The cardinal looks like a Skylane (C-182) without the wing braces. Any other notable or not so notable differences ?
They are completely different airframes, with few if any common parts.
The cantilever wing is set relatively far back on the cabin for improved visibility, and to give enough pitch authority for the shorter arm, Cessna for the first time used a stabilator on a production airplane. It is because of the stabilator that the Cardinal handles differently from a 172 in pitch -- not badly, mind you, just
differently from other airplanes Cessna customers were used to. In pitch it is actually very much like a Cherokee, but that scared some customers off in the early years. It also sits lower to the ground than a lot of Skyhawk pilots were used to.
Some pilots of the first year's production models (1968) managed to set up a porpoising action on landing, with resulting damage to the nose gear. It was thought that a stabilator stall contributed to it, causing the nose to drop suddenly in the flare. So for 1969 and all Cardinals thereafter, slots were installed in the leading edge of the stabilator to direct airflow to the underside and prevent stabilator stall. The stabilator linkage was changed, as well. Most all '68 Cardinals were retrofitted with stabilator slots in a big "recall" by Cessna. (For the record, I was checked out in a brand new, unmodified '68 Cardinal the day I got my private license, flew it quite a bit, and never had any problem.)
As mentioned above, the Cardinal was originally intended to replace the 172 (in fact, during development its factory model number was "172J"), so it had the same 150-hp engine as the '68 Skyhawk. The larger Cardinal airframe was underpowered with that engine, so beginning with the 1969 model (177A) fixed-gear Cardinals were built with 180-hp engines. The 1970 177B added constant-speed prop, cowl flaps, and a recontoured wing leading edge. The 177B, built through 1978, is a fine, sweet-flying airplane.
But the bad press of the original '68 model continued to inhibit sales of later models. That, plus the fact that the Cardinal was more expensive to build than a 172 airframe, led Cessna to drop the Cardinal after the 1978 model year, replacing it in the line-up with a six-cylinder, 195-hp version of the 172 (R172K Hawk XP).
-- Pilawt
) it looks like it would still fly just fine. I'll just make certain to hop out and be a "gentleman chauffeur" and always open the passenger door
