New Aircraft Owner of a Cherokee 180D

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callegro

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Callegro
I just accomplished what the majority of people will never get the chance to do. Purchase an airplane and fly it 1000 miles halfway across the country in one day. I will never forget this trip. Dodging thunderstorms and sitting in a confined space for over 9hrs total. Now this baby is all mine and it's getting me further and further to pursuing my dream.
 

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Congratulations! Looks like a nice bird. Here's to many safe and fun travels in your magic carpet!
 
Congratulations, on your new purchase. A friend of mine had a Cherokee 180, I always liked flying that plane.
 
Congrats from a fellow Cherokee owner! Where did you fly from and to? I was fortunate enough to find mine 60 miles from home.
 
Congrats!

We purchased in McKinney Texas and brought our sundowner home to Wilmington DE. Great memories and fun flight.
 
Welcome and Congrats!!!
 
My early logbook time has Cherokee 180 hours there. Fun!
 
Congrats! Look forward to reading about your trip. I just bought a 68 cherokee 180D late last year. Fun plane, enjoy!
 
Congrats,waiting for more details of the trip.
 
Congrats! And you still have me beat on trip distance!!!
 
Congrats, thats awesome!!
 
Hey guys, thank you for all the positive comments. We took off out of GLD, headed south to LVS for our first fuel stop. We hit some pretty moderate chop and some precip along the way. Arrival was uneventful. Departing and enroute to FLG, we got bumped around pretty good all the way until we passed the CO river basically. Landing and departing out of FLG was absolutely beautiful at sunset. We were the only ones around and it was a nice clear and calm night. It did use about 4k feet of runway with the field elevation of about 7200. Nice night flight coming home into VNY. Absolutely clear and it was a really good feeling landing a plane that I own, into an airport that I have been around since I was a kid.

As for the aircraft, I had no complaints at all. Engine ran great. It flew great. Just some minor squawks that I'll have to take care of. Add some new panel lighting. I don't really like the exterior lighting configuration, especially flying in busy LA airspace at night. It only has a steady red beacon on the tail, no strobes. I am definitely gonna invest in a better beacon and some strobes. Radios worked great, even though they were a little outdated. I noticed the older cherokees only have lap belts, I have been hearing a lot of people tell me to invest in a shoulder harness belt.

Do you guys recommend any other upgrades? Hope you enjoy the story, somewhat uneventful...
 
Are you keeping it at kvny? I just got a Cherokee 180 (1973) and am hangaring at Whiteman.
 
Congrats... Sounds like my trip from last month when I picked up my new to me plane. 1000+ mile flight from Tx to Va with storms popping up all over the place. Loved every second of the trip:goofy::goofy::goofy:

Enjoy your new plane... Can't wait to hear the details of your trip.:yes::yes::yes:
 
I'll be hangaring it at VNY, but very possible at BUR. I'll get an interior shot in a few hours. I'm gonna head down there in a bit.
 
My first plane was a 180D. Awesome ride......
 
Nice! A Cherokee 180 is on my list of potential first planes. I'm still piling up money so I can write a check for it in a year or so.

What's it like flying a new-to-you airplane on a long trip like that? I've only flown the plane I trained in, an Archer, and would feel pretty intimidated jumping into a different plane and taking it on a 1,000-mile cross country flight. How much transition training did you have? Or did you train in one just like it? Or is flying a different plane really not that big a deal?
 
There are 500,000 licensed pilots in the USA who could do what you did (private or higher rating)
Of that number I suspect half are actually flying, have a valid medical, etc. i.e 250,000 (round numbers)
250,000 divided by 320,000,000 people (round numbers) = 0.00078 .. .. .. etc.

So 0.08% of the population could have done what you just did - buy a personal plane and fly it across a large chunk of the continent.
Less than one tenth of one percent. of the people.

Let the 1% have their inflated opinion of themselves.
We are the one tenth of one percent.
 
callegro said:
I'll be hangaring it at VNY, but very possible at BUR. I'll get an interior shot in a few hours. I'm gonna head down there in a bit.
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I had found a same priced hangar at Van Nuys but decided against it because the fuel is so outrageously expensive- over $7/gallon compared to $4.99 at Whiteman. That was a deal breaker.
 
callegro said:
I just accomplished what the majority of people will never get the chance to do. Purchase an airplane and fly it 1000 miles halfway across the country in one day. I will never forget this trip. Dodging thunderstorms and sitting in a confined space for over 9hrs total. Now this baby is all mine and it's getting me further and further to pursuing my dream.
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Glad to hear it. The 180 is a great airplane. Many happy hours flying her....or him...whichever you prefer ;)

Kevin
 
Hey guys. Here is a not so good pic of my panel. Let me know what you think.
 

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TexasAviation said:
Nice! A Cherokee 180 is on my list of potential first planes. I'm still piling up money so I can write a check for it in a year or so.

What's it like flying a new-to-you airplane on a long trip like that? I've only flown the plane I trained in, an Archer, and would feel pretty intimidated jumping into a different plane and taking it on a 1,000-mile cross country flight. How much transition training did you have? Or did you train in one just like it? Or is flying a different plane really not that big a deal?
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Archer and cherokee are the same...only difference is a slight change in the wing and a slightly longer cabin (4 inches?) in the cabin. I noticed you've got the traditional Archer paint job...almost no one will be able to tell the difference between the archer & cherokee.
 
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callegro said:
Hey guys. Here is a not so good pic of my panel. Let me know what you think.
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aHA! You've got the TKM slide-in replacement for the Narco 12...along with the TKM CDI that's an LED. No little needles to break! Great setup - I have it as my 2nd nav/com.
 
evapilotaz said:
You suck! I'm stuck renting. Someday aircraft ownership is in my future. Congratulations
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Next post... First annual woes... Shouldn't be too bad with a Cherokee (at least from (what I've heard), but listen to the gray beards here- aircraft annuals can really take your breath away...
 
Love the Cherokee line! Great plane. Fly the snot out of it and have fun!
 
Very pretty airplane! I thought the registration number sounded familiar so I checked my logbook. The Piper Flite Center I worked for in California operated Cherokee 180D N5189L for a while in 1972.

murphey said:
Archer and cherokee are the same...only difference is a slight change in the wing and a slightly longer cabin (4 inches?) in the cabin.
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In fact they were called Cherokee Archer (1974-75, lengthened Hershey-bar wings) and Cherokee Archer II (1976-77, tapered wing). The "Cherokee" name was dropped after the 1977 model year on most models, but continued through 1978 on the fixed-gear PA-32.
 
Congrats, from one Cherokee owner to another.
I have a 1972 PA28-180 G, learned to fly in it, still have it, love it,simple and flys easy.(love the johnson bar flaps)
Not fast but reliable, great for pavement or grass runways.

You mentioned wanting to change the outside lighting.
I can recommend the whelen led tail beacon-like a red flashing laser,
it had when I bought it a white belly strobe,
I put in a Whelen led landing light, blueish color ,much brighter than the old GE 4509
bought led replacement bulbs for the position lights, I just put the red under the red lens and green under the green did not buy the clear lens as some recommended, works and looks great
no burn outs, very,very low draw on the led's.
Have fun with it.
 
Congratulation from one new plane owner to another! We just brought our lady home, but we did the flight home on three days...

Your Cherokee really looks great. :yesnod: VNY is a nice but expensive airport.:(

All the best for your next adventures with the new plane!
Martina
 
Nice bird. I am looking at hopefully having my own Cherokee 180 very soon. The thing that threw me was the lack of shoulder harnesses. After reading on here a bit, I have decided that one of the first things I do when I get it will probably be to get some harnesses installed.
 
I'm amazed at the number of planes out there without shoulder harnesses. I remember a WWII cartoon that said seatbelts will save your life, shoulder harnesses will save your face, with a picture of a dude slamming his face in the panel.

If the plane I get doesn't have them, they're going in before I even fly it home.
 
PilotRPI said:
I'm amazed at the number of planes out there without shoulder harnesses. I remember a WWII cartoon that said seatbelts will save your life, shoulder harnesses will save your face, with a picture of a dude slamming his face in the panel.

If the plane I get doesn't have them, they're going in before I even fly it home.
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I have a Cherokee D as well with no shoulder harnesses. Now yes I do plan to put some in but..the plane has made it 50 years without it.
 
Pilawt said:
'72 was the first year that the factory put them in, at least in the front seats. And those early ones were pretty cheesy.
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Yes even the aftermarket BAS and wag aero seem cheesy. I mean they attach to a doubler that you install with rivets. I mean how much can they actually hold anyway?
 
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