Rental - Cessna 172P Air Plains Conversion

asechrest

asechrest

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asechrest
During my exploration of places to rent a 172 in SE Florida (Palm Beach and south), I found a place at KLNA with a 172P Air Plains Conversion. The price/hr is $135, just $10/hr more than the base model older 172s on the line.

Seems like a good deal to me. I trained in a 172M 150HP (with some time in an SP), so things should be reasonably familiar. And my understanding is that there's a gross weight increase that turns it into a true 4-place airplane.

Any gotchas I should know about as far as flying or renting it?

Thanks.
 
All I can think about is becoming addicted to a nice airplane...
 
I have a 1974 C-172 with the 180 hp Air Plains conversion. It also has a STOL kit, Horton wing tips, stall dams. It just wants to fly. We took 4 adults with full fuel from White Plains to Atlantic City and back. Also we flew son and his bride to Niagara and back. No problem, although the back seat gets pretty cozy, which they didn't seem to mind. I don't remember off-hand what the weight limits are.
 
Thanks. My usual passenger load is myself, my girlfriend, and two kids (7 and 10). I believe that's well within acceptable weights for even a normal 172, though I've yet to get my first flight in with the whole crew.

But I do have plans for a couples flight or two, so a 172 that can take four reasonably-sized adults is pretty attractive.
 
Must warn you, though. Flagstaff Arizona, July, 3 pm, full fuel, 100+ degrees, 2 onboard plus lots of baggage. Not a good idea.!!
 
I've recently gotten checked out in an Air Plains 180hp 172P, and it's a really nice airplane. The one I fly has what I've been told is a very aggressive cruise prop. I honestly don't notice any difference at takeoff between that and the 150-160 hp 172s because of the prop, but where you do get the difference is in cruise. I've done mostly tooling around in it, but the word around the club is that it does somewhere in the neighborhood of 120-130 kts. It does have an RPM range where there's some vibration due to harmonics with the cruise prop, but it's no biggie to avoid it. And apparently the engine likes to be primed even when warm. But other than that, no gotchas that I know of. There might be something on the maintenance side, but I don't own the plane, and I'm no A&P, so I'll defer to more knowledgeable people.
 
AuntPeggy said:
I have a 1974 C-172 with the 180 hp Air Plains conversion. It also has a STOL kit, Horton wing tips, stall dams. It just wants to fly. We took 4 adults with full fuel from White Plains to Atlantic City and back. Also we flew son and his bride to Niagara and back. No problem, although the back seat gets pretty cozy, which they didn't seem to mind. I don't remember off-hand what the weight limits are.
Click to expand...

Sounds like Very Nice Plane.
 
asechrest said:
During my exploration of places to rent a 172 in SE Florida (Palm Beach and south), I found a place at KLNA with a 172P Air Plains Conversion. The price/hr is $135, just $10/hr more than the base model older 172s on the line.

Seems like a good deal to me. I trained in a 172M 150HP (with some time in an SP), so things should be reasonably familiar. And my understanding is that there's a gross weight increase that turns it into a true 4-place airplane.

Any gotchas I should know about as far as flying or renting it?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

That's my plane of choice for sightseeing.

It's a 172. It flies like a 172. It won't go any higher, but it will go noticeably faster and carry a lot more weight.

About the only difference is in flaps. It has a paddle instead of that annoying momentary switch, and only goes to 30 deg.
 
Be aware. The Air Plains website isn't very clear. They make it sound like the 172P gets a 250# bump in gross which is not true. Very poorly worded.

The 172P stock gross weight is 2400.

STC SA4428SW gets you the O-360

STC SA2196CE (STC SA4428SW required) gets you up to 2,550 pound gross.

Should be around a 1,000 pound useful.


This is the Airplane Flight Manual Supplement for the GW increase.
http://www.airplains.com/index.php/...-172-gwi-stc-sa2196ce?download=22:172057-afms



Our bone stock unmodified 160HP 172P is 913# useful.
 
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It gets you a 250 lb increase on a 172N, not a P. It's the same 2550 lb MGW, but a stock N is 2300. The engine is not significantly heavier than the stock 160 HP (only very slightly).

1000 lb isn't quite enough for four people unless they are light and you carry minimal fuel. But the N approaches 1100 lb, which makes a lot of difference. I can carry three American adults (counting me) and a kid plus full fuel in the N, and still be under gross. And then go flying around the Bay at a hair over 120 KIAS. And it's the cheapest 172 on the line. It's fugly and has a basic panel. I don't care.

There are a fair number of converted N's around.
 
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