Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Airplanes Only Looking for 182RG

Hey all I know this club is all about 150's/152's but I am looking for a 182RG sort of my dream plane. If anyone comes across a decent one please let me know. I am perusing the usual websites but It seems every time I find something decent they are already sold. If you deem this an inappropriate post let me know I will remove it.

Thank you

Hi Jeff.

Henry recently bought a 182. I think they are great airplanes, although I personally wouldn't want an RG. The Arkansas Dept. of Aeronautics used to have a 182RG. They Director had to land gear up. I can't remember the details, but as I recall there is a quirk in the gear and a hydraulic leak or pump failure makes it practically impossible to get the gear down.

Good luck with your search. I just had to throw in the above info .

I got a fixed gear 182 a little over a year ago and love it. I was looking for a 177RG because I used one for my commercial certificate. However, I came across the 182 I got and couldn’t pass it up. The RG gives a little more speed, but adds some cost to annuals and insurance. In the end, my plane was a good compromise for the kind of flying I do. It is as fast as the 177RG and roomier. I don’t miss the RG since I’m usually not in that big of a hurry.

My current plane ended up with a lot nicer avionics that I was looking for. It has an Avidyne IFD-540, an STEC-30 autopilot, an engine analyzer and a Pponk engine with 270HP. Instrument flight is so easy with this. Looking back at my needs, a good set of avionics, including the auto-pilot and GPS navigator are now higher than RG or a few more knots of speed.

I found my plane when a member of the Cessna Pilots Society [cessna-pilots.net] has some medical issues and decided to sell his plane to another Society member. I wasn’t actually looking very hard, but had in the back of my mind I wanted to upgrade. The opportunity arose and I jumped on it.

It is all about the mission for the plane. Enjoy the search and good luck in finding your dream plane soon.

The "quirk" is that pilots do NOT properly to a preflight inspection. Part of that preflight's to check the hydraulic fluid inside the gear pump. IF that pump goes dry, the pump will not move the gear up or down.

That, or something similar (like a leak that developed during flight) was probably what happened, Ron. Surprising, though, since the 182RG was maintained a lot better than a lot of our airplanes.

Anyway, and I am not a retract pilot, my point was that a lot of retracts as I understand it, have a method to get the gear down when the normal system goes belly up, but the 182RG apparently doesn't. You and some of the folks here that are more savvy can, I am sure, add more information that may be helpful for Jeff in his search. I would be interested also, just to add a little more knowledge.

Good luck with your search, Jeff and you're not out of line posting this on the forum.

Good airplanes are selling pretty well right now and they sell pretty quickly since the economy has sustained itself so well for a couple years now. People have a lot of confidence now to make a move like buying a plane (and many other items).


I know little about the Cessna RG system but I sense they are probably all similar on their high wing planes?

Kirk has his 177RG, he's mechanically savvy and I believe he's pretty well been completely through his so if they are as similar as I think they are, he could probably add something to this discussion.


Past all that, keep us posted on your progress, though there are several of us here who will tell you to just buy a Bonanza.....airline pilots, math professors, teachers and trailer peddlers fly them so you'd be in good company.




Jim

The good airplanes are selling fast Jim and I haven't counted out a Bonanza but I know nearly nothing about them as in what model to look for, issues particular to this model or that, etc.. I would also not be opposed to a fixed gear 182 but they are even harder to find before they are sold.

I would like something that has decent avionics that someone else has paid for rather than putting it all in myself. This will probably be the last plane I purchase so I am not in a rush and won't fall in love with a pretty paint job although that would be nice to have as well.

I have patience so I will continue to search for the right one

I considered Bonanzas too when I was looking. The older models (pre-1960 or so) give you quite a lot of plane for the money - retract, 160+ kts, nice handling. I even bought a a book [amazon.com] that went thought the various models. They are indeed very nice planes and have a good reputation. They also have a very active and helpful type-specific web site at BeechTalk. [beechtalk.com], along with the American Bonanza Society. I also got a friend to take me up for a ride.

In the end, I decided to stay with Cessna for a few reasons particular to me. First off, I mostly like to sightsee while flying, so a high wing plane was more to my liking. The high wing is also useful in the rain. Second, I always preferred Cessna's over Pipers because I like two entry doors, and really dislike climbing in through the passenger side, stepping on the seat and then sliding over to the pilot seat. This is just a pet peeve and my issue, not an objective problem. Bo's have this issue too. Third, I found the cabin tighter than in a 182. I only flew an older (1950's) Bo. Newer ones may be better. It felt to me more like sitting in a Piper Cherokee or Arrow. Finally, maintenance and insurance were significantly higher for Bo's compared to Cessnas, even RG Cessnas. Still, if speed had been a priority for me, I would have likely looked harder at a Bonanza. I ended up spending a lot more than I intended on my 182, and if I had used that budget for a Bonanza, I would have probably gotten a nice plane too. BeechTalk has quite a few planes for sale.

In general, I found keeping an eye on the type club forums let me find the plane of my dreams. The nice ones do go very fast. Someone commits within hours of a good, fairly-priced plane showing up. Many planes don't even get to the open market. You also don't have much room to negotiate on price.

In my case, I happened to see the post as it was made. Within minutes there was a line behind me wanting the plane. I ended up committing sight unseen. I was going on an overseas trip so couldn't make a trip to inspect it. Fortunately, I was able to read many years worth of posts about the plane, as the previous owner had been an active member and posted about his upgrades and maintenance. I could tell what type of owner he was and that the plane was very well cared for. That allowed me to make a decision without first inspecting the plane. I still keep in touch with the previous owner.

[Linked Image]

There's a nicely equipped 182G (fixed gear) on BeechTalk [beechtalk.com]. I don't know if the price is right, but it is probably in the ball park for the equipment, and if the conditions of the plane is as advertised
with beautiful paint and interior.

I've switched gears myself and am now looking at getting a 182 (fixed-gear) in the next few years instead of a Bonanza. This decision came mainly after getting some insight and advice from a pilot at my home airport who has over 50 years experience flying planes, understand my mission, and owns both a fixed-gear 182 and an A36 Bonanza.

Following this thread closely, so keep us updated Jeff, interested to see what you end up buying.