Cessna Cardinal

A 177 w/ an O-470. Now THAT would be money.
An O-470 weighs about 160 pounds more than an O-360. If there's anything a 177 doesn't need, it's more weight in the nose.

The wing was mounted as far back as possible on the C-177, so as to locate the spar carry-through behind the pilot's head and to improve visibility in turns. Result: max forward CG in a C-177 is only 5% of mean aerodynamic chord. By comparison it's 15.5% MAC on a C-172. That's why the C-177 needed the added pitch authority of a stabilator; and why the 40° of flap as originally designed had to be limited to 30°.
 
An O-470 weighs about 160 pounds more than an O-360. If there's anything a 177 doesn't need, it's more weight in the nose.

The wing was mounted as far back as possible on the C-177, so as to locate the spar carry-through behind the pilot's head and to improve visibility in turns. Result: max forward CG in a C-177 is only 5% of mean aerodynamic chord. By comparison it's 15.5% MAC on a C-172. That's why the C-177 needed the added pitch authority of a stabilator; and why the 40° of flap as originally designed had to be limited to 30°.


Want lots of power? Than a C177(x) is not the airplane...

I'm sure the turbo-normalized IO390 weighs enough to make the ship lose some of that coveted Cardinal control feel.
 
The 177RG cabin is slightly larger than that of the C182.

It seems more than slightly, though I haven't measured it (and I don't have the POH dimensions memorized). The doors are much bigger, and the aircraft sits closer to the ground.

But, the windows are dinky, unlike the 182. And, they can't be opened at high speed.
 
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