1977 177rg

[Richard]

Just looking for any comments on the landing gear on a 1977 Cardinal. It has the Cessna installed end bolt with zerk fitting.

 

[Richard]

Thanks, Steve. Anyone else have something pos or neg to say about the Cardinal?

 

[poadeleted3]

Thanks, Steve. Anyone else have something pos or neg to say about the Cardinal?

Decently fast, sexy and fast looking even sitting on the ground, roomy and comfy.

 

[Maverick]

Thanks, Steve. Anyone else have something pos or neg to say about the Cardinal?

I have been the proud owner of a 1976 Cardinal RG for the past eight years. The first Cardinal I flew was a 1969 FG with 180 HP and a fixed pitch prop. I think that's when I kinda fell in love with the Cardinal.

Before this airplane I had a 182. The 182 is a great airplane and will carry a lot but my Cardinal RG gives me decent speed for cross country and does it on about 2/3 the fuel burn as the 182. The Cardinal nice a roomy in the front and has a bit of a sports car feel to it. It's also a great instrument platform.

By the way, my Cardinal has had the rod end changed some time before I bought it. The previous owner had a gear failure and I'm thinking that was the cause. If you're buying a Cardinal I'd check out the Cardinal Flyers group and their website. They were helpful to me when I was in the pre-purchase mode. In anycase If you have or are buying a Cardinal RG with the old style rod end I'd have that changed out right away. There has been a lot of talk about gear failures due to that pesky thing. Otherwise the gear system is really pretty good.

Jeannie

 

[Richard]

Alright, Jean! That's what I was looking for. However, anyone else?


I'm looking into partnering with a guy who has the bird. It's coming out of it's annual inspection this week and I believe they have replaced the rod end.

I happen to like the -177 but I have run across several which have had more than their share of corrosion. Is there something about the Cardinal wing that favors corrosion??? This one had some corrosion but they have treated it--I'll have to find out more on that.

I'm gonna' try to go look at the logs and the a/c tomorrow before they put it back together. If I decide to go in you bet I'm gonna be in touch w/ the owner's group.

The owner says he flight plans for 140 Kts on <10 gph. It is IFR cert but no GPS although he'd like to install a GPS sometime soon.

 

[gibbons]

My partner and I rented one a few times when we were between airplanes.
17 flights
27.2 flight hours
3 gear failures - 2 VFR, one on an ILS (actual) into Little Rock.

Bad luck perhaps. But it sure cured us from even considering buying one - ever.

 

[sere]

And I can tell you 1st hand Jean has a real nice plane. Very fast and great looking. I wished I owned it.

 

[Richard]

My partner and I rented one a few times when we were between airplanes.
17 flights
27.2 flight hours
3 gear failures - 2 VFR, one on an ILS (actual) into Little Rock.

Bad luck perhaps. But it sure cured us from even considering buying one - ever.

Thanks, Chip. Care to elaborate on those? Was it pilot error, mx malfunction, did you land, airborne troubleshooting, etc?

 

[gibbons]

Thanks, Chip. Care to elaborate on those? Was it pilot error, mx malfunction, did you land, airborne troubleshooting, etc?

The first one was IMC. The gear started its journey but gave up the ghost before locking down. IIRC this is a 14 second gear extension so by the time it was all sorted out we were well down the approach. We called missed and got vectors away from the airport to troubleshoot. Nothing worked. We finally hand pumped the gear and came back around for the approach and landing.

The mechanics couldn't find anything wrong and the owner was pretty sure it was pilot error. "You have to pull the gear handle out a little before you move it. Did you do that?" Duh! Anyway, everybody was sure the problem was a loose nut in the left seat. After that, no more IMC in that airplane until the problem was fixed, and in order to fix the problem the owner and mechanic needed to admit there WAS a problem.

The next time was VFR and the same thing happened on the downwind leg. Gear starts down and stops. No more troubleshooting, just pump it down and land. And put more energy and time into finding a Beech to fly. The mechanic didn't find anything wrong and the owner flew it around quite a bit with no problems. By now they're both sure my partner and I are on crack.

My partner was alone the third time it happened. VFR again. When the gear started down and died he left the pattern and headed toward the office where the owner worked. He got his cell phone and called the owner, who was in a meeting. So my partner told the secretary that he was circling the building in the owner's airplane and the gear wouldn't come down If he (the owner) wanted to see it just come outside. Somehow the message didn't get to the owner quite that way and he came running out of the building with a bunch of suits in tow, thinking there was a serious problem. My partner made several circles around the building with that duck-like gear just hanging there, not up - not down. "OK, now the handle is up. Now the handle is down. Do you see this *&^*(ing gear moving? No, you don't. Because it's BROKEN!"

The owner got the message and his mechanic finally dug in with the belief that there was actually a problem, not that the pilot was an idiot. The found a bad pump or something (can't remember - don't care) and fixed it. The owner sold the airplane shortly after that and bought a 210. We found a very nice F33 Bonanza and bought it. We've owned five Beechcraft airplanes and only crank the gear during the flight review

The end.

 

[gismo]

Alright, Jean! That's what I was looking for. However, anyone else?

140 KTAS and even 145 is possible, but I used to plan on 135 KTAS most of the time. Of course that was back when I thought 135Kt was fast

I've got at least a couple hundred hours in 177RG's and nothing but fond memories of those trips. WRT the gear, I believe that as long as you have a mechanic that truly understands the rather complex system and are pro-active about it's maintenance you shouldn't have problems. The club I used to belong to had two RG's (76 & 78) for several years and many thousands of hours. AFaIK there was never a true gear failure in all that time.

You probably already know this, but the door hinges are a weak point. Those huge doors are too often pulled out of a pilot or pasenger's hand if opened with wind behind the plane and they can be folded completely around 180 degrees (which is about 90 degrees past the intended travel). The result is a loose fitting door with a stong tendency to leak in the rain, on the ground and in the air. This may be the source of the corrosion issues you've heard about.

 

[TangoWhiskey]

You probably already know this, but the door hinges are a weak point. Those huge doors are too often pulled out of a pilot or pasenger's hand if opened with wind behind the plane and they can be folded completely around 180 degrees (which is about 90 degrees past the intended travel).

Note to self: park INTO the wind.

 

[gismo]

Note to self: park INTO the wind.

Always. And watch out for someone firing up behind you on the ramp.