Pilawt
Final Approach
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2005
- Messages
- 9,486
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Pilawt
Leafing through the logbooks before the annual tomorrow, I noticed that my airplane will be 40 years old this month. Its first flight was on October 13, 1977, at the hands of Cessna test pilot N.A. Tramba, if I read the signature correctly.
N737YQ, a 1978 model 172N, has been in the family for twenty-nine of those forty years (I inherited it on my father's passing in 2008). It looks much the same on the outside now as it did in 1988; the original paint has held up well. My dad was a sign painter for a while, and he restored some of the original lettering and logos.
Less obvious externally are the 180 hp Lycoming engine and Power Flow exhaust that have been there for half the airplane's life now. My dad doted on the airplane, installing this and that whenever possible.
The muted beige interior installed in 2002 softens Cessna's original "screaming yellow" decorating motif, a reminder of which survives on the plastic sub-panel.
My dad's sense of humor is preserved on a couple of placards. On the upper panel the pilot is advised to "Avoid Prolonged Inverted Flight"; and on the yoke a placard reads, "No Screaming." On the pilot's yoke, that is.
The avionics suite is still anchored (see what I did there?) by the original KX-175B navcoms and KR-85 ADF. Over the years a couple of LORANs and an early GPS have come and gone, while a KLN90B, a DME, a new Appareo transponder and sundry digital gadgets have taken up residence. I don't fly IFR any more (and here in Arizona wouldn't want to), so this gear gets me by.
When talking about light airplanes, a 1978 model almost seems fairly new. To put it in perspective, though, park the airplane next to some 1978 automobiles. The October 1977 Flying magazine carried ads for (among several brands of cigarettes) the new Cadillac Seville Elegante and something called a Ford Mustang II. (For you young'uns, the Mustang name was defiled from 1974 to 1978 by the "Mustang II", basically a Pinto with uglier sheet metal, a product of the oil shortages of the early '70s.)
When this airplane was built, no current NFL player had yet been born, other than Tom Brady and three or four punters and kickers. Three current NFL head coaches had not yet been born.
In October 1977 the US Supreme Court lifted the ban that prevented the Concorde from being operated in the US. That's been a while.
Well, tomorrow we'll see how much duct tape and bailing wire we'll need to keep this airplane going another year.
N737YQ, a 1978 model 172N, has been in the family for twenty-nine of those forty years (I inherited it on my father's passing in 2008). It looks much the same on the outside now as it did in 1988; the original paint has held up well. My dad was a sign painter for a while, and he restored some of the original lettering and logos.
Less obvious externally are the 180 hp Lycoming engine and Power Flow exhaust that have been there for half the airplane's life now. My dad doted on the airplane, installing this and that whenever possible.
The muted beige interior installed in 2002 softens Cessna's original "screaming yellow" decorating motif, a reminder of which survives on the plastic sub-panel.
My dad's sense of humor is preserved on a couple of placards. On the upper panel the pilot is advised to "Avoid Prolonged Inverted Flight"; and on the yoke a placard reads, "No Screaming." On the pilot's yoke, that is.
The avionics suite is still anchored (see what I did there?) by the original KX-175B navcoms and KR-85 ADF. Over the years a couple of LORANs and an early GPS have come and gone, while a KLN90B, a DME, a new Appareo transponder and sundry digital gadgets have taken up residence. I don't fly IFR any more (and here in Arizona wouldn't want to), so this gear gets me by.
When talking about light airplanes, a 1978 model almost seems fairly new. To put it in perspective, though, park the airplane next to some 1978 automobiles. The October 1977 Flying magazine carried ads for (among several brands of cigarettes) the new Cadillac Seville Elegante and something called a Ford Mustang II. (For you young'uns, the Mustang name was defiled from 1974 to 1978 by the "Mustang II", basically a Pinto with uglier sheet metal, a product of the oil shortages of the early '70s.)
When this airplane was built, no current NFL player had yet been born, other than Tom Brady and three or four punters and kickers. Three current NFL head coaches had not yet been born.
In October 1977 the US Supreme Court lifted the ban that prevented the Concorde from being operated in the US. That's been a while.
Well, tomorrow we'll see how much duct tape and bailing wire we'll need to keep this airplane going another year.
