Used Cessna

The value they bring to the used market is that they bring together so many skills in so many areas that they are among the best purchases in the business due to their overall scores. This is in line with Cessna's policy of designing practically all of its pistons. Many trainers still regard the apparently timeless 150 as probably the best and most cost-effective coach, even though it has not been in operation for 30 years.

The Cessna 172 Skyhawk also makes further friendships and influences the pilot at a slower but amazing speed. Although today the Cirrus SR-22 surpasses the most beloved Cessna, the 172, the unusual blend of economics, ease and security of the four-seater Cessna entry-level has made it possible to deliver around 43,000 units, making it the world's most widely manufactured aircraft.

Skylane is the next stage in Cessna's ascent, and it divides the Skyhawk both new and used into popular and long life. To a certain extent, the Skylane of today is virtually alone in its category. Cirrus SR-20 is the only other aircraft currently in serial production that comes near the competition, but is light and 35 hp less powerful than Skylane.

And the 182 remains the company's step-up singles, a real four-seater with a power just a few paces below that of a entry-level pull-in vehicle. In addition, dependability, which has become a legendary feature, and a business management far below the budget of most familys, and the Skylane universe appeal on the second-hand markets make absolute sense. What is more, the Skylane is the ideal place to be.

Trade-A-Plane National Account Director Steve Champness, one of the industry's leading aeroplane retail publishers, says a used Skylane is the most popular keyword for potential shoppers on TAP's website. Skylane 182 of 1956 was hardly a revolution. Knowing as any pilots who have not lived on the black side of the lunar surface know, the 182 was a bow drive adjustment of the former stern pulling Cessna 180, an aeroplane that was to be worshipped for its easy adjustability to a wide range of work outside the airports and at the airports.

Rightly, Cessna argued that nose wheel steer was the shaft of the moment and would make the 182 more appealing to a larger number of drivers. Although the Cessna 1800s are no longer produced, they still use mules, stinsons and helios in the forests of Alaska and Canada. Cessna' s first 182 was not the biggest technical issue imaginable.

Because Cessna knew that the front wheels of the trike had to be powerful and long-lasting to prevent the pilot from crumpling the front wheels of the aircraft by touching down the nose gears first, the gearbox was cut and placed further back and not directly under the centre of gravity of the motor. Continental's 230 hp O-470 had been a dependable power plant on the Cessna 180, and Cessna fitted it directly to the 182.

Indeed, the Continental was kept in the same base set-up for a full 30 years until Cessna discontinued all pistons in 1986. Its first 182 left the Wichita plant at an avarage equipment cost of $17,700, and Cessna immediately began modernizing and improving the aircraft.

In the next 60 years (the Skylane was out of operation between 1986 and 1997) there were tens of upgrades, and we were able to fill the remainder of this edition with the complete listing of upgrades. In 1960 Cessna used the 182C to sweep the fin. In 1962, the real four-seater from Cessna was greatly refined.

The tail unit was redesigned by Cessna to create a hatchback shape that incorporated a sloping tailgate and gave the Skylane a more contemporary look and mail-slot look to the back of the Quadrant. Gearbox was reinforced, total weights raised to 2,800 lbs (from originally 2,550 lbs) and the Continental motor received a new version, the O-470R.

On the way, Cessna optionally provided long-range 84 -gallon petrol tank (which almost everyone had bought), optionally available in bubble tank and not in wing as in the 182. In the 1963 182F there was a one-piece windscreen and back screen, instrumentation repositioned in the T-shape of choice, and a 10-inch raise in the horizontally stabilized margin to enhance the elevator's low-speed reaction.

Cessna had worked out the most important mistakes quite well after seven years of developing, and Skylane enhancements became more difficult to achieve. By 1970, the 182N had a redesigned chassis with broader, spring-loaded steels, and the maximum weight was again raised, this year to 2,950lb. In 1972 the Skylane added a state-of-the-art sleeve to enhance low speed performance, and in 1977 the Skylane received a slightly redesigned Continental O-470, the O-470U, which gave a TBO of 2,000 hours (after the first overhaul).

Until 1978, Cessna increased again its crude aircraft mass, this year to 3,100 lbs, hoping to keep up with the steadily rising empty aircraft mass. Continuing to develop the normally primed Skylane until the complete discontinuation of Cessna pistons in 1986, Cessna added a turbo-charged optional 235 hp IO-540 Lycoming in 1981.

By the way, the Skylane stayed relatively the same. In 1997, Cessna restarted pistons manufacturing after Congress enacted the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994, which required an 18-year retirement law for actions against airframe builders. Accordingly, Cessna President Russ Meyer re-introduced the Skyhawk and Skylane in 1997. Instead of installing a Continental in the regular Skylane and a Lucoming in the severe vent, Cessna standardised the 235 hp Lycomings 235 hp car with injection.

During the early 90s, Cessna built a new manufacturing plant in Independence, Kansas, to manufacture the company's turn of the millennium reciprocating aircraft and the forthcoming Mustang aircraft. The construction qualities and material of the new Skyhawk and Skylane have been significantly enhanced, and although there has been little need for modification since Cessna developed the aircraft further in the first 30 years, the firm has made some notable enhancements.

Undoubtedly, the big novelty of the 182s after 97 was the launch of the Garmin G1000 in the 2006 182T series. So far, Cessna has manufactured around 24,000 Skylane with all types of solid gears, and in many ways they are remarkable similars. Skylane 182 was first certificated for a total of 2,550 lbs and the latest Skylane 182T has a maximum total of 3,100 lbs.

So Cessna specified an unladen mass on the 1956 scale at 1,560 lbs versus a crude mass of 2,550 lbs, and the same parameters on the newer 182T was 1,860 lbs from a crude mass of 3,100 lbs. With other words, the total payload rose by 550 lbs, but the payload rose by only 300 lbs.

However, if you do the mathematics thoroughly, you will find that Cessna was one jump ahead of the pack by boosting the petrol capacities of the newer series. Meaning that the full propellant load was almost the same - 670 lbs on the early and 712 lbs on the later versions. While the FAA is considering lifting the average load per pilot/passenger to 200 lbs, both weights correspond to about four "normal" 170 lbs. guests.

There was even a child safety chair in the luggage room if you had the CG approval. When the Skylane ripened (increased) and shoppers began ordering more choices, the unladen load began to increase more quickly than Cessna was able to recertify the higher loaders. Weighing in at 3,100 lbs overall (for the advanced and later models), the CG of the 182 can be a bit tricky, especially with its centre of gravity at the front end.

Because the Skylane has always had a severe lug that requires post-trimming with every tone shift, this is a greater issue than you can possibly imagin. A way in which Cessna tackled the issue was to restrict landing to a maximum of 2,950lb. When you leave brutto, you must either incinerate 150 lbs (25 gallons) of gas or ask one of your travelers to go outside before you return ashore.

Reducing maximum landings far below net weights is usual for turbines and not uncommon for many General Aircraft aircraft, but few publish it. The piston engine-specific gas olineut ( sfc ) of 0.42 lbs./hp/hr is virtually unchanged. In aerodynamic terms, the Skylane is a fairly large aircraft with a significant equal plane surface - the entire front surface of the aircraft - which is transferred to a unique plane screen.

Whilst the maximum number of cruises promoted in the booklets was normally 140 or better, we could not find a combination of throttle and rev/min in the cruising chart for any height suggesting a trip of about 136 kn at 75 per cent performance. However, the ?kylane still blends gas and skies with sensible efficiencies.

However, if you are not in a rush, this is a boat that can profit from 55 per cent of the cruising. Former 182s with a total weight of 2,950 lbs or less can clean the floor in 600 to 700 ft under see level/standard condition, while later heavy duty 182s requires 800 ft or more - yet still delivers stunning work.

The minimal land range for all aircraft is about 600 ft, and the good thing is that you don't have to be a bushy driver to make the first junction virtually every single tim. It' s difficult to believe that anyone could persuade a sky lane to use their blanket, but Cessna proposes that in the A, B, C and E model you can reach almost 20,000 ft, and then in the heavy 182s, usually paved, 16,500 ft.

Cessna began to equip most aircraft in the 1960' with FM and low range electronics from Aircraft Radio Corporation (ARC) in Boonton, New Jersey. One of Cessna's independent trademarks was ARC, and Wichita began to slowly start insisting that all Cessna radio equipment be ARC.

Interested purchasers of Cessna began to buy aircraft with panel aircraft that were bare of any kind of electronics at all, fly them to the home bases and have NARCO or King radio sets installed locally. Dozens or more of these deaf-mute Cessnas without radio were shipped to the West Coast (even a Cessna 310), using hand-held radio when needed and flew with Route 66 and other visual aids to navigation.

By 2015, Cessna had 33 Skylanes on sale. Skylane also attracts a number of drivers who are not only interested in airspeed, climbing, payload, dependability or short-haul power, but in all these factors as well. Used Skylanes still have a buoyant second hand Skylanes only because they have more than enough to provide less than too much.

Cessna Skylane therefore still sells well to pilots who need a relatively easy, 2+2 transportation with good power and handling that will probably not bore the typical pilots. Every plane that is just ready to keep up, keep the trimm in motion, keep the books going and do nothing stupid should have a satisfactory encounter with a Cessna Skylane.

Already in the early 1970' s, when I was working as an editorial journalist for Plane & Pilot, the magazin bought a well used Skylane as a pilot and restored it to a better state. We chose the plane from the hundred of used Skylanes in one year Trade-A-Planes and it was a 1962 Jagtag 182E without damages, bad color and genuine interiors.

Skylane 62 was the first to feature both the brushed cock and the "modern" hull with stern. Over the years, we' ve integrated virtually a hundred enhancements into our Skylane project, and our 182E has been upgraded to look and feel like the newer Skylane series. We' ve equipped the old Skylane with a new motor and a three-bladed McCauley propeller, a fully upgraded dashboard with all-new electronics, new colour and interiors, and most of the other upgrades to make the aircraft nearly new.

Fly our renovated skin lane for several dozen years throughout the USA, and in the 90s and early ''000s I was asked a dozen different ways how I liked the "new skin lane". "When I declared that the plane was an overhauled 1962 aircraft, some pilot were just disbelieving. The 1962 Plane & Pilot company sells the 1962 version of the 182E skyline 10 years ago, but we are betting that the present owners still have a few issues to resolve with their nice "new" skyline.

Here is a look at the originals new pricing and the currently used pricing for selected Skylanes in the last 60 years. Pricing is indicative and may not be a reflection of the rapidly evolving markets. You can find detailled specifications for different ?kylane products in our Cessna specification archives. Find out about the latest skylanes and other awesome singles in our latest Piston Singles Buyer's Guide.