1956 Cessna 180 For Sale

Sold - Sold - Sold

1956 Cessna 180, 3,959.0 total time, 395 SMOH with Chrome Cylinders

For pictures please send request to sparky@mountainflying.com

Accepting Offers

The previous owner purchased the airplane for $65,000.
More than $127,000 was spent on modifications,
improvements and optional equipment during a
3-year total restoration All receipts are in
chronological order in a notebook

 The aircraft was purchased by the previous owner (air force officer at Randolph AFB, TX) in February 2000 for $65,000. He spent 2 years in the search of a clean, straight C-180 with no corrosion. This aircraft was found in Virginia, owned for over 25 years by a retired Air Force Colonel. Two IAs made a detailed inspection and were convinced that this was the cleanest bird they had seen. This aircraft had no modifications whatsoever, very much stock. Interior surfaces of the wings was sprayed with bees wax to prevent corrosion.

He decided to make a show plane. He hired the best and most experienced IA and communication guy he could find. No expense was spared and none taken on this extensive restoration. Literally every wire, coaxial and screw has been replaced during the process.

The previous owner lost his medical last year and decided to sell this wonderful aircraft. Sparky bought it. The only thing remaining before entering it in a contest is the paint (original paint is 50-years-old), and interior (including headliner).

Custom Overhead Panel

The switches are now located overhead, much like a corporate jet. There are two rows of 10 toggle switches. This approval took more than 10 months for FAA approval of the Form 337 because it has never been done before - very unique for judging.

All original equipment that was removed from the aircraft will go with the sale.

The logbooks, using the adlog System, are clean, complete and well cared for.

All modifications have FAA approved 337s on file and in the logbooks, with a separate binder containing all STCs.

Current weight and balance - Empty Weight (with 5 gallons unusable fuel [60 gallons fuel total] and 9 quarts of oil (the forward CG is due to removal of the original rear seat (replaced with F. Atlee Dodge seats), relocation of the battery to the firewall, and radio equipment removal from tail section):

    Empty Weight     1,530.1
    Empty Moment    50,769.58
    Empty CG           33.18 

AIRFRAME 

• New S-TEC System, two axis autopilot (roll and pitch), rate based – Providing autopilot during total Vacuum Failure

• New Sportsman STOL Leading Edge Cuff (with the original lights left installed for even greater illumination, 4 landing lights total, very unique), and Aileron Gap Covers

• New RMD Wingtips with Landing Light System, tied into 2 separate Pulselight systems

• New Whelen H Series Strobe System

• New Great Lakes One Piece tinted ¼” Windscreen, thickest windscreen available

• Left lower inboard aileron skin looked “wavy”, so the guys replaced it, even though it was not necessary

• New InterAv Alternator, removed generator

• Oil Cooler rebuilt

• New Custom Carpet installed

• Exhaust Heat Shield reinforced with stainless steel at places typically prone to breaking

• New Precise Flight Pulselight System X 2. Each system has a 3-position switch, Alternating, Simultaneous, or Steady On. One Pulselight system can illuminate the Wingtip lights; the other can illuminate the original Taxi/Landing lights. Each system also has dedicated switches and CBs for power. The halogen lights can be replaced through NAPA auto parts store.

• New Precise Flight Standby Vacuum System

• New Sky-Tec Lightweight Starter, 1/3 the weight (5.8 lbs.) and 40% more RPM with less battery drain than the original starter.

• Johnson Bar (flap lever) removed, corrosion protected and chromed

• New Odyssey Gelcell Battery model PC680 and New Battery Box, installed on firewall.  Much more efficient starting.  Removed the Gill battery in the tailsection and 12 foot heavy cable. 

• New Graphic Engine Analyzer, leads to all cylinders – GEM 602

• JPI’s New FS-450 Fuel Flow System, accurate to .1 of a gallon per fill up (60 gal)

• New Cleveland 6 Bolt Wheel Kit, wheels, calipers, torque plates

• New 8:50 X 6 Tires & Tubes, still have the 6:50 tires and wheels as well

• Kenmore Air Harbor, Inc STC, for installing 8:50s on the original wheels if you decide to go back to the original wheels

• Rear Door Posts covering aileron cables chromed

• Door Post polished

• Forward Door Post covers chromed

• Entire Interior Soundproofed (including roof & firewall) with 3M ¼” dense cell Lear Jet material during this refurbishment

• New Pilot, Co-Pilot and Baggage Door Seals (Cessna parts, not automotive)

• Pedals, Powdercoated

• Control T Cover, Chromed

• Forward Overhead Spar Carrythrough Angle Cover Chromed

• Fully Articulating Seats (with headrests) from a 73’ Cessna installed with McFarlane Rails

• New Atlee Dodge Rear folding Seats

• New B.A.S. Inertial Reel Shoulder Harnesses

• New B.A.S. Tail Section Pull Tube

• Peterson Auto Fuel STC, it has never used auto fuel

• New Bogert Electrical Cables

• New Stainless Rudder Cables, all other cables are in excellent condition

• New Texas Skyways chrome exhaust pipe extension

• New Cessna Stabilizer Jackscrew Access Cover Service Kit

• Cessna Carburetor Air Temperature Accessory Kit

• New Speaker & Spider Bracket

INSTRUMENT  PANEL

All Instruments new except co-pilot attitude indicator, airspeed indicator and vertical speed indicator – Note location of throttle, prop and mixture in relation to their Corresponding Gauge, i.e., MP Gauge directly above Throttle cable, RPM Gauge directly above Prop cable, etc. – unique.

• New Custom Instrument Panel with True Dual Instrumentation without changing the original “T” steering control bar, Material – Lower panel, Alclad 2024 alloy T3 .063 inch thick / Upper panel, Alclad 2024 alloy T3 .125 inch thick

• New Lighted Overhead Switch Panel (2 rows of 10 each), all switches have been relocated overhead much like corporate jets.  This is the only 180 or 185 with such an arrangement

• Each component has it own dedicated New Circuit Breaker (28 Total / Klixon), except where common sense dictates sharing, great for isolating problems – safety

• New 5 Dedicated Rheostats for numerous lighting programs

• New LED Lights, 4 for Pilot & Co, and one each for rear passengers

• New DC Receptacle for all four persons in aircraft, to run GPS, Laptop, etc

• New PS 1000 II, 4 Place Intercom

• New Fiberglass Glaresheild

• New Fiberlights for all instruments, two complete sets

• New Ameri-King ELT with Portable Antennae & Microphone, transmits both UHF & VHF

• New Ameri-King Model AK-350, altitude encoder

• New KT-76A Transponder

• New Replaceable Vacuum Filter

• External Steps Chromed

• Muffler Intake Coolers, new silicone

• New Engine Baffles

• External Door Hinges Chromed

• Muffler Heat Shroud strengthened, even though there was no obvious wear, typical fatigue item

• Extensive and Expensive strengthening of entire cowling. I wanted NO cracks after the new paint.  All hinges replaced on doors and cowl flaps.

• New Dual Sigma-Tec Artificial Horizons, Pilot’s has Vacuum Failure Warning Flag

• Dual Airspeed Indicators, Pilot Indicator has New True & Indicated

• New Dual DGs – Pilot, AIM 52D54 Digital Gyro (For autopilot) / Co-Pilot Sigma Tec w/warning Flag

• New Dual Elect Turn & Bank, one being the rate based S-Tec

• New PAI-700 Vertical Compass Card

• New Ignition Switch, Rekeyed door latch to match switch

• New AIM Carbon Monoxide Detector, best one on the market, 50 PPM / 6”, 5 year battery

• New Primer, and lines of course

• WX-8 Strikefinder

• New Dual KX-155 Nav/Com/Glide Slopes and new antennae installed parallel

• Entire Vent Tube Assembly removed polished and painted

• Fuel Gauges polished

• New Dedicated VHF Backup Ant. for Handheld, installed parallel with ELT ant. for cosmetic balance

• Dual VSIs, pilot’s is new, copilot’s is used but good looking

• New Low Voltage Warning Light

• New Low Vacuum Warning Light

• New Low Fuel Warning Light

• New Pre-Stall Warning Light, there is a switch to go from horn to light or both.

• New KMA-24 Audio Panel

• New Dual KI-204 ILS/LOC/VOR Rectilinear Indicators (one is Autopilot capable)

• New KR-87 Digital ADF with KI-227 Indicator

• New Dual AMP/Volt Gauge

• Chrome Glove Box

• New Custom Firewall Blanket over 3M Jet Insulation

• In Case of Radio Failure, under the instrument panel by the pilot’s left knee is a hidden plate with a spare cigar lighter for the portable electrical backup battery to power essential equipment in the event of power failure, dedicated backup external antennae for a handheld radio, and dedicated backup headset jacks for the handheld radio.

Copy of Annual that is in the Logbooks

Major modifications/alterations are as follows:

The following Minor modifications were performed and noted per this logbook entry:

All aircraft wiring was replaced and wiring diagram for the custom instrument panel/overhead switch panel was added to the aircraft records.  Cessna articulating seats from a 1973 C-172 were installed on serviceable McFarland seat rails.  All seat hardware, bushings and rollers were replaced at this time.  All accessible interior skin soundproofed using 3M ¼ inch dense cell (Lear Jet) metal-backed foam.  Airtex custom carpet, side panels and firewall blanket installed.  Suction system was rebuilt to include a central gyro air filter and filtered suction regulator.  Cessna stabilizer jackscrew access kit installed per Cessna service kit instructions, and jackscrew lubricated and inspected.  Individual DC power receptacles, each separately fused were installed at each seat location.  PS 1000 II 4 place intercom installed.  Ameri-King ELT installed on shelf behind baggage bulkhead on aircraft right side.  Ameri-King Model AK-350 altitude encoder installed and plumbed into the static source.  All external antennae replaced and additional “bent” VHF antenna was installed for connection to a handheld VHF radio if desired.  No connection to the aircraft system exists for this antenna.  Fiberlight instrument lighting systems were installed on the new panel (2 systems) with flood instrument lighting as a back-up system.  New visual annunciators, low voltage, low suction, low fuel, and pre-stall were installed on the instrument panel.  PAI-700 Vertical card compass installed as replacement for factory liquid compass.  AIM Carbon Monoxide Detector installed. Inboard left aileron skin (lower) was replaced to eliminate old minor damage   XP Mods tailwheel removed and Scott 3400 series tailwheel installed.

The following items were performed as routine maintenance and/or clean up:

Engine oil cooler rebuilt and reinstalled.  Overhead speaker replaced and mounting bracket reinforced.  Throttle, mixture, and prop control cables replaced with new ACS items.  Ignition switch, (Bendix), replaced with ACS unit.  AD 76-7-12 rev.1 no longer applies.  New silicone sealing material installed on muffler air intake tubes and engine baffles.  All engine instruments were replaced - Dual KX-155 Nav/Coms, KMA-24 Audio Panel, Dual KI-204 VOR/ILS indicators, King KT-76A transponder, and KR-87 ADF with KI-227 Indicator installed per the manufacturers installation instructions.  Dual Sigma Tec Artificial horizons installed in Pilot and Co-pilot panel.  AIM 52D54 Digital Gyro (for autopilot interface installed in pilot’s panel.  Sigma-Tec with warning flag on Co-pilots panel.  New pitot/static driven instruments installed in both panels.  Miscellaneous interior cover panels, control T cover and spar carrythrough cover were removed, cleaned and chrome plated.  Tailspring removed, cleaned, magnetically inspected (certification in records), outside of tube powdercoated inside of tube painted with Urethabond 104.  The rear bulkhead cover was replaced with stronger 2024T3 / .040 Alclad.  The exterior steps were removed, cleaned of corrosion, inspected and chrome plated.  Exhaust heater muff removed and reinforced with stainless steel at typical failure points.  A section of skin aft of the baggage door was replaced to eliminate a previous repair  (relocation) of an APU receptacle. 

All work was performed using the guidelines in AC43-13 1B and 2A and standard aviation practices.  When available, manufacturers installation data and drawings were used.  All STC and Field approval items should be inspected IAW their respective Instructions for Continued Airworthiness and complied with.  These include, but are not necessarily limited to the Precise Flight Stand-by vacuum system and overhead switch panel.

The following AD’s were complied with at time of annual:

AD 93-5-6 ACS ignition switch . Switch has less than 2000 hours, lubrication was not required.  Performed paragraph b) installation of starter solenoid diode.  Inspection due again at AFTT - 5800.

AD 87-20-3 R2 Complied with per section II (C) and Note 1 due again at next annual.  See Note 2 Para 7 (d) Seat rollers and bushings replaced @ AFTT 3800, due inspection @ AFTT4800.

I certify that this AIRCRAFT has been inspected IAW the requirements found in AC 43 appendix D and applicable manufacturers data for an ANNUAL, and has been found to be AIRWORTHY.

Tom Wilson AP 540580286IA

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