Air-to-Air Cessna Cardinal

[Lowflynjack]

This Cardinal started off life in 1968 as a 150 HP plane, but has been upgraded to 180 HP. I believe it is the second oldest Cardinal still flying. Cardinals started off with SN 17700001, and this one is 17700011.

 

[Tantalum]

This Cardinal started off life in 1968 as a 150 HP plane, but has been upgraded to 180 HP. I believe it is the second oldest Cardinal still flying. Cardinals started off with SN 17700001, and this one is 17700011.

So clean without the struts!

 

[Lowflynjack]

So clean without the struts!

I had him remove them. Too many shadows.

 

[Shepherd]

So clean without the struts!

They probably fell off. You know, the Cessna strut attach AD thingy.
But:
For $600.00 plus shipping, I can sell you a set of Cardinal decals that you can affix to your Cessna 100 series airplane and avoid all the cost and aggravation of testing and replacing your struts.

 

[Shepherd]

BTW: Nice plane.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Every time I see a 177 I think about how idiotic Cessna was for not just making this the natural progression of the 172-series. They should have stopped with the 172 and kept with this design. So clean, better doors/ergonomics, fuel efficiency/speed. They're *almost* sexy, which is saying something for most Cessnas without a round engine on the front.

 

[Lowflynjack]

Every time I see a 177 I think about how idiotic Cessna was for not just making this the natural progression of the 172-series. They should have stopped with the 172 and kept with this design. So clean, better doors/ergonomics, fuel efficiency/speed. They're *almost* sexy, which is saying something for most Cessnas without a round engine on the front.

That would have been catastrophic. The 177 floundered. It was underpowered and not as easy to fly as the 172. There were fixes and I think it’s a great plane, but I think it would have killed Cessna. Besides, how do you argue with the best selling plane ever?

 

[Challenged]

Nice shots as always. I really like the Cardinal, it was at the top of my list until the Sierra fell into my lap for purchase. I wish they would have produced the NGP.

 

[cgrab]

I sold my Cardinal last month when we moved. I miss it. Cardinal flyers has a good explanation of why the plan to replace the 172 with the 177 was abandoned. It all started when pilots thought they were smarter than the designers...you can't fly an stabilator equipped plane like an elevator equipped one. My Cardinal was a '68 with 150hp and I never had a power issue even when I had to fly over Chicago airspace to get back from Oshkosh.

 

[SoonerAviator]

That would have been catastrophic. The 177 floundered. It was underpowered and not as easy to fly as the 172. There were fixes and I think it’s a great plane, but I think it would have killed Cessna. Besides, how do you argue with the best selling plane ever?

I think there were other reasons other than the 150HP that caused the 177 to flounder. Cessna didn't exactly commit to making it a success, especially since it wasn't billed as the evolution of the 172. If they had continued to improve the Cardinal like they did the 172, the 177 could have been what the Technam P2010 is today. It would still probably be the best selling airplane in that form all else being equal.

 

[frfly172]

Nice pictures

 

[Pilawt]

I think there were other reasons other than the 150HP that caused the 177 to flounder. Cessna didn't exactly commit to making it a success, especially since it wasn't billed as the evolution of the 172. If they had continued to improve the Cardinal like they did the 172, the 177 could have been what the Technam P2010 is today. It would still probably be the best selling airplane in that form all else being equal.

I like Cardinals, a lot. I think they have the nicest roll handling of any high-wing Cessna. But a strutless high-wing design just forced too many compromises, the airframe turned out to be much heavier than Cessna engineers had hoped, and the airframe was more expensive to build than the old reliable 172. That was just too much to overcome.

Cessna also tried a Cardinal-like Model 187 as a proposed replacement for the 182. It too was more expensive, and there was insufficient improvement in performance to justify going forward. There was also an experimental 182M with a Cardinal-like cantilever wing -- again, too expensive and no performance advantage over the strutted 182. An experimental 182 with a stabilator was also unsuccessful.

 

[Racerx]

Nice shots as always. I really like the Cardinal, it was at the top of my list until the Sierra fell into my lap for purchase. I wish they would have produced the NGP.
View attachment 91085

Would have gone the same way as the plane that replaced the NGP. Horrible marketing and dead in 3 years. It's on my list of planes I'd like to see brought back to life.