Wheel pants

[awash2002]

I am trying to decide if I should put the wheel pants on or leave them off the gain is not that much 5 or so knots

[bobsk8]

I am trying to decide if I should put the wheel pants on or leave them off the gain is not that much 5 or so knots

5 knots is a good gain. Use them.

[awash2002]

I will use them besides it makes the plane look better to

[Lewis - A2A]

Agreed, eye candy wise I like it with for sure.

cheers,
Lewis

[awash2002]

While wheel pants make the plane look better and gives it a bit more speed but if you were to try to put air in the tires it is a big hassle so I prefer to fly with out the wheel pants

[Oracle427]

... but if you were to try to put air in the tires it is a big hassle...

And that's putting it nicely .

[AKar]

While wheel pants make the plane look better and gives it a bit more speed but if you were to try to put air in the tires it is a big hassle so I prefer to fly with out the wheel pants

I don't know about 182T specifically, but checking the tire pressure or filling the tires is not usually a big deal even with the wheel pants on. Many models include a small door for checking the tire pressure. I guess some specific ones may be more annoying than the ones I remember.

-Esa

[Oracle427]

The hassle comes from having to push the plane forward and back through trial and error to find the valve stems. It helps to have an inspection mirror so you can eliminate some of the guesswork. Then even when the valve is aligned to the door it is still challenging to get a good seal on the valve stem and the filler hose head. I've tried various types of heads and the locking ones found on bicycle pumps tend to be the most reliable.

[AKar]

Yeah, and I guess it depends on the positioning and shape of the door. Oftentimes when the original wheel pants get cracked, they are replaced with aftermarket STCs, usually cheaper and of better quality.

Many planes can be...adjusted on the ground by pushing down the tail and turning it a bit. Often easier than pushing the whole plane back and forth.

-Esa

[Oracle427]

I weigh 68Kg/150lb. I can easily push down the tail on a 172, but it ain't going to happen with a 182. Good luck doing that on a 182 unless you are big and tall as it's generally a two person job on a 182. It's very easy to push on the strut on either aircraft for maximum leverage.

In general prefer to avoid pushing down on the tail as I've seen a few older Cessna planes with some damage to their horizontal stabs and tails that were attributed to many years of doing that. The belief is that the localized force from one hand will stress the rivets, skin and spar mostly in one area and things eventually start working, not over years but decades.

Moving planes in general is a source of angst for me as I sometimes observe people push by the tips of the props or spinner (silent scream) or push on the skin between two ribs on the upper surface of the empennage (more silent screaming). I once saw a guy checking the condition of the nose strut by pulling down on the spinner with his whole body!

[AKar]

Well, I'm not a huge guy, but really not a small one either (in American units about 6' 2'' and 200 lbs), and I do, among my other stupid hobbies, lift weights four times a week on average when on routine, so I guess I'm above average in comfort of moving GAs around. (Guess who was rather often the one pushing or pulling from the group when I was more involved with the flying hobby and GA maintenance... ) I've not ever handled 182T, which certainly has added some weight since, in any way, but some older models twist from the tail with very reasonable effort.

If the wheels were open, to move a plane a bit, you'd of course push from the top of the wheel: due to the leverage, you'll get twice the force for your effort. But you'll get your hands dirty as well.

You bring up some good points. One should not press down on the tail plane one-sided, but preferably on the rear fuselage, and even more preferably, as much on the ribs and bulkheads as possible. I find leaning on the very root of the horizontal stabilizer usually acceptable, however, some airplanes, such as Cessna 185 have trimmable tail plane. You would not even sneeze on those; they are off the limits for touching even for water handling. And that was leaning, not pushing down with a hand. One should push down with two arms lying over the airplane's skin, at minimum, whenever possible. Throwing a thick jacket or some kind of carpet is, of course, a nice thing to do when able - if for nothing else, to preserve the paintwork from the buttons and zippers. In general, one should only do things when knowing what to do and not, and as a good rule of thumb, if one needs to apply considerable forces over small areas on an airplane, one probably should not be doing it.

I hate as well when people do what you describe; usually I hate them even touching the propeller, as by the looks of their efforts, they too often don't seem to know their stuff well enough to be, among the more important things, absolutely positive that the magneto is not hot.

-Esa

[Oracle427]

Agree on all points I don't think I'm actually heavy enough to lift the tail as I lift myself in the air and the tail barely comes down. It's very awkward anyway for me as I'm only 5'6" and as a result I'm worried about damaging things because of the odd angles I have to reach at.

[awash2002]

It is more accurate to the 182 poh performance site without wheel pants

[AKar]

As a maintenance/hangar trick, we often used sandbags (ballast bags) on the tail plane - a couple to make it light on the nose when fitting it in tight spot inside a hangar for instance, and a few more to easily lift the nose up for strut servicing, nose wheel removal etc. without having to jack or hoist the plane. Of course, those are not usually available when flying. As we often used them, they may distort my recollection somewhat on how effortless something was, as it was quite easy to just throw a bag or two instead of practicing excess sweating. It is also a safety thing: when under physical effort one loses ability to observe carefully, and it is very easy to pull or push the airplane against something if fighting it alone (I've done that a few times myself, luckily without any significant damage).

-Esa

[awash2002]

Cool