Cessna Pilots Association

They sent an e-mail to the membership on March 12 explaining what is going on, but no date certain for the site to be back up. Excerpts from the e-mail:

" ... [W]hen John passed last year, we began an effort to modernize the company, and deal with all of the growing problems. Unfortunately, the timing of this coincided with particularly vicious attacks on our webserver, and our job turned from one of planning a rebuilding effort to one of putting out fires. We have hired a team of developers that have secured the server, and are continuing to work on the remaining technical fires. We are putting as many resources as we can right now into security and data retention, and while these improvements don’t come with anything visible, they are crucial steps before we can move forward. [...] This is a big project, and big projects bring unknown delays and problems. Rather than provide a constantly moving target date of completion, we will be committed to being responsive and informative as we get closer to the goal."​
 
Yes, got that also. Just wish they would let the members know that they are still there.
 
Now that is weird. I use your link and it logs me in. I go to their link and it is just blank.
 
Its because they embedded the forums into another webpage back when the redid the main website. And now an issue with that main webpage has made it appear like the forums are not there anymore. They are you just have to use that direct link to the forums.
 
Thanks
I was really missing it

Nope, it will only work if I use your link. Tried to save your link as a bookmark and it won't work.
 
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UPDATE
baboss
I use your link and it allows me to read the forums but sometimes I can replay sometimes not. I have book marked you link and it does as it always does and shows a blank screen. I have to come to POA to get to CPA. They are seriously screwed up and losing me fast.

When I use your link and try to reply to a quote or just about anything this is what I get.

Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /addpost.php on this server.

I am logged in and I have written and called with zero response.
 
Welcome to the club. The ability to post, if you can get to the forums, is very limited. Single spaced with minimal punctuation seems to be the only way. Replies with quotes probably wont work and result in the error you're seeing.
Some folks have moved to Cessna-pilots.net, the Cessna Pilot's Society
http://www.cessna-pilots.net
 
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Have been waiting as well for the forums. Some good information on that forum. Which is the best of all the Cessna group pages? Don't think I will renew if the forums don't come back up.
 
I just joined a month before this big outage. I found the folks there friendly, and the information worth the antique value of the forum software. If they can migrate over to new software I'll stick around, otherwise, unless I need some specialized info, I may just let my membership lapse. By the sounds of the email they sounded sincere, and that they were trying to resolve the issues.
 
TommyG said:
Have been waiting as well for the forums. Some good information on that forum. Which is the best of all the Cessna group pages? Don't think I will renew if the forums don't come back up.
Click to expand...
The forums are still up technically. They're just harder to get to because the way of getting to them is screwed up at the moment.
Go to Cessna.org and login. then click this link to get to the CPA forums
http://forums.cessna.org/myhome.php?Cat=

Since most people don't know how to get past the technical difficulties and reach the forums right now there isn't much activity. The technical difficulties also limit you to simple posts that are single spaced and don't contain punctuation other than periods. No quoting others posts in your replies.
The best news is all the old posts are still there and are searchable, if you know how to navigate the quirky forum search.
 
It's sad that they don't put up a notification on their main web page about this. They're really shooting themselves in the foot here. The forums are about the only thing worth the membership anymore.
 
I haven't been to their forum in a long time and didn't know this was going on, but it kinda doesn't surprise me.

That phrase where they say they have a "team of developers" fixing it? Not a good sign at all. A forum dump and import into something sane is a one or two person contract job. The "attack" is likely just forum spamming scripts. Prevalent everywhere for at least a decade.
 
Its back and running again.
 
baboss said:
Welcome to the club. The ability to post, if you can get to the forums, is very limited. Single spaced with minimal punctuation seems to be the only way. Replies with quotes probably wont work and result in the error you're seeing.
Some folks have moved to Cessna-pilots.net, the Cessna Pilot's Society
http://www.cessna-pilots.net
Click to expand...

Lots of good people at the CPS. Met a few who helped me get the 210. Very good people
 
I'm looking into buying a 182. Where would people recommend I look; I was going to join CPA but that's not sounding so great now? I'm reviewing the usual for sale sites of course, but most of the ones on there seem to be people asking crazy money for nothing special...
 
Katamarino said:
I'm looking into buying a 182. Where would people recommend I look; I was going to join CPA but that's not sounding so great now? I'm reviewing the usual for sale sites of course, but most of the ones on there seem to be people asking crazy money for nothing special...
Click to expand...

Define “crazy money”... and year and model letter of 182 you’re looking for. That makes a big difference. And TTAF, TSMOH, panel options, paint, interior, hours on accessories under the cowl, etc.

More than half of the value of most 182s is tied up in the engine. That’s the one constant in valuations... and time off of it is calculated at current major overhaul prices. Better throw in a prop for most of them too, at their age, or at least a solid IRAN teardown. If any panel work has been done, even if the owner only expects to get about 50% of that back, it’s still another chunk of change. VFR or IFR? Modern IFR GPS? Steam or glass?

All sorts of variables.

Another significant factor in 182 values is the price tag on a brand new one. It kinda helps “float all boats” a bit, since a lot of types don’t have a manufacturer behind them anymore, or a weak one. A new one will run ya half a million bucks. A “restart” S model might run half of that in good condition.

But an old VFR only straight tail from early days, won’t be a budget breaker unless it was poorly maintained. Even then, doing a bunch of work to one up front and then keeping up with it, might save a lot of money over brand new.

CPA’s buyer’s guide for 182s should still be very relevant. Worth a few bucks to save thousands or tens of thousands.

What’cha lookin’ for?

Most folks here, rightly or wrongly, will tell you that the comparable Piper product (Dakota) will run you a lot less money than a 182 and fly just as well, if you don’t mind that silly low wing. :) :) :)

Clark’s Frankenkota will outrun my 182 every day of the week and twice on Sundays, and has a nicer panel in it, too. I’ve seen him pass me. And outclimb me. ;)
 
Katamarino said:
I'm looking into buying a 182. Where would people recommend I look; I was going to join CPA but that's not sounding so great now? I'm reviewing the usual for sale sites of course, but most of the ones on there seem to be people asking crazy money for nothing special...
Click to expand...

In my experience any decent 182 with a reasonable price tag sells in about a day. We bough a 182L with about 2200 TTAF 800 SMOH on a factory reman engine. Prop looks like new, resealed about three years ago. Paint is rough overall, interior is decent original (and awful blood red), full tannis heater, new seat tracks, new brakes, new Concorde RG battery, new tires on the mains, new GMA 340 audio panel, Dual KX155s, GTX327 and GDL88 with GTN625 for $62k.

Previous owner spent $14.5k just on the GTN625/GI106A & GDL88.

So far we put a new nose tire & tube, new throttle & mixture cables (huge improvement over the old ones) and had the GTN625, and KX-155 (no glide slope) replaced by a GTN650, all for about $3k.

Next is replacing the GI106A, attitude indicator, direction gyro and vacuum system with dual Garmin G5s, GAD29(tbd), GMU11.
 
Some extremely helpful replies, thanks! When I said silly money, I was thinking along the lines of 150k for something with an old panel (no GPS), and nothing else special in it.

Right now, I own a 1985 C172P with the 180hp conversion. Paint is good enough to be complimented on the ramp, but not perfect, interior is good but not perfect. My avionics are dual 155s; no GPS.

Nu44NXd.jpg

WRt2viv.jpg


I love this airplane. It hauls a load, and I often keep the rear seats out, have camping gear thrown in the back, and head off on multi week trips around the country. I really love the high wing for keeping out of the sun, or out of the rain, and for the views.

I'm looking for a bit more speed, and a bit more power, but otherwise similar. The end game is to take the next airplane across the pond to Europe at least for a while, and also ultimately do the Round-the-World. I've done trips like London to Cape Town in a 182, so the international flying isn't too new to me.

Ideally I'd love a 182RG with a WAAS GPS (I kept thinking about a 430 for the 172 but it just didn't make sense), single axis autopilot at least, and a Mode-S/ADS-B transponder (Mode-S needed for Europe). I could do the transponder myself though so it's not critical. Decent paint and interior, like mine has now; but mine were much worse when I bought it and I've done it up with a great deal of buffing, polishing, some new interior trim and so on, and I'd be happy to do so again.

I'm not totally set on the RG; I do love them, but I know they come at a maintenance cost and it's very hard to find a good one, so I'd also go for a straight leg.

I'm still right at the very beginning of thinking about the switch, and would be happy to do so any time in the next couple of years. Not something to rush...
 
Katamarino said:
This would be an example of what seemed high to me, with that "great" panel...

https://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/21716973/1980-cessna-182q-skylane
Click to expand...

Yeah that’s probably on the high side for what he has there. Hard to say. The Q models go for a premium over the P models (ours) and both go for a premium over the previous models, but it seems to be more of an age thing than a capability thing. Older 182s are nearly equal in capability and fly about the same until you get way back to the Johnson Bars and straight tails. Even those fly great, just slightly different technique.

All of the restarts after the Q are HEAVY and tend to feel heavier too. Cessna porked up the airplane with all the fancy seats and leather and stuff. :)

I think the ad is fishing for someone who wants a new 182 but can’t quite swing it, and has the cash to re-do that panel. Put that Q in the avionics shop for a month after purchase and you’d have a more capable panel than the new G1000 equipped one from the factory with slightly more useful load after adding the 3100 lb MGTOW STC to match the takeoff weight of the new ones.
 
Pilawt said:
They sent an e-mail to the membership on March 12 explaining what is going on, but no date certain for the site to be back up. Excerpts from the e-mail:

" ... [W]hen John passed last year, we began an effort to modernize the company, and deal with all of the growing problems. Unfortunately, the timing of this coincided with particularly vicious attacks on our webserver, and our job turned from one of planning a rebuilding effort to one of putting out fires. We have hired a team of developers that have secured the server, and are continuing to work on the remaining technical fires. We are putting as many resources as we can right now into security and data retention, and while these improvements don’t come with anything visible, they are crucial steps before we can move forward. [...] This is a big project, and big projects bring unknown delays and problems. Rather than provide a constantly moving target date of completion, we will be committed to being responsive and informative as we get closer to the goal."​
Click to expand...

On July 17, 2017, I mailed my Cessna Pilots Association membership renewal form & check for $55 to CPA as usual. My membership was due to expire September 2017, so I had plenty of time left.

Earlier this month (October) I tried to log into CPA, but my membership number and password was rejected along with the message: "Username and password do not match or you do not have an account yet." Several weeks later I am still unable to log in to the CPA website. I immediately want to my checking account to confirm my renewal and found that my check to CPA had indeed been cashed. My bank provides me with a miniature copy of both sides of my checks with each month's statement. It appears that my CPA membership has NOT been renewed, even though they took my money.

I have made numerous phone calls to CPA only to be answered by a dumb recording. No replies have been received to my e-mails. I am afraid that John Frank's death may also mark the death of this once fine asset for owners of Cessna airplanes.

The bottom line is that SOMEONE STOLE MY MONEY and at this point I wouldn't trust whoever or whatever is left of the Cessna Pilots Association.

Jerry King
 
In reality, it was dead long before John Frank died. He lost interest about 10 or 12 years ago and that sparked the creation of the CPS. He quit having seminars, reduced his tech support staff, no longer accepted questions from "professional members", etc.

I joked at the time that it was no longer the Cessna Pilots' Association...it had become the Cessna AutoPilots' Association.

And it pretty much remained that way.
 
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timwinters said:
In reality, it was dead long before John Frank died. He lost interest about 10 or 12 years ago and that sparked the recreation of the CPS. He quit having seminars, reduced his tech support staff, no longer accepted questions from "professional members", etc.

I joked at the time that it was no longer the Cessna Pilots' Association...it had become the Cessna AutoPilots' Association.

And it pretty much remained that way.
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Tim, what you say may very well be true, but just the CPA Forum along with several very knowledgeable and dedicated professional members (especially several A&P's with I.A. certification) remained a very valuable asset which I sorely hate to lose. I would like nothing better than to be able to retract my previous statement. Thanks for your comment.
 
Save your money folks. CPA died back in 2006 when John Frank took an attitude toward some long time members and banned them. That's when things started going downhill. An offspring named Cessna Pilots Society was created and to this day continues to thrive. No fee to participate there as there was on CPA. CPS lives through donations only.

I deserted CPA in 2006 and am a charter member of CPS. It is the best and politest on line organization I have ever belonged to.

CPA is dying. May it rest in peace. It's chances of revival are nil. OTOH, it is sad to see the accumulated knowledge lost.
 
I have a .pdf copy of just about every tech note if anyone ever needs one (shhhhhhh).
 
Norman said:
Fred is still around but seldom seen.
Click to expand...

Did you miss the joke? That question is what got The Duck banned at CPA.

And it was a serious question, Todd didn’t know about CPS at the time but JF thought that he must be part of some big conspiracy and kicked his happy azz out.
 
I belong to both. I am VERY happy with CPS and won’t be renewing CPA. I thought even the magazine was worth it. But not really.
 
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