Jim's bird sounds like it's pretty close to what we're looking for, and from what I can find online it sounds like the Cardinal's cabin is wider than the 182's?
The dimensions are on the Cardinal Flyer's Online and Cessna Pilot's Association web site.
What I would suggest is park a C177 next to a C182, sit in the C182. Now open the comparatively small C182 door and walk over to the C177. Open the huge door (be careful if there is a tail wind!). Sit in the C177. You'll immediately see the the C177 feels much larger due to the large door and rear mounted wing. Get your tape measure out and you'll find that while the cockpits are almost identical, the C177 is in fact slightly wider. And of course there is no ugly strut to block your downward view.
Two Texas size adults fit easily into the back seats of the Cardinal, even easier than on a C182. The C177 is a true four adult airplane. Unlike some other IO-360 powered light airplanes.
Our Mooney friends like to talk about legroom. The Mooney does in fact have leg room in the same way an old MG has legroom. You sit on the floor and stick your legs into large pipes. And one thing the Cardinal has that the Mooney doesn't have is clearance between the ground and the prop. But Mooney's are a few knots faster, no denying that.
The C177 has the sitting position of Ozzie and Harriet's kitchen table. We give up a couple of knots of cruise for this vastly more comfortable cockpit and far greater visibility.
The biggest concerns are that you can't get a bird newer than 1978
. If I could make new ones, I'd sell you #2.
If you have $25K laying around it is claimed that the
LoPresti C177RG Cowl will give you the speed of Mooney.
and the ease with which it could be loaded outside of CG (the 182 was effectively impossible to load outside the allowable CG range)
I check w&b on every flight, I've never been limited by forward CG.
Forward CG is less of an issue for me now than it was a year ago since I've lost ~60 pounds of front seat ballast.
If I want to fly with two guys in front and full fuel then I remember to put something heavy in the large cargo compartment. I don't think many Cardinal missions are aborted due to cg issues.
The Cardinal is more of a sports sedan than a truck. Remember, it has a high aspect ratio flush riveted laminar flow wing, similar to what that of a Mooney or a Cessna 210, not a more cambered wing like a C182.
Like a Mooney, the Cardinal is about efficiency in cruise flight more than raw power. This means you have to pay more attention loading than in a C182. That 2800 max gross takeoff weight. That is the N* S*** max weight at which you should take off. And don't forget the flaps if you take off from Amarillo Tradewinds airport on a spring day with 3 adults in the Cardinal. DAMHIK.
While there exist turbochargers for the C177RG, were I doing a lot of flying from high altitude airports I think a C182 or tubo-Mooney might be a better option.
It's often said that if you can fit it into a C182, you can probably get your 182 off the ground. That's not always true with a C177. You can probably get away with throwing people and baggage into a C182 without much thought and almost always get away with it.
If you and your partners are used to flying to and from unimproved strips I'd definitely stay with the C182. The C182 is a much better tool for that.
You can almost certainly carry the same people and the same stuff in a Cardinal, but you'd darn well better be SURE about that before you go fly.
