I just took and passed my limited commercial checkride. I'm 46 with 600 hrs total time. I love flying the selway back county more than anything. It took me 25 years as a private to get where I am now. I would like to fly some how for a living. (have A&P, IA also.)

For the past 8 years I have been working on a 1960 Cessna 182C project. I have come a long ways, but financially at times it seems like it may be impossible for me to complete. To work towards my ultimate goal, would I be better off sacrificing the airplane, either selling it outright and buying something currently flying, or trading it for a Cessna 140 or something that I could at least build hours and experience in? In one way, that seems like the logical thing to do, in other ways it seems crazy.

Here is the status of the aircraft. It is disassembled, including the engine. The aircraft is mostly stripped. The nose gear assembly has been totally rebuilt. It has new tires, wheels, rotors and cleveland brakes. (wheels painted) The landing gear has been powder coated. It has all new tinted glass, including 6 inch bubble windows. Left and r/h doors have been re-skinned. (The were not damaged). New firewall pad, new carbon fiber selkirk nose pieces on the cowling.

Rudder pedal assemblies totally gone through, they were all powder coated gray, along with the manual flap handle (black)
One wing I bought new leading edge skins for, due to handling damage, currently in wing jig finishing up. Wings are 95 percent stripped, as is the fuselage. Have been re cad plating parts and replacing hardware with new as I go. I have all other control surfaces, most in serviceable condition. The horizontal may need some work. Have the wing struts.

Have new sportsman Stol kit in a box.
Have been planning to P ponk it. O-470L crank sent off and overhauled by Aircraft specialties, turning it into a 0-470-50 crank.
Camshaft overhauled by same outfit.
Have 3 blade McCauley C401 (80") propeller with 0 since overhaul by Leading Edge Planes & Props.
Engine mount powder coated.

I have come a long way, but a lot yet to do, work wise and financially.

Any ideas, keep and someday have a decent back country airplane, or trade and fly now?
Any advice or ideas I haven't thought of would be appreciated.

Thanks, Richard

Well like one liberal said to another .....

Get busy livin, or get busy dyin.

Shawshank Redemption

Sounds like a case of the better being the enemy of the good. You are building a $75K+ airplane. I'd love to have and operate an airplane like that, but I mostly want something I can afford to own and fly. So I have a PA-22 and I fly 100-200 hours a year. I would love a perfect hot rod showroom machine, but at this point, unless I miraculously come upon a way to double my income, I couldn't fly it if I did get one.

So...if you are asking me...sell it and get something to fly.

If you can work on a project like that and enjoy it, and your preference is to work on the plane to make it the best machine imaginable, then by all means. But if your primary desire is to fly, and you don't have the finances or time to make it all happen with the project you have...then buy something that flies.

Forgot to say...what you are building up, a pponk 182 with sportsman cuff, is not a 'decent' backcountry airplane. With oversize tires it is an outstanding load hauler backcountry airplane. A pacer is a 'decent' backcountry airplane.

It sounds like you are putting together a really nice 182 with a bunch of nice new stuff. If I were in your shoes I'd put it together the best I could with as little money as possible and start flying now. Then I'd be able to work on it as I fly. I'm talking things like skip the Pponk for now and do a field overhaul yourself. Finish stripping the paint and fly it naked or find a friend that will help you do it yourself. Skip a glass panel and put the old instruments back it etc...

I agree with Whee. My approach is keep my plane airworthy from April until November or December, and take it down for the off season for an improvement or two. That way after ten years pass, as they will, I will have my dream plane, lots of logbook entries and excellent flying adventures. If I fly in to the back country for some fishing, hiking and hot springing, I am never thinking: this would be so much better if I had a Garmin GTN650 or a P.Ponk...

whee wrote:It sounds like you are putting together a really nice 182 with a bunch of nice new stuff. If I were in your shoes I'd put it together the best I could with as little money as possible and start flying now. Then I'd be able to work on it as I fly. I'm talking things like skip the Pponk for now and do a field overhaul yourself. Finish stripping the paint and fly it naked or find a friend that will help you do it yourself. Skip a glass panel and put the old instruments back it etc...

What he said ^^^^

With your hours, an instrument rating is what is standing between you and your "potential" flying job. Get that, head to AK and with your A&P/IA you'll get picked up pronto ...building experience, hours and unbelievable memories. Or dream of someday fininshing your supercool 182 and live vicariously though guys like Troy who post about his amazing adventures in a modest little TriPacer. I say this as a low time pilot who landed a job flying floatplanes in AK.

In its stage of completion, I think what you have is a largely unsaleable project. At best, you'd never get out of it what you have into it, or nowhere near close. So I agree--get it into flying shape as economically as possible, and work on it during the down season. Ultimately, it'll be a heckuva great airplane, far better than merely "decent".

You do need an instrument rating, if you expect to get a flying job. Although only a few SE Part 135 operations allow IFR flight (requires either a second in command or an autopilot meeting specific standards), there are exceptions in Part 135 to the requirement that all PICs must have an IR, but it's a long laundry list of which all items must be complied with. It's just a whole lot easier for any 135 operator to say that you must have an IR, than to meet all those items on the exception list--which incidentally is obviously designed for ops in backcountry Alaska. Very, very few applicants for piloting jobs would not have their IR, so they're several steps up the hiring ladder from where you'd be.

Cary

Thanks for all the responses. They are very much appreciated. This gives me a lot to think about for sure. Hope to meet some of you folks someday. I love the backcountry forum, it's first rate!

Richard

Oh keep your 182 for sure, i am on #2, and find that the 182 can pretty much do it all, at least here in Idaho anyway...once a guy learns to fly one slow enough, i find it to be a really capable load-hauler and a solid platform...

I hate to say it, but your plan sounds like you'd be way over-improving the airplane from a market value standpoint. They're great airplanes and plenty capable without the extras, but they're selling for dirt these days. The cost of a major and prop now exceeds the value of whole flying airplanes. That's the tipping point where owners start parting out airframes rather than maintaining them. Under these circumstances, I agree with "put it together and fly it now, as is." If you want to gussy it up for fun, that's one thing, but if you're in a cash crunch, cut your financial losses and start cashing in on the GREAT utility that you have at hand. Better to spend the money learning to get the most out of a bone stock 182 than making it a hot rod and then not having the time or money to fly it, IMHO.

CAVU

Eight years into the project-- how long til it's done? Unless you forsee it flying within the next year, I think I would sell it off and use the money to buy a flying airplane, or to get your instrument rating so you can get rid of the "limited" on your commercial license. Or both.
Otherwise do as others have suggested and put it together as is and get to flying. As good an airplane as the early straight-tail 182's are, I don't think you'll get your money back out of one after you spruce it up. I know a guy who bought one for about $35K. It needed an annual inspection & a cylinder or two, but it's a good looking and well equipped airplane-- foldup rear seats, extended baggage, fat tires, sportsman cuff, etc.

How time flies!

I got my instrument rating in 2016. CFI in 2018. Fifth child graduated from college in 2019. Two more in College... (online now) 4th and 5th grandchildren just born.

I listened to the input here, to some extent. I gave up on the PPonk, and went with a high time proven heart transplant from a local Backcountry Buster who upgraded his.

The project I started with came in pieces, it didn’t make sense to put it together without painting it. Speaking of pieces, I never realized just how incomplete an airplane I had!

My work day starts at 6 with Aircraft Structural Repair, so anything that happened to my 182 was between 4:00 and 6-6:30 a.m. I’ve tried to never have it interfere with family time.
To say it’s been difficult would be a huge understatement!

Here’s the progress:

I like red!

First year with the swept tail.

All steam gages.


Extended baggage

Seats from a salvage aircraft.

Used flooring.

Ready to fly!

Monday morning was a happy time!

First flight went well, it’s back in the air after a 30 plus year absence!

I’ve put several hours this week on it. Working off squawks, mostly gages that have sat for years. I’ve tried to stay active in the Backcountry in my friends Cessna 150. I’m hoping to be able to take the Cessna 182 some of the same places, so far it seems like it gets with the program! I’d like to use the aircraft to teach others Short & Sweet, Nosing around in the Backcountry.

What an awesome story about perseverance and balance. I didn't realize I was reading a 7-year-old thread until I got to the last post. Your paint scheme looks great!

This is remarkable. Nice job.

Awesome!

Very nice and good on you for sticking with your project! Nice work. Aurele

I like the paint scheme a lot. I applaud the path you took by concentrating on what was needed to become airworthy. That’s a better approach than going for the ultimate modified airplane at every opportunity when your on a time and dollar budget. I ought to try to absorb the lesson. I continuously lust over paint, upholstery, and avionics. I need to remember to be thankful that I can fly. Thanks for the story over these past years. Enjoy!

Outstanding! Lots of work no doubt. Love the paint scheme and colours!