Which one is the Cessna?
Posted on 06/25/2006 5:47:21 PM PDT by GoldCountryRedneck
Thks
~GCR~
When a design is right, it's right. It's not a sexy plane at all, but numbers and longevity tell the story. Any single plane model that you've seen in the air your whole life was done right the first time.
Basically, what they're celebrating is that general aviation aircraft design has been stagnant for fifty years. I suspect all the federal supervision of it may have had some effect.
I disagree. Dumpster nailed it:"....right the first time." for this particular aircraft.
Liability attorneys and government regulation DID almost wipe out GA (General Aviation.
We're only just now seeing new designs (Sirrus, Liberty, Light Sport, etc etc.) and features.
What's being celebrated is that, thru time, the 172 has delivered in consistance of performance, flight characteristic predictability, and in a cost-effective fashion.
It's been an evolutionary aircraft; improvments made every year.
~GCR~
The 172 does what it was designed to do very well, simple as that. I've got a few hrs in them, from new ones, to some old abused beaters that should have been grounded. I got where I was going safely, and most of the time had fun enroute.
I was on the C-172/Porsche conversion project, back in the late 80's. What a pain. The project was a success in getting the STC, but it was heavier (which resulted in a lower payload), much more expensive, and more complicated, which means more maintenence (although the engine is very reliable). Sure the Porsche engine is great, but potential buyers looked at it and said, "with that price tag, I can get a nice C182, carry more and go 20 kts faster". So upon getting the STC, Porsche shelved the project.
I've been away from flying, or even hanging out regularly at the local aerodrome for years, so I don't know if Porsche has since decided to offer the C172 conversion again.
I was aware of the Mooney/Porsche conversion a few years back....but hadn't heard that it had been tried in the 172!
Learn something new every day here!!
Given that the older 172 is, with full fuel and very little baggage ( and the rear compartment is small anyway), really a three(3) person-max airplane, I wouldn't think that a heavier engine conversion would have been marketable.
'Course ... some people would buy it for that Porsche emblem. Haven't seen much on the Mooney since, either.
Ya' oughta get yourself current again. Flying has certainly helped my sanity. Up there I'm not thinking about that next world, or local, crises!!!
~GCR~
ping-a-ling!
Which one is the Cessna?
I haven't seen a Mooney Fork Tailed Doctor Killer in the air for a l-o-n-g time. I assumed that the brain surgeons had crashed all the airworthy ones a long time ago.
The V-tailed Bonanza is the infamous "doctor-killer" ;)
~GCR~
That pic could have been me on a rare trip into SFO ....
On departure, I was between, on the taxi-way, *two* 747's (well back from the one ahead!) and a line of 737's, commuter jets, and turbo props....
My 'lil 172 wanted to go airborne from the jet blast(s), wings a-quiver,and I was gettin' high on the Jet-A fumes, eyeballs burning, and wishin' for an O2 bottle....
ATC Clearance 'ordained' a hard right turn "as soon as safely executable" after airborne.
Thanks to a 30kt bay wind down the runway, I think I was off in 500 feet!!!
I was "OUTTA there" PDQ!!!
~GCR~
Thanks! The first time I heard that one I cracked up because it was so appropriate. Bam, teeth, eyeballs, golf clubs all over the field.
It did not have a tricycle undercart
Floats in summer. Big flat Elliot Brothers skis in winter (Elliot Brothers understood slush).
Hand it over to a junior pilot when the boss gives you a Norseman to fly.
I am showing my age.
I agree GCR.
But when they eliminated the depreciation allowance to write off an item such as a business plane (it was a 10 yr write down if my memory is correct) that also caused production numbers to go down dramatically. No one ever talks about it.
Spent many an hour in a 1958 172 (4030F) back in the late 60s and early 70s. That plane still lumbers along today as an agricultural spray plane no less! Haven't flown one for years since adopting low-wing transportation (Arrows, Mooneys, Musketeers). Still remember 4030F's "Coffee Grinder" radio (NARCO VHT-3) with a whopping 6 transmit crystals in it!
Thanks for the ping - I'm one of the rare pilots trained in an American flight school who has relatively little time in Cessnas. They are and will be the workhorse of flight training, but the school I attended had all Beechcraft. My time in Cessnas are just a few checkouts and a few rentals.
BTTT
Still see a few of those... A freind of mines dad crashed in one awhile back... He was an Army Colonel
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