I'm thinking about installing a Wing-X extension kit on my 182. Does anybody have any real world experience with these? I'm told they drop the stall speed 5 knots. Any info is appreciated. Thanks

Yes I do. I put them on last fall. They make a very LARGE difference in how careful I have to be when I put my 182 away in my 40' wide hangar door.

Oh, you meant flying? I had them put on at the same time as the Sportsman leading edge kit, and the combination is AMAZING. It is a whole different creature. I now land at 40 mph (older bird-doesn't fly in knots) without trying any special technique. Just flair and land. Solid in the flair. Smooth landing. Turns on a dime at slow flight speeds.

BUT. That is WITH the leading edge mod.

Others with just the Wing-x? Care to comment for us?

lc

Cost vs Benefit?? To reduce the low speed, you will also reduce your cruise speed. Which is more important? My 2 cents.

I have a 1973 182P. My understanding is that the 72 and newer cessna wings already had a leading edge cuff built in, I believe they are referred to as high camber wings or something like that. I put wing extensions on it last year. I do not have any other wing mods such as Sportsman or VG's. There is a huge difference in low speed lift. It flys off the water at around 45 mph. Low speed handling is good, I really notice no problems with aileron authority while slow in a cross wind. It also seems to fly flatter in the air, less tail low. Note that my plane is used exclusively on floats so I can't speak as to wheel performance. But with floats, it made a huge difference. Just a lot more lift. Also, there was absolutely no difference in cruise speed with the extensions on. I believe the additional lift slightly changed the angle of incidence of the wing. I can tell I'm flatter in the air because before the ropes used to bounce around hang under the floats, now they lay flat on top when in cruise. Price was $7500 painted and installed. Russ

LC, I laughed cuz that's my biggest concern about them, is getting it into my 40' hanger! They're advertised as not slowing your cruise speed. Do you guys see a difference there?

LC would you suggest then, doing the entire package (leading edge and Wing-X) at once?

Pundy,
I am pleased with how they fly (amazed, actually) together. Mine is a 1975 182P so it had the Cessna 'cuff', but HUGE difference with BOTH. (The Sportsman's website shows the profiles of various cuffs for comparison.)
I do NOT see any loss at cruise. (A test pilot might be able to find some?)
I also wanted the increase in glide ratio that is claimed. I haven't played much with that, but I have to slow down well below normal Cessna patern speed to decend-It wants to fly.

So far significant drawbacks are $$ and width. If I had known I was going to do this I would have built a 45' door. That is water under the bridge. I painted a line on the apron and take great care putting it away. And it was yesterday's $$......

lc

Here's my 2 cents on extended wings but this is on a Cub. My old Cub had extended wings n ailerons and vg's. I can land the new Cub shorter with stock wings and vg's, because it has brake boosters. They make more difference than the wing in my opinion.. And the long wings slow ya down more too. Like I said , only my 2 cents worth, and, on a Cub. However, the absolute shortest landing would probably be with both. Pundy has a good point tho, ya gotta watch out for those longer wings, and bumping them on something.