna, it would have saved me some disappointment.

I’m not sure if door stewards would have prevented this whole ordeal, but it would have kept my strut from getting smacked so hard. I’ll be installing a set of them when I get home, that’s for sure!!



I’m also having some horrible radio squelch problems. It was nearly impossible to talk to center because of it the other night. I’m talking all you hear is squelch 24/7 on all frequencies, on the air or on the ground. I might have a grounding issue somewhere. Makes me want to install my Garmin stuff and be done with it.

Ryan,

You’re not going to want to hear this, but.....it’s YOUR airplane, thus your responsibility. If you park it outside you MUST look at forecasts, talk to locals and whatever you can to determine if a big wind event is imminent. Period. No excuses. I kept my work airplanes outdoors in some really windy places for many years, and my personal airplanes longer.

I’ve sat in my truck all night more than a few times, keeping an eye on that expensive piece of aluminum, and periodically tightening lines, turning the plane, and doing the same for others airplanes.

From personal observation, Door Stewards won’t hold a door in a big wind from behind. So, I have no sympathy for you. You bought it, you parked it and abandoned it. It’s yours.

But what really troubles me is that, based on your first comment after this event it’s apparent that you’re still using everything you can find as an excuse to modify this airplane. If you start down that rabbit hole, you’ll wind up pretty fast with TWO essentially useless but ver expensive airplanes.

Opinion only.

MTV

^^^^^^ Yup ^^^^^^

mtv wrote:Ryan,

You’re not going to want to hear this, but.....it’s YOUR airplane, thus your responsibility. If you park it outside you MUST look at forecasts, talk to locals and whatever you can to determine if a big wind event is imminent. Period. No excuses. I kept my work airplanes outdoors in some really windy places for many years, and my personal airplanes longer.

I’ve sat in my truck all night more than a few times, keeping an eye on that expensive piece of aluminum, and periodically tightening lines, turning the plane, and doing the same for others airplanes.

From personal observation, Door Stewards won’t hold a door in a big wind from behind. So, I have no sympathy for you. You bought it, you parked it and abandoned it. It’s yours.

But what really troubles me is that, based on your first comment after this event it’s apparent that you’re still using everything you can find as an excuse to modify this airplane. If you start down that rabbit hole, you’ll wind up pretty fast with TWO essentially useless but ver expensive airplanes.

Opinion only.

MTV

Mike,

I needed to hear that and it’s a very valid opinion to have. Please also remember that my first airplane has spent the last four years hopping from shop to shop and never actually got to sit outside or really get used for its intended purpose. This whole owning & actually flying your own airplane thing is kind of a new experience for me. I can assure you that I won’t be making the ‘park the airplane outside without checking the forecast first or thinking’ mistake again. No miracle mod is going to fix poor judgement. Just because I have a commercial cert doesn’t mean I’m not still learning. For instance I didn’t realize that there is more than one way to park an airplane on a tie down. The thought of turning the airplane around in the parking spot and getting it pointed into the prevailing wind never came to mind. For the sake of embarrassment on my part, let’s just chalk this one up to ignorance and move on. I know I just want to forget about it.

And yes, you’re right. I am looking for excuses to mod this thing BUT I am getting better at it. I managed to go twenty minutes today without looking at mods. All joking aside, I really don’t want to be stupid with this airplane. In my three weeks of ownership I’ve only purchased a carburetor and BAS seatbelts for it. Door stewards are nice for loading and whatnot but the late model 182s already have some sort of mechanism that keeps the doors open, so I’m honestly not sure if it’s really needed anymore. If I ever park ass into the wind again, then it might do more harm than good. I appreciate the advice on that mod, I’ll hold off for now.

I’m still putting in my BAS belts and my precise flow vents in when I get home. I’m not joking when I say I don’t have a shoulder harness. It’s really sketchy.

Ryan, glad to hear BAS harness is on its way and even though we have all been saying fly the snot out of it, there is no way I would fly that airplane until they are installed.

Kurt

Sorry to hear about your door. I learned that lesson the hard way many years ago with my new-to-me 182 back in the '80s. In my case, I'd left the master switch on by mistake when I was traveling, the battery drained, I couldn't get a jump, so I left the plane open and called the maintenance shop on the field the next day, they towed the airplane into their hangar, removed, charged and reinstalled the battery, then reparked it outside with it pointing into the prevailing (north) wind without locking the door from inside. A big storm blew in, and the southerly gusts popped the door open and pretzeled it around the strut. Thus began a saga of unscrupulous and shoddy maintenance by the same shop that ultimately grounded my airplane for a year--with nothing to show but a severely depleted bank account. That shop went out of business a long time ago and the owner died a few years later. So, I empathize with your maintenance misadventures as well as your new door ding.

The point (oh yeah, that) is that you never know when or what direction that big gust is going to come from. Try to avoid tailing the airplane into the wind, but you absolutely must lock down the doors so that they won't pop open when the airplane tries to fly in the ropes. There are two ways to do this: crawl through the baggage door, or buy a window lock (search for Planelock) that allows you to lock the door handle down, then close the window and lock it. I bought the Planelock after I got tired of contorting myself through the baggage door every time I left the airplane. I also look for tiedowns that are protected by buildings or fences, and that are perpendicular to where the big storm winds are likely to come from when I'm away from home and hangar.

One last thing. Before I'd do a single mod other than the BAS harnesses, I would spend money on paint, windows and interior if it's going to need any of those in the less than 10 years. Those are maintenance items, and expensive. Once it's in A-1 shape in its current configuration, any money that's left, and that's still burning a hole in your pocket can go to mods.

CAVU

Ryan - congrats on the plane! She’s a beaut! About 16 months ago I bought a 182C to learn and progress through my training in as a mid 30’s aviation enthusiast. I went down the mod rabbit hole and quickly realized it eats up flying time and gas money. Like others have said, I learned to prioritize what I wanted/needed out of the airplane and planned accordingly. Sucks in the moment as I too have a bunch of uninstalled parts, but I have more fun flying with my legacy 6-pack, stock wing, etc than I do waiting on mods to be installed.

I also feel your pain about the door. Same thing happened to me earlier this year. I had a door steward and the wind ripped it right off the ball and bent the bottom mounting plate pretty good. Total nightmare much like Cavu described. I learned a lot from that experience though. MTVs comments strike a cord, rightfully so. I have since started locking my doors from the inside.

Through the door episode, some other deferred maintenance throughout the year and then my first annual, I also learned the value of having a good shop you like and can trust, and also that “gets you” and what you want out of the airplane. Sounds like you probably realize that with the 185. To me, having a good A&P on your team can make or break the experience of it all.

At any rate, don’t let any of this stuff discourage you. It’s small stuff that we all deal with at one point or another which we hopefully learn from in the end. Aviation is a long game, at least for me, and all these experiences add to one’s personal knowledge base, and to the story of it all. Just enjoy the ride and remember to do what you came for.....fly!

I've just had the best time with this thing so far! I think I've put 15 hours on the airplane in the last week.



Sadly we are expected to return to typical November weather tomorrow and that weather will be lingering for a few days, which means that I get to dive head first into my seatbelt installation. Luckily it looks like a really straight forward installation.



Speaking about our typical November weather, my air vents are really leaky. I have precise flow vents sitting in a box ready to go. However, I need to figure out what I'm going to do with my OAT gauge. I'm not too keen on drilling my window and installing the OAT gauge in the corner like the STC recommends since I'll be in the avionics shop soon enough for my full suite (which will include an OAT gauge). Until then, I'm considering getting an Electronics International CA-1 OAT/Carb Temp gauge and replacing my original carb temp gauge. Any thoughts on that?

Ryan,
Glad to see you finally got the plane.
I would find a GOOD Cessna mech ans have him rig the wings and aileron rigging. It could make a big difference.
Always latch the doors unless your in a hanger. I latch the pilots door from the outside with the window open then take a short piece if baffeling silicon and wedge it at the bottom of the window and close it. Never has it open even in some very gusty conditions.

pilotryan wrote:..... I'll be in the avionics shop soon enough for my full suite (which will include an OAT gauge). ....

Be careful that this is not the first step down that slippery slope (again).

I am shaking my head as much as the others. I have never in my life left a plane over night without locking the doors from inside. Crawl through the baggage door, get a "plane lock" to lock the window - Leave the damn window open even. I am glued to the forecast not flying also. You don't need an outside air temp gauge. Put the precise flow vents in since you own them, Bas harness's in and fly the damn thing. Its great having pretty much unlimited money we can see, but geez just the tossing of it at this rate is making me wince. Do you really need to hangar queen this one too for a "full avionics suite"? And you know it will go that way, once in the shop you will want more and more, auto pilot, new panel, more of this. more of that. Year later still in the shop, problems when it leaves again. Now the engine is making metal from cam corrosion due to sitting. Sorry for being harsh - but I already see strong signs of going off the rails again....If you want a hardcore IFR machine - fix the door and strut, sell it and buy a turn key.

Mess with the 185 if you need to tear something apart. I assumed the 182 was just a fill in flyer until you fix the 185?? Funds for a full avionics suite in the 182 should easily fix the 185....

Mark, please remember that my Garmin stuff has been sitting in my closet waiting for an airplane for a little over four years now. I wouldn't say that I'm tossing unlimited money at this new airplane either, I'm really only moving stuff around from the 185. The only thing I've done so far is get the shoulder harness STC transferred and even then I don't think that required more than a Benjamin or two.

I'd prefer not to get into how much it's going to cost me to get the 185 fixed correctly. Depending on how deep the rabbit hole goes, the worst estimate I've gotten for a repair is a little more double what my avionics and installation would cost. What a mess. Thankfully I own my Garmin stuff outright and will only end up paying for installation. I've been told that I should expect about a month and a half or possibly less for my install. I figure about three month which really isn't a huge deal.

My Skylane is my fill in flyer, yet I love the airplane and I want to improve what I can. My Garmin stack seems like the perfect upgrade for an airplane that I plan on keeping alongside the Skywagon.