Circuits With The C182
I’ll prefix this posting with a warning that I’m by no means an expert on this aircraft; I’m simply relaying my initial experiences with the Cessna 182.
This morning I did my circuit check in the Calgary Flying Club’s Cessna 182P. I had already been warned that the 182, being heavier, would simply drop in the flare if you simply cut the power unlike the 172 which wants to fly forever. Of course, anyone who thinks that the 172 will fly forever in the flare has never flown a Warrion, my choice of plane up till this point. The Warrior’s low wings increase the aircrafts ground effect drastically resulting in a landing rollout that can easily be twice as long as it should have been. With that in mind, I didn’t find the transition to the 182 as hard as perhaps some 172 pilots might have. Plus the last time I flew a Cessna 172 was March 2004 so I didn’t have any expectations as to how the 182 should perform relative to a 172.
On the ground, the first thing to note with the 182 is that the aircraft is prone to carb icing; it was 12 degrees Celcius (dew point 8 degrees) and while waiting for ground to get caught up we experienced some icing. Another consideration with this aircraft is that once it gets going it likes to keep going, so you have to be careful with you use of the brakes. Tis is especially true if you have a long taxi and then do a quick run up, you want make sure you’ve given your brakes enough time to cool so as to have braking power for an aborted take off.
The takeoff roll, as previously mentioned is amazing. The power of the 230 HP engine behind a constant speed properllor pushes you back in your seat. And you need to be immediately on the right rudder to counter the propellor torque lest you find yourself perpendicular to the runway. The aircraft climbs like a rocket, so much so that I actually have to lower the nose to have a clear view forward (ya, ya, so I’m short… so was Napoleon). The rest of the circuit is pretty much the same as for any small aircraft, except faster. So, you need to ensure you know the various speeds by memory as otherwise the plane will get ahead of you.
Final in the 182 is where I found the biggest differences to be. With the Warrior, at least for me, you sorta float down to the threshold and do a big flare. With the 182 you really want a nice 3 degree glideslipe and you basically want to carry power and fly the plane all the way down to the runway. Then, instead of cutting the power in the flare, as mentioned above you gradually reduce the throttle until the plane nice settles onto the runway. I actually had probably the 5 best landings today of all time, in spite of the fact that this is an unfamiliar aircraft to me. So either the 182 is a well designed, forgiving plane or I’m a natural. Or perhaps a bit of both?
Update: David wrote an interesting article regarding the Warrior’s flare. Perhaps he’s right and all I’ve flown are older, banged up 172’s or perhaps I need to revisit my strategy in the circuit when flying the Warrior. In any case, it’s a great read (as per usual).
Mon, 11 Jul 2005 21:24 Posted in Flying
