So I bought a C182 - what now?

Nikhiln25

Nikhiln25

Pre-takeoff checklist
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nikhiln25
A few weeks ago I posted asking for advice on which plane to buy - 30s, family, hobby. Cessna 182 was the most common answer. Now I am in contract for an R model, which I have test flown and like. Pre buy is this weekend. Provided all goes well it will close next week or early week after.

So since this forum is such a wealth of knowledge.. what have I gotten my self into? What advice do you have for a day 1 plane owner? How do I keep my head above water?

Plane has half glass display, very old autopilot and needs a paint job. Engine is fairly new. In terms of upgrades getting cosmetic work is definitely going to be high on the list
 
ytodd said:
Fly it every chance you get!!
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What he said. Go fly. One thing I found different with ownership than renting is the weather. When I rented I would only go on nice days. Now I will fly in less than stellar weather. It has made me understand weather better as well as go-no-go decisions. And since I 'travel' in it. I have been more diligent about getting very tuned up on my gusty and crosswind technique. Now I'm working on the IFR rating. Practicing in crappy wind has also made that process better. So, learn to fly it less than calm sunshine. You will need that skill.
 
As others have said, fly it often. Do NOT let it sit, as it can deteriorate and become a mechanical nightmare. Many aircraft are literally totaled simply from sitting and rotting, finally becoming too expensive to fix.
 
Great, hope it's a good one and works out for you they are great planes and people love them and keep them for a long time.
 
Congratulations!

I would join the Cessna pilots association as a next step. They have a very active network of folks to help answer questions
 
I’d fly it a 100hrs and work thru the inevitable airworthiness issues before I dropped a dime on paint.

Then I’d get the panel up to shape before paint.
 
When I was renting I spent little time on skills practice and emergency procedures.

Once I had my own plane it really sunk in that I had no excuse for not learning everything about my plane.

Practice everything, especially slow flight. Spend an entire flight touring around with full flaps and 1.3 vso.

Get power off 180s down cold.

Really look at every instrument on your panel and analyze failure modes. In particular, partial failures - and what are the appropriate responses to each.

Research and understand your electrical system.

Pull off all your inspection panels and get to know the details of your plane.

Pull the cowl and inspect everything. Research any aspects of the engine, controls, fuel system, etc.

Buy engine and airframe manuals.

Fly it at max gross before you have to for the first time.
 
Find a few mechanics and CFIs. Fly with the CFIs, work with the mechanics and learn your way around the plane.

As you fly more and more, don’t question “did I hear that” or “did that change”? Yes you did and yes it did. No one will know her better than you.

Figure out your “kit”. All the crap you’ll need or want inside the plane based on how you’ll use the plane. Tie downs, step ladder to check fuel, sun shades, winter emergency clothes, etc.

First aid kit.

Congrats! And you need to post some pics, c’mon dude…
 
Lndwarrior said:
When I was renting I spent little time on skills practice and emergency procedures.

Once I had my own plane it really sunk in that I had no excuse for not learning everything about my plane.

Practice everything, especially slow flight. Spend an entire flight touring around with full flaps and 1.3 vso.

Get power off 180s down cold.

Really look at every instrument on your panel and analyze failure modes. In particular, partial failures - and what are the appropriate responses to each.

Research and understand your electrical system.

Pull off all your inspection panels and get to know the details of your plane.

Pull the cowl and inspect everything. Research any aspects of the engine, controls, fuel system, etc.

Buy engine and airframe manuals.

Fly it at max gross before you have to for the first time.
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Great advice here thank you
 
Fly often. Don’t start the engine if you’re not going to fly. Log every squawk and prioritize fixing them. Study all the systems. Use the performance charts for every flight and see how your reality compares. Schedule your annual inspection 3+ months before it’s due. Be present for the annual without getting in the way. Practice flying at 90 knots with various flap settings so you can safely fly the Fisk arrival to Oshkosh, where you are required to buy us all a round since you bought a plane without posting pictures.
 
iamtheari said:
Fly often. Don’t start the engine if you’re not going to fly. Log every squawk and prioritize fixing them. Study all the systems. Use the performance charts for every flight and see how your reality compares. Schedule your annual inspection 3+ months before it’s due. Be present for the annual without getting in the way. Practice flying at 90 knots with various flap settings so you can safely fly the Fisk arrival to Oshkosh, where you are required to buy us all a round since you bought a plane without posting pictures.
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I’ll take some pics during the pre buy this weekend !
 
Welcome to the club. Like others said, just fly it. See what you like, what you don't. I could easily spend $100k on upgrades to your plane before even getting to the paint.

If you have your instrument rating, get current. If you don't have it, get it. Learn how to do oil changes. Join CPA. Set aside a maintenance fund. Get the family involved. Have fun.
 
Get some decent instruction until you're comfortable with the "hard" stuff on the checkrides - soft field, short field, slow flight, stalls, steep turns, and don't be surprised when it's nose heavy.
 
Have the pre buy do a compression test as well a cylinder oil leak test with a bore scope. Ask me how I know.

What 455 Bravo said
Figure out your “kit”. All the crap you’ll need or want inside the plane based on how you’ll use the plane. Tie downs, step ladder to check fuel, sun shades, winter emergency clothes, etc.​

I’d add wheel chocks, tow bar, spare oil, small tool caddy and some basic tools, fuel cup, fuel measure stick specific to your model and tank size, and plexiglass safe window cleaner. Toss in a pito cover and control lock if it doesn’t come with those.

Oh yeah - make sure you’re up to speed on any sales tax as well as your use tax where you’ll have it based.
 
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- Take the maintenance course from CPA (2 days in person). You will learn the tiniest details about your plane.
- Get a CFI and go fly slowly in all regimes, to get a feel for the stalls.
- Consider getting a BRS
- Get an engine monitor if you dont have one
- After you get comfy, take all your friends flying
 
make friends with a pilot who has access to a different plane because you will want to ferry your plane all over (best annual is at airport x, best prop shop is a state away, avionics shop, etc)

Paint and interior would be last on my list if I were buying a new plane. Nearly everything else helps with safety (visors avionics engine monitor etc as listed in earlier posts)

Get on a list for a hangar if you are in an area with a huge backlog
 
Nikhiln25 said:
A few weeks ago I posted asking for advice on which plane to buy - 30s, family, hobby. Cessna 182 was the most common answer. Now I am in contract for an R model, which I have test flown and like. Pre buy is this weekend. Provided all goes well it will close next week or early week after.

So since this forum is such a wealth of knowledge.. what have I gotten my self into? What advice do you have for a day 1 plane owner? How do I keep my head above water?

Plane has half glass display, very old autopilot and needs a paint job. Engine is fairly new. In terms of upgrades getting cosmetic work is definitely going to be high on the list
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Get a big piggy bank and fill it up. Assume your first Annual is going to be an expensive one. If you luck out and it isn't then consider you hit the jack pot.

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Clean the bugs off after every flight. Fly it for a year before you decide on which upgrades you want to do.
 
Nikhiln25 said:
A few weeks ago I posted asking for advice on which plane to buy - 30s, family, hobby. Cessna 182 was the most common answer. Now I am in contract for an R model, which I have test flown and like. Pre buy is this weekend. Provided all goes well it will close next week or early week after.

So since this forum is such a wealth of knowledge.. what have I gotten my self into? What advice do you have for a day 1 plane owner? How do I keep my head above water?

Plane has half glass display, very old autopilot and needs a paint job. Engine is fairly new. In terms of upgrades getting cosmetic work is definitely going to be high on the list
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Congrats fellow new owner!

The club I'm exiting has a 182 and it was always a really nice airplane to fly. Good useful load, good speed, simple to manage.

The only two "tricks" I know of in the 182 is 1, don't PLOP the nose on the runway when landing, work your technique to gently settle it down as it will sometimes want to drop and it's unnecessarily hard on the firewall and other components up there. It's not hard to avoid, but you have to pay a little attention to it when landing.

2. your power settings allowed, especially allowable RPM ranges. Again, not difficult, but really important to know as you don't want to have the engine/prop at a bad RPM combo for it, as you could cause damage.

Have fun and we'll see you out there!
 
Congratulations! I fly my 182 quite a bit and absolutely love it!

One thing I would suggest. Fly it for at least 50 hours before you do anything. I got this same advice and I’m glad I took it. By the time I had around 50 hours in the plane my priorities for upgrades had changed! Take some time and get to know the plane as it is. Fly it in as many conditions as you feel safe. X wind landing, short and soft field, long X countries, IFR etc. Don’t just fly the pattern on nice days. You will probably want a CFI with you at first, but you will soon find the 182 can do everything pretty well. It’s a very forgiving airplane. Like others have said, hold off spending a bunch of money on “upgrades” until you have your first annual. Once the first annual is done you’ll have a better understanding of how the plane has been treated and you might need to spend some money to get it up to snuff.

There are almost endless modifications that can be done to a 182. You can make mods that improve slow flight, mods that improve cruse speeds, climb performance and pretty much anything (all within limits) . So, fly it as much as possible and get to know how it performs as it is now. Then you can decide what you want to improve. That was the advice I was given, and it definitely saved me some time and money.
 
AlphaMike said:
Congratulations! I fly my 182 quite a bit and absolutely love it!

One thing I would suggest. Fly it for at least 50 hours before you do anything. I got this same advice and I’m glad I took it. By the time I had around 50 hours in the plane my priorities for upgrades had changed! Take some time and get to know the plane as it is. Fly it in as many conditions as you feel safe. X wind landing, short and soft field, long X countries, IFR etc. Don’t just fly the pattern on nice days. You will probably want a CFI with you at first, but you will soon find the 182 can do everything pretty well. It’s a very forgiving airplane. Like others have said, hold off spending a bunch of money on “upgrades” until you have your first annual. Once the first annual is done you’ll have a better understanding of how the plane has been treated and you might need to spend some money to get it up to snuff.

There are almost endless modifications that can be done to a 182. You can make mods that improve slow flight, mods that improve cruse speeds, climb performance and pretty much anything (all within limits) . So, fly it as much as possible and get to know how it performs as it is now. Then you can decide what you want to improve. That was the advice I was given, and it definitely saved me some time and money.
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Thanks! Which one do you have? What did you end up changing after year 1?
 
Nikhiln25 said:
Thanks! Which one do you have? What did you end up changing after year 1?
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Mine came pretty well setup. It had the sportsman wing cuff, the PPONK O520, New panel with GTN750 , 2 G5s, JPI 900. I flew it for about 50 hours until I had a really good understanding of how it preformed. Then, spread out over the last 5 years I’ve replaced all the lights with LEDs. Replaces the old com2 radio (kx 170) with a GNC 355. Replaced the old clock with a AV20s. Added micro VGs and a few small things that were just nice to haves. Just make sure to address all the important maintenance stuff before spending money on the “cool” stuff.

Now, post some pic!
 
From the new Bo thread, reminded me: the first upgrade I did was BAS retractable 4 point belts right after the prebuy and before I flew it home.
 
WDD said:
I’d add wheel chocks, tow bar, spare oil, small tool caddy and some basic tools, fuel cup, fuel measure stick specific to your model and tank size, and plexiglass safe window cleaner. Toss in a pito cover and control lock if it doesn’t come with those.
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And once you start traveling with it...ie 250+ nm trips bring an oil filter, couple spark plugs, wires, points file, hose clamps, 100mph tape, good inner tube, maybe starter relay, fuses, etc...its bad enough to have the plane pull a mechanical on you at home/near home...its even worse when your 500nm from home, on a long weekend and all you need is a plug or 2 or wire to clean up the mag drop and no one is around. And it really sucks when there is a mechanic around but no parts...
 
As said many times already... "fly often". This makes sense from a pilot enjoyment standpoint, but is even MORE IMPORTANT for the health of the aircraft. Someone (might have been Mike Busch) once said:

"If the Hobbs meter is to reflect the aging of the engine, rather than registering the hours you fly the aircraft, the Hobbs should be registering the hours you DON'T fly the aircraft". Flying often is the very best thing you can do for that engine.
 
How could I forget the key to life basics.

1) Duct Tape
2) WD 40
3) Zip Ties
 
Nikhiln25 said:
A few weeks ago I posted asking for advice on which plane to buy - 30s, family, hobby. Cessna 182 was the most common answer. Now I am in contract for an R model, which I have test flown and like. Pre buy is this weekend. Provided all goes well it will close next week or early week after.
Click to expand...
Congratulations! Kinda. I mean, I know you're excited about this as you should be, but don't let that keep you from walking away if the prebuy finds anything that should be a deal killer.
Nikhiln25 said:
So since this forum is such a wealth of knowledge.. what have I gotten my self into? What advice do you have for a day 1 plane owner? How do I keep my head above water?

Plane has half glass display, very old autopilot and needs a paint job. Engine is fairly new. In terms of upgrades getting cosmetic work is definitely going to be high on the list
Click to expand...
Fly the wheel pants off of it! Aim for once a week minimum. You may save enough money in maintenance to pay for your avgas. Airplanes HATE to sit, and they get expensive when they do.

I see from the other thread you have a lot of 172 time, and a bit of 182 time. I'm not sure how that's gone for you so far, but landings are more difficult in the 182, and you need to be deliberate about holding the nosewheel off and letting it come down gently. A lot of CFIs will teach you to land with only 20 degrees of flaps, and it's easier to land that way, but learn to land with 40 and make that your standard practice.

IIRC, you're partway through instrument training. Use your plane for the rest. It'll slow you down just a hair, but it'll be worthwhile to get more dual in the plane as well as get used to slowing down, planning descents a little better, and working the extra knob.

What is the "half glass" and what autopilot do you have? Does it work?

Learn the plane inside and out. Read the maintenance logbooks and see what's been done to it before. Is the fuel flow accurate? What is its real world cruise speed? What are all the various modifications? Make checklists with all of the various AFMS items included (and make sure your POH is up to date while you're at it).

Once you're comfortable with the plane, do new things. Go on longer trips, land it on grass or other "unimproved" surfaces (do gravel BEFORE you paint it :rofl:), get used to how it performs with just you and how it performs fully loaded to max gross, and do what the 182 does best: A little bit of EVERYTHING.

Don't do anything in the first 50-100 hours/first year except mechanical stuff. After that, think about avionics next. If that autopilot doesn't work well and/or doesn't at least have altitude and heading hold, I'd be looking to do that next. You won't see most of the paint while you're sitting in it! A paint job on a 182 is likely minimum $20K these days, and it won't make the plane any faster/safer/better except for showing it off to others.

Most of all... Have fun and fly safe!
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Congratulations! Kinda. I mean, I know you're excited about this as you should be, but don't let that keep you from walking away if the prebuy finds anything that should be a deal killer.

Fly the wheel pants off of it! Aim for once a week minimum. You may save enough money in maintenance to pay for your avgas. Airplanes HATE to sit, and they get expensive when they do.

I see from the other thread you have a lot of 172 time, and a bit of 182 time. I'm not sure how that's gone for you so far, but landings are more difficult in the 182, and you need to be deliberate about holding the nosewheel off and letting it come down gently. A lot of CFIs will teach you to land with only 20 degrees of flaps, and it's easier to land that way, but learn to land with 40 and make that your standard practice.

IIRC, you're partway through instrument training. Use your plane for the rest. It'll slow you down just a hair, but it'll be worthwhile to get more dual in the plane as well as get used to slowing down, planning descents a little better, and working the extra knob.

What is the "half glass" and what autopilot do you have? Does it work?

Learn the plane inside and out. Read the maintenance logbooks and see what's been done to it before. Is the fuel flow accurate? What is its real world cruise speed? What are all the various modifications? Make checklists with all of the various AFMS items included (and make sure your POH is up to date while you're at it).

Once you're comfortable with the plane, do new things. Go on longer trips, land it on grass or other "unimproved" surfaces (do gravel BEFORE you paint it :rofl:), get used to how it performs with just you and how it performs fully loaded to max gross, and do what the 182 does best: A little bit of EVERYTHING.

Don't do anything in the first 50-100 hours/first year except mechanical stuff. After that, think about avionics next. If that autopilot doesn't work well and/or doesn't at least have altitude and heading hold, I'd be looking to do that next. You won't see most of the paint while you're sitting in it! A paint job on a 182 is likely minimum $20K these days, and it won't make the plane any faster/safer/better except for showing it off to others.

Most of all... Have fun and fly safe!
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Thanks for all this!

I’m up to about 30 hours in the 182 and feel fine landing it. This plane did indeed teach me about proper trim usage. But the one I have flown is a G1000. I use full 30 flaps. Occasionally I had trouble with too high of a speed on final but better trim usage has removed that.

The panel for this is Aspen pro max/GNS430w with a Cessna autopilot that does work still (tested it). It has a simple engine monitor that just gives you egt and cht digitally

I think the plane is good enough to do my instrument in so yes I will pause my IR training for a few weeks to transition doing it in this

The only reason for wanting to paint is not that it’s ugly.. it’s actually decently chipping away in the front even though the plane has been hangared for a long time. Outside of that there are some cracks on the interior plastic. Bothers me less more of a taking friends who are new to GA being like “you trust that thing” with a few plastic cracks on the inside and paint literally peeling away on the cowling
 
Nikhiln25 said:
I’m up to about 30 hours in the 182 and feel fine landing it. This plane did indeed teach me about proper trim usage. But the one I have flown is a G1000. I use full 30 flaps. Occasionally I had trouble with too high of a speed on final but better trim usage has removed that.
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OK. Be aware that I think the R model still had 40 degrees of flaps, and so it will be somewhat different.

One thing I would recommend you do right away is to find the power setting that gets you a stable approach at the correct speed on a 3-degree glidepath. Then, set it and forget it... At least until you need to adjust, and then make small adjustments. The 182 is enough heavier than the trainers that it'll respond slower, and if you don't start off with a good power setting or you're jockeying it around the whole time, you'll be forever chasing it.

While you're at it, come up with power settings and attitudes for all the various configurations you'll need to fly for your instrument as well:

Nikhiln25 said:
The panel for this is Aspen pro max/GNS430w with a Cessna autopilot that does work still (tested it). It has a simple engine monitor that just gives you egt and cht digitally
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OK, nice. I'm not very familiar with the Cessna autopilots, does that one have altitude hold? Does the Aspen give you GPSS with it?

Plan to get an engine monitor that shows you all six cylinders *and* logs data. Depending on what's already in your panel, I like the Insight G3 or the Electronics International CGR-30P. Being able to see all the cylinders and the data log, eventually that engine monitor will pay for itself. It costs a lot more to call the shop and say "My engine is running rough on the left mag" than it is to call them and say "I need a new bottom spark plug on my #5 cylinder."
Nikhiln25 said:
The only reason for wanting to paint is not that it’s ugly.. it’s actually decently chipping away in the front even though the plane has been hangared for a long time. Outside of that there are some cracks on the interior plastic. Bothers me less more of a taking friends who are new to GA being like “you trust that thing” with a few plastic cracks on the inside and paint literally peeling away on the cowling
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I understand... Just be aware of the $$$ involved, and make sure you don't blow all of your upgrade money on paint and interior. You can easily put $40K into paint and interior, and that money might be much better spent on avionics or mechanical things, and it's hard to know right away what you'll really need to do. If you live in one of the colder climate areas, maybe plan for your P&I to happen in Jan/Feb of 2026 so you've got some time behind it and it doesn't disrupt your ability to use the plane for holiday travel.
 
AlphaMike said:
Mine came pretty well setup. It had the sportsman wing cuff, the PPONK O520, New panel with GTN750 , 2 G5s, JPI 900. I flew it for about 50 hours until I had a really good understanding of how it preformed. Then, spread out over the last 5 years I’ve replaced all the lights with LEDs. Replaces the old com2 radio (kx 170) with a GNC 355. Replaced the old clock with a AV20s. Added micro VGs and a few small things that were just nice to haves. Just make sure to address all the important maintenance stuff before spending money on the “cool” stuff.

Now, post some pic!
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Nice. PPonking (well XP-470ing) my 182 as we speak. I did the sportsman STOL cuff (mostly because I was buying new wingtip lights and didn't want to buy them twice). Do the micro VGs really do much beyond the cuff? Debating whether I want to bother with them down the road.
 
Get out and fly it,get comfortable with its particular handling characteristics. Then decide what you need to update.consider joining the Cessna pilots assn. they have plenty of material on the 182.
 
ytodd said:
Fly it every chance you get!!
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Until you have owned it a while and can figure out what if any improvements you want to make in it, and to see how you are ACTUALLY making use of it. Does the family like flying. To many folks get upside down almost immediately in the plane to find out in a year it is not the right hobby/thing for their family/spouse, and then have a hard time selling because they think they should get back every penny they put into the plane. Doesn’t work like that.
 
Brad Z said:
Nice. PPonking (well XP-470ing) my 182 as we speak. I did the sportsman STOL cuff (mostly because I was buying new wingtip lights and didn't want to buy them twice). Do the micro VGs really do much beyond the cuff? Debating whether I want to bother with them down the road.
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Brad. If you have the sportsman cuff already, you really won’t see much if any difference in stall speeds. But, and it’s a big BUT! You will find an amazing difference in slow speed control authority. The VGs make a huge difference when it comes to slow speed authority in the effectiveness of the controls. Even with the heavier engine and possible heavier prop you won’t need as much trim. The nose won’t drop nearly as easily and you will quickly notice that you have more cross wind control, at much slower speeds. Micro VGs make a huge difference in the effectiveness of the controls. It’s night and day honestly. I almost wish I had done them before I had the sportsman cuff. I wonder how much of a stall speed difference it would be with just the VGs. But my plane came with the cuff so I can’t say for sure. I can hold a 200 fpm climb at just 43 knots indicated. I don’t ever really break in a stall if I stay coordinated. Just a slow decent as the nose drops and recovers.
 
AlphaMike said:
Brad. If you have the sportsman cuff already, you really won’t see much if any difference in stall speeds. But, and it’s a big BUT! You will find an amazing difference in slow speed control authority. The VGs make a huge difference when it comes to slow speed authority in the effectiveness of the controls. Even with the heavier engine and possible heavier prop you won’t need as much trim. The nose won’t drop nearly as easily and you will quickly notice that you have more cross wind control, at much slower speeds. Micro VGs make a huge difference in the effectiveness of the controls. It’s night and day honestly. I almost wish I had done them before I had the sportsman cuff. I wonder how much of a stall speed difference it would be with just the VGs. But my plane came with the cuff so I can’t say for sure. I can hold a 200 fpm climb at just 43 knots indicated. I don’t ever really break in a stall if I stay coordinated. Just a slow decent as the nose drops and recovers.
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Interesting! I replaced my 2 blade metal prop with a 2 blade MT composite so I'm actually looking weight on the nose with this upgrade. Looks like the Micro VGs are pretty straightforward to install.
 
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