To buy or not to buy...
Renting is one thing... But when you wait 3 months for a plane to become available, you get kinda upset! Can't fly in nothing (well unless you like jumping from buildings, but I don't consider that flying; more like plummetting). Two other guys (John Godwin, Dan Clossman) and myself decided that we could afford to buy an airplane.

The hunt began in late November of 2003. We didn't really know what we wanted, exactly, but we knew it had to be cheap, reliable and semi-fast... A combination not usually found in the aviation world. It's kinda like the old engine builders saying - "Cheap, Good, Fast - Pick any two!". Anyways, after much deliberation amongst ourselves, and some sounds advice from various other people, we stumbled across a Cessna 175 for sale that was not too far from us. All three of us went to look at it, and decided that we had to have it.

Anyways, here is a pic of the plane as we found it in St. George, SC. Dan is in the pic doing a visual inspection (more like oooohhhhh)...


Anyways, about the plane...
Astute viewers could tell this was a 1958 Cessna 175... Other people, such as myself, just see it as a 172. The 175 series was only produced by Cessna between the years of 1958 and 1962. With only a couple thousand made, it's a pretty rare bird indeed.

This 175 is powered by a Cont. GO-300, which is a gear driven brother to the standard 145HP O-300. Making around 175HP, it pulls the C175 through the air at a cruise speed of about 120-125 kts (10-15 kts more than a new C-172). Since the C-175 was a flying testbed for 172 modifications, the airframes are basically identical, save for the engine cowl and the higher stance (for the big 84" prop it swings.)

Load carrying ability is a couple hundred pounds more than current production C-172's, making this a TRUE 4-place aircraft.

Antique?
Yea, so she's an old bird. We plan on doing little steps towards a restoration when time and money permit, which will make this airplane a contender in airshow antique class competitions, but more on this later.

The primary purpose for us to buy this plane was to have something to fly. Aside from that, all three of us are working towards our instrument rating, so with some panel/avionics upgrades, we'll be able to do that too.

More to come...